Instead of being the only lawmaker carrying the water for sportsmen’s groups and the Game and Fish Department, a West Valley legislator is hoping the creation of a new group designed to educate policymakers on those issues will ease his burden and expand opportunities for outdoor activities and conserve Arizona’s habitat.
With the creation of Arizona Legislators for Wildlife, Rep. Jerry Weiers, R-12, says more legislators will have an opportunity to meet with organizations of hunters, fishers and other outdoor pursuits and discuss what the Legislature could do to increase their access and protect the environment.
“The sportsmen, I think, need a voice,” Weiers said. “Even though I think I’ve done a good job as that voice…most legislators will tell you right up front they’re not familiar with the issues and don’t know how important some of these things are.”
Weiers, himself a member of the Desert Bighorn Sheep Society, the Arizona Antelope Society and the Arizona Elks Society, says the group is modeled after the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus in Washington, D.C.
At the Arizona group’s first informal meeting at Cabella’s in Glendale on April 24, Weiers said lawmakers had a chance to speak with more than 100 members of various outdoor sporting groups from across the state. Thus far, 29 legislators have joined the group, but Weiers says he expects to have 45 members by the end of the session.
The key to making the organization successful, Weiers said, is its non-partisan nature.
“These are issues that address Arizonans, not Republicans and not Democrats,” he said.
Rep. Theresa Ulmer, D-24, ran for office partly on environmental issues in the Yuma area, but says she joined Arizona Legislators for Wildlife because the notion that environmentalism and hunting or fishing are mutually exclusive is only true at the extremes of either camp.
“Some people think the outdoor activities contradict conservation, but they actually work hand-in-hand,” she said. “What I really see is that most of the people are in the middle and there’s a lot of common ground.”
Ulmer says she grew up hunting and fishing as a child in Nebraska and, while she hasn’t done either in years, she still recognizes the “avid” conservationism among sportsmen who want to protect the environment so they can continue hunting and fishing in the future.
“There’s a lot of good things in the conservation efforts in hunting that most people don’t think about,” she said.
Ulmer also praised Weiers for forming the legislative group and hopes it will result in better laws.
“I think it’s critical that we do things like this on a lot of issues,” she said.
Weiers, though, said he just hopes other people can take an active role in writing the laws that affect outdoor activities.
“Instead of coming up [to me] and saying, ‘What’s going on with this?’ more people will be informed,” he said. “I figure I’ll do a lot less explaining if more people know the issues.”