Bill Cochran is a Roanoke Times outdoors columnist.

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Bill Cochran's Outdoors

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• Less freedom at Hatteras for surf casters
• Here’s the scoop on hunting shed antlers
• Want more grouse? Get used to hearing chainsaws
• Sunday hunting bills aplenty, but some hunters hold out
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• Senator gets attention of DGIF
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BILL: Regarding your statement that all sports fishermen were asleep at the wheel (see last week’s Cochran column) when Sen. John Miller’s SB 1087 passed the Senate:

There were a few of us who became aware of this bill and acted as fast as we could. Unfortunately that was not fast enough to beat it to the Senate committee. Hopefully, the following explanation of the timeline for this bill can be used as motivation for other fishing, hunting, outdoors and boating enthusiasts to follow the legislative session and to be prepared to act quickly.

The Virginia General Assembly has a Legislative Information System Web page on which you can find information about the current and past legislative sessions. Starting sometime in October bills begin showing up, with a big flurry in late December and early January. Watching the daily list as well as the lists by topic will keep folks aware of what is coming up.

SB 1087 was one of several hundred that popped up on the list Jan. 14. This was the first official day of the General Assembly session. A Coastal Conservation Association of Virginia Government Affairs Committee member was watching the list and called Sen. Miller’s office within 30 minutes of this bill being posted. Up until that time, as happens with many bills, Sen. Miller and the proponents of the bill kept a very low profile regarding this bill.

Here are the dates:

Jan. 19th, the chairman of CCA-VA sent a letter to Sen. Miller’s office voicing the organization’s object to the bill.

Jan. 20th, a similar letter was sent to all of the members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources. At the same time the Government affairs Committee was developing a CCA Alert on the bill.

Jan. 22nd, the agenda for the upcoming senate committee meeting came out at about 3 p.m. This is where CCA-VA was caught off guard. A CCA alert was sent out the next morning asking folks to call or email the senate committee members and object to the bill.

Jan. 26th, the bill was heard in the Senate committee. Four individuals spoke against the bill, David Nobles, the Chairman of CCA-VA, Bob Allen, who organized the Alliance of Saltwater Angling Clubs but was speaking for himself, Frances Porter, who is the Executive Director of the Virginia Seafood Council and me. I was speaking as an individual active on Virginia Marine Resources Commission Advisory Committees for a number of years.

As you stated, the bill was reported out of the committee with a vote of 13-2 and quickly passed the Senate. That is when CCA-VA and other saltwater angling clubs started really getting the public involved in order to defeat the bill in the House. These organizations were not alone in the fight. Lots of average recreational fishermen, boaters and outdoor enthusiasts called and emailed their elected officials to object to this bill. Others worked behind the scenes in Richmond building the support necessary to have the bill tabled in the House committee. Again, a number of folks went up to testify against the bill, but it was the outpouring of public support that did the trick. It was the people that provided that public support that need to be thanked.

The system can work. Outdoor enthusiasts can be heard but it does take some organization and lines of communications to make it happen. Groups have to dedicate effort to follow legislation in Richmond and to keep up with regulatory changes proposed by agencies like the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and VMRC. Once the changes get on the table, sportsmen have to quickly communicate information to their members and the public. This means that email lists like that for the CCA Alert have to be in place and ready to use.

Thanks for your articles and for supporting the public’s ability to use our shared natural resources.

See Cochran Field Reports for additional information on this issue.