TRENTON – Senate Majority Leader Stephen M. Sweeney began enlisting support today for the creation of a bipartisan New Jersey Sportsmen’s Legislative Caucus that would “stay in tune with the needs of nearly one million hunting, fishing and trapping constituents” statewide.
“While New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the nation, we still have an exceptional reputation for our conservation efforts and a healthy variety of wildlife,” Senator Sweeney said in a letter sent out to all members of the Senate and the Assembly.
The Senate Majority Leader, whose Third Legislative District includes Gloucester, Cumberland and Salem counties, said the Sportsmen’s Legislative Caucus would ensure maintenance of the State’s critical natural resources, help augment the economic boost provided by the hunting and fishing industries and advance environmental concerns by promoting healthy habitats for wildlife.
“The Sportsmen of New Jersey should have an outlet in the Legislature so they can explain their concerns in their own terms,” said Senator Sweeney, a Democrat. “A bipartisan legislative caucus seems to me to be the right way to go.”
Senator Sweeney said he is working with the leadership of the New Jersey Outdoor Alliance in structuring the New Jersey Sportsmen’s Legislative Caucus.
“My office staff tells me that we’ve already gotten a positive response to the idea,” Senator Sweeney said.
Once he gets sufficient feedback from his legislative colleagues, Senator Sweeney said he would convene further deliberations about the Sportsmen’s Caucus which, in turn, would lead to an organizational meeting.
“I envision the New Jersey Sportsmen’s Legislative Caucus as giving the people who like to hunt, fish and enjoy the great outdoors the voice in Trenton that they deserve,” Senator Sweeney said.