| JONES WORKING TO PERSERVE PHEASANT HUNTING FROM BUDGET CUTS |
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The Blagojevich Administration is seeking to eliminate the CPHP through budget cuts.
As a result, Senator Jones introduced Senate Joint Resolution 88 on April 2. The resolution states that the Illinois Department of Natural Resources is encouraged and expected to maintain the CPHP.
“Senate Joint Resolution 88 signals the intention of the Illinois Senate to discourage the Blagojevich Administration from destroying our state’s proud pheasant hunting heritage,” Jones said.
Jones explained that most of the costs associated with the CPHP are attributed to personnel costs. Remaining expenses with contractual, feed, equipment and other costs are recovered through user fees paid by hunters. At this time the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has committed to maintaining all personnel that are associated with the CPHP, they will just be reassigned to other duties. DNR officials have admitted through a written communication, “There are no net savings achieved by the Department in discontinuing the Controlled Pheasant Hunting Program.”
Illinois’ Controlled Pheasant Hunting Program was created in 1946. Currently, the eighteen main controlled pheasant sites account for 97.7 percent of the Illinois pheasant harvest. Pheasant hunting is permitted on 37 public hunting sites across the state. Public hunting facilities are in high demand by members of the general public because 95 percent of lands in Illinois are privately owned, thus severely limiting general public’s hunting access.
“If the CPHP is eliminated, pheasant hunting will end as we know it in Illinois. Hunters will be forced to either find private lands or quit the sport entirely. You will likely see more hunters simply give up on the sport,” Jones said.
Pheasant hunters also contribute significant financial resources to the CPHP, which is substantially funded through the $15 daily access fee for the usage of the hunting areas. All sportsmen who hunt in the state are also required to buy an Illinois hunting license and most are required to buy the Habitat stamp. Purchases of firearms and ammunition in Illinois contribute to the state’s $5.8 million Pitman-Roberson apportionment. Hunters also contribute to local economies through patronage at restaurants, shops and hotels.
“The CPHP has been in existence for over 60 years. I know Illinois has had tough fiscal times in the past, but cutting programs that take away from our proud hunting heritage is not the answer,” Jones concluded. “I plan to engage lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, so that we can maintain the pheasant program. If the CPHP goes by the wayside, it will create a dangerous precedent.”
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SPRINGFIELD, IL – State Senator John O. Jones (R-Mt. Vernon) is leading a bi-partisan effort in the Illinois General Assembly to preserve the state-sponsored Controlled Pheasant Hunting Program (CPHP).