01/26/2006
A Star Spangled Day
Rob Keck, CEO of the National Wild Turkey Federation, will attend the symbolic signing of House Bill 1690 by Gov. Edward Rendell today.
Thanks to on-the-ground work by NWTF National Board Member Ron Fretts, and members of the Mentored Youth Hunting Committee, HB1690 authorizes the Pennsylvania Game Commission to establish a mentored youth hunting program.
"Today's youth are tomorrow's conservationists and if we don't instill in them the love of the outdoors at an early age, the hunting and conservation tradition could be lost," Keck said. "We need to hook them on hunting at an early age, so they become appreciative of the hunting tradition. This will also increase hunter retention and ensure the future of conservation remains strong."
Joining Keck — a native of the Keystone State — at the signing will be Fretts, along with NWTF Regional Director Carl Mowry and his wife, NWTF Women's National Coordinator Tammy Mowry. Rob Sexton, vice president of government affairs for the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance, Chris Dolnack, senior vice president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation and members of the Mentored Youth Hunting Committee will also attend.
The Pennsylvania Senate voted 50-0 to approve the program and the Pennsylvania House of Representatives voted 195-1 to start the youth mentored hunting program.
"I have a number of grandsons who were under the legal age to hunt that I'd love to take to the field," Fretts said. "Before this legislation was passed, my grandsons could go along, but they couldn't shoot. It was like taking a kid to a little league game and telling him he couldn't play."
Fretts organized 12 other concerned citizens from sportsmen's organizations across the state and formed the Mentored Youth Hunting Committee in 2004. The committee gained support from the NWTF, an organization that has led the charge against youth hunting restrictions across the nation. Joining the NWTF on the quest for the approval of a mentored youth hunting program were the USSA and the NSSF.
The three organizations brought to the table tangible research evidence regarding youth hunting through the Families Afield initiative. Drawing on the Families Afield concept, which aims to remove barriers for youth hunting across the nation, the organizations quickly joined forces to move the legislation through the system.
"Hunters are this country's original conservationists who paved the way for the greatest conservation model in the history of the world," Keck said. "If we don't provide opportunities for tomorrow's hunters at an early age, wildlife conservation as we know it today will not exist."
A report written by Silvertip Productions, the USSA and Southwick Associates Inc., shows youth hunters are the safest hunters in the woods when accompanied by an adult. The report was funded by the NSSF and the NWTF. The NWTF has led the charge in promoting youth hunting opportunities and has teamed up with the USSA and NSSF to remove barriers to youth hunting across the nation.
The Pennsylvania Mentored Youth Hunting committee members represent 9 different conservation and hunting organizations. Organizations represented are:
Pennsylvania State Chapter of the NWTF
Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs
United Bowhunters of Pennsylvania
Central County Sportsmen
Pennsylvania Game Commission
National Rifle Association
Quality Deer Management Association
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
Big Brothers, Big Sisters
For more information about the NWTF, call (800) THE-NWTF.
