Panel sees bill on right to hunt, fish

COLUMBIA - A House subcommittee gave partial review Thursday to a bill that is part of a nationwide movement to guarantee fishing and hunting rights in state constitutions.

The measure, sponsored by Rep. Brian White, R-Anderson, was delayed to allow Department of Natural Resources officials and legislators to work on some wording refinements.

The bill says hunting and fishing would be subject to "reasonable" regulations, but DNR is concerned that if the constitutional amendment is passed by voters, the state will be flooded with lawsuits over the meaning of "reasonable."

White told the subcommittee that the bill, passed by about six other states, is needed because a changing population may someday want to restrict recreational rights others have enjoyed for generations.

"Hunting and fishing is very important to me, and I want to be able to pass it down to my children," White said.

Current law makes those activities a privilege, and White said he wants them guaranteed as constitutional rights.

Rep. Thayer Rivers, D-Ridgeland, said he has hunted all over the world, and the trend is to restrict hunting. He said he is especially fearful of what could happen in growing coastal counties.

"In my section of South Carolina, we are being inundated with folks with some interesting accents" who bring different views on hunting and fishing, Rivers said.

"I'm very concerned that we could wake up 20 years from now and find those rights taken away from us," he said.

"We need to put this in now while we still have a majority of South Carolinians who remember where they came from," Rivers said.

Rep. Greg Delleney, R-Chester, who leads the subcommittee, agreed with Rivers. He said fewer people hunt than used to, even among legislators.

Jim Quinn, a DNR attorney, said most wildlife agencies and organizations oppose the hunting and fishing rights constitutional amendments because of possible problems with regulations and enforcement.

Other S.C. laws already guarantee hunting and fishing as legal uses of land, Quinn said. Delleney suggested removing the "reasonable" regulations provision, and Quinn said that would be an improvement.

Delleney said the panel will take up the bill again next week, and is inclined to pass it.

"I can't believe DNR is up here opposing this. It just blows my mind," Delleney said.

Rivers also said proponents intend to get the bill passed so the issue can be on ballots in November.