Dear Alabama Resident,
We received your email expressing concern over nonresidents being eligible to participate in the Alabama Wildlife & Freshwater Fisheries Division�s Adult Mentored Hunt Program. Out of state hunters are also eligible for permit selection in the limited quota hunts at Fred T. Stimpson and other Special Opportunity Areas. Permit selections are made by a computer-controlled, random process from a pool of both Alabama residents and nonresidents.
Your inference that only tax-paying Alabama citizens should benefit from these programs reflects a potential misunderstanding of how we are able to provide them. We develop, maintain, and manage over 750,000 acres of public land using funds derived from hunting license sales and federal allocation of Pittman-Robertson Act dollars. An Alabama resident�s taxes do not support these programs as our Agency receives no Alabama General Fund tax dollars. Therefore, a nonresident who purchases an Alabama hunting license supports Alabama�s public land acquisition, wildlife management, and conservation enforcement efforts more than the average Alabama taxpayer. In addition, many Alabama hunters are license exempt (under 16, over 65, landowners and their immediate family), and so our programs are often supported more by one nonresident hunter than an entire Alabama family hunting their own land. Looking at numbers, nonresident hunters are as essential as resident hunters when it comes to enabling the management, protection, and conservation of Alabama�s wildlife resources.
In addition to funding considerations, our sincere desire is for any sportsman to consider hunting Alabama, and we are eager to provide opportunities to our state residents and nonresidents alike. Please feel free to call me if you�d like to discuss this further or if you have any other questions about our programs. Thank you for your interest in the Alabama Wildlife & Freshwater Fisheries Division�s offerings and for your continued status as a valued hunter.
Sincerely,
~Marianne
Marianne Hudson
Alabama Department of Conservation & Natural Resources
Division of Wildlife & Freshwater Fisheries � Wildlife Section
334-242-1814
cid:
[email protected]
