Voters weigh hunting and fishing rights in Amendment 2

TALLAHASSEE — Florida voters will decide next week whether to include hunting and fishing rights in the state constitution as opponents struggled to get their message across.

The Legislature put the proposed constitutional amendment, Amendment 2, on the Nov. 5 ballot. Supporters of the measure, called the “Fish and Hunt Rights” measure, have raised significantly more money than opponents, and political experts say the proposal is likely to have the necessary 60% of voters to pass.

“In general, most Floridians support hunting and fishing rights — and in fact already have those rights in state law,” said University of Central Florida political science professor Aubrey Jewett. “Many environmental groups are concerned about the impact this could have on some animals, such as bears, and the types of methods that could be used, such as large nets or steel traps. But they failed to raise and spend a lot of money to get their concerns across to people.”

The amendment summary, the language voters see on the ballot, states in part that the measure “will forever preserve fishing and hunting, including traditional methods, as a public right and the preferred means of responsible management and control of fish harvest.” . and wildlife.”

For many voters, reading the summary may be the first time they really look at this metric, “which we well know is not really the full story,” says Susan McManus, a retired political science professor at the University of the South. Florida, he said.

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When lawmakers decided to put the measure on this year’s ballot in 2023, only Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book, D-Davie, voted against it. Supporters of the law said other states have passed similar rights and pointed to issues such as the role of hunting and fishing in wildlife management.

But Charles O’Neill, chairman of the opposition group NoTo2.Org and president of Speak Up Wekiva, said he was concerned that the proposal would roll back protections for fish stocks, such as lifting the state’s gillnet ban, opening state waters to foreign commercial enterprise. fishing and possibly allowing hunters to trespass on private property.

“Do you really want to give hunters the right to go onto your property in pursuit of a raccoon or a bear?” – said O’Neill.

Florida Republican Party Chairman Evan Power said in the limited polling he’s seen on Amendment 2, the proposal has up to 68% support.

“They don’t seem to have any organized opposition,” Power said. “I think he ranks pretty well if you look at the polls. I think that unless there is a catastrophe, this will pass.”

Power rejected the argument that the proposal would give hunters rights over private property owners.

“What we’re seeing in some liberal states is that they don’t want people to hunt and fish. They want to take away their guns and their gun rights,” Power said. “I think it promotes the idea of ​​protecting people’s individual rights.”

Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried said she has concerns about how the Republican-dominated Legislature would implement the amendment if it were to pass, such as whether it could overturn a voter-approved 1994 gillnet ban.

“On the surface, this is just protecting hunting and fishing,” Fried said. “We already have it. This is already in the charter of our state. This is already a way of life. And as a person involved in hunting and fishing, today I have the right to this. So the question is: what are the consequences of passing it and what additional powers and changes will come as a result of it?”

The Vote Yes Amendment 2 political committee, which is leading the effort to pass the proposal, had raised $1.228 million in cash and spent nearly $964,000 as of Saturday, according to financial information posted on the state Division of Elections website.

Contributions included $250,000 from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Foundation; $100,000 from the Friends of Wilton Simpson, a committee headed by state Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson; and $50,250 from Tennessee-based Ducks Unlimited, whose CEO is former Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam.

As of Saturday, NoTo2.Org had raised $95,829 in cash and spent $66,872. The Sierra Club and Sierra Club PAC contributed $80,000.

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