AN ACT CONCERNING A TRIBAL WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES ADVISORY COUNCIL.

House of Representatives
sHB5523 / File No. 436 1

General Assembly File No. 436
February Session, 2026 Substitute House Bill No. 5523

House of Representatives, April 7, 2026

The Committee on Environment reported through REP.
PARKER of the 101st Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on
the part of the House, that the substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING A TRIBAL WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES
ADVISORY COUNCIL.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) ( Effective October 1, 2026) (a) There is established a 1
Connecticut Tribal Wildlife and Fisheries Advisory Council. Said 2
advisory council consists of the following members who voluntarily 3
agree to serve on such advisory council: (1) Two members from and 4
selected by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, (2) two members 5
from and selected by the Mohegan Tribe, (3) two members from each of 6
the following tribes, as selected by each respective tribe: (A) The Eastern 7
Pequot Tribe, (B) the Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe, and (C) the 8
Schaghticoke Tribe, (4) the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental 9
Protection, or the commissioner's designee, (5) one member each from 10
the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection's Wildlife 11
Division, Fisheries Division and Forestry Division, as appointed by the 12
Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, (6) one 13
member from the Department of Agriculture, (7) one member from the 14
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Bureau of Aquaculture of the Department of Agriculture, (8) one 15
member from the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, (9) one 16
member from Connecticut Sea Grant, (10) one member from the Native 17
American and Indigenous Studies Department at The University of 18
Connecticut, and (11) the chairpersons and ranking members of the joint 19
standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of 20
matters relating to the environment, or their designees. 21
(b) The tribal members of the advisory council shall develop written 22
procedures for meetings, at such members' discretion, which shall be 23
distributed to all members of the advisory council. Nontribal members 24
of such advisory council shall attend meetings on a quarterly basis, at 25
the invitation of the tribal members. 26
(c) Such advisory council shall: (1) Make recommendations to the 27
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection on how state 28
conservation plans and policies can integrate tribal ecological 29
knowledge and stewardship practices, and (2) promote the sustainable 30
use of natural resources consistent with state conservation goals. 31
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to apply to lands held 32
in federal trust for any tribe or to reservation lands, which remain under 33
tribal jurisdiction. 34
Sec. 2. (NEW) ( Effective October 1, 2026 ) (a) The Commissioner of 35
Energy and Environmental Protection shall provide, at no cost, hunting 36
and fishing permits to any enrolled member of a federally or state -37
recognized tribe identified in subsection (b) of section 47 -59a of the 38
general statutes for lawful activities conducted off reservation lands. 39
(b) Any activities conducted pursuant to this section shall remain 40
subject to state conservation goals, seasons and species protections. 41
(c) The commissioner shall also provide access to conservation 42
education, hunter safety and firearms safety programs to such tribal 43
members. 44
Sec. 3. (NEW) ( Effective October 1, 2026 ) The Commissioner of 45
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Agriculture shall prioritize tribal meat, fish and aquaculture processing 46
facilities for technical assistance, United States Department of 47
Agriculture certification support and eligibility for state or federal 48
infrastructure funding programs. Such prioritization shall support tribal 49
food sovereignty, local food systems and community -based economic 50
development. 51
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:

Section 1 October 1, 2026 New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2026 New section
Sec. 3 October 1, 2026 New section

ENV Joint Favorable Subst.

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The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of
the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not
represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general,
fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional
knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final
products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $
Resources of the General Fund GF - Revenue
Loss
See Below See Below
Note: GF=General Fund

Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill makes various changes related to tribal wildlife and fishery
programs.
Section 1 establishes the Connecticut Tribal Wildlife and Fisheries
Advisory Council. This does not result in a cost to the Department of
Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) as DEEP has the staff and
expertise necessary to meet the requirements of the bill.
Section 2 requires the DEEP commissioner to give free hunting and
fishing permits to any enrolled member of a federally - or state -
recognized tribe. This results in a revenue loss to the resources of the
General Fund. The scope of the revenue loss is indeterminate as it is
unknown how many free permits will be issued and correspondingly
how many fewer hunting and fishing (paid) permits will be purchased.
License and permit fee range from approximately $11 to $65 dollars1.
Section 3 requires the Department of Agriculture (DoAg) to prioritize

1https://portal.ct.gov/deep/hunting/2026-connecticut-hunting-and-trapping-
guide/hunting-and-trapping-licenses
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tribal meat, fish, and aquaculture facilities for technical assistance and
various other federal support. This does not result in a cost to the state.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to the number of free permits and
licenses issued and the corresponding revenue loss.

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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 5523

AN ACT CONCERNING A TRIBAL WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES
ADVISORY COUNCIL.

SUMMARY
This bill creates the Connecticut Tribal Wildlife and Fisheries
Advisory Council to (1) make recommendations to the Department of
Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) on how state
conservation plans and policies can integrate tribal ecological
knowledge and stewardship practices and (2) promote sustainable
natural resource use consistent with state conservation goals. (The
advisory council’s work does not apply to lands held in federal trust for
a tribe or to reservation lands, which remain under tribal jurisdiction.)
The bill also requires the DEEP commissioner to give free hunting
and fishing permits to any enrolled member of a federally - or state -
recognized tribe for lawful activities conducted off reservation lands.
The bill specifies that any activities conducted are subject to state
conservation goals, seasons, and species protections. It also requires the
commissioner to give tribal members access to conservation education
and hunter and firearms safety programs.
Lastly, the bill requires the Department of Agriculture commissioner
to prioritize tribal meat, fish, and aquaculture processing facilities for
technical assistance, U.S. Department of Agriculture certification
support, and eligibility for state or federal infrastructure funding
programs. This prioritization must support tribal food sovereignty, local
food systems, and community-based economic development.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2026
CONNECTICUT TRIBAL WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES ADVISORY
COUNCIL
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Under the bill, the advisory council includes the following 23
members:
1. two members each from and selected by the Mashantucket
Pequot Tribal Nation, Mohegan Tribe, Eastern Pequot Tribe,
Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe, and Schaghticoke Tribe;
2. the DEEP commissioner or her designee;
3. one member each from DEEP’s wildlife, fisheries, and forestry
divisions, appointed by the DEEP commissioner;
4. one member from the Department of Agriculture (DoAg);
5. one member from DoAg’s Bureau of Aquaculture;
6. one member from the Connecticut Agriculture Experiment
Station;
7. one member from Connecticut Sea Grant;
8. one member from the University of Connecticut Native
American and Indigenous Studies Department; and
9. the Environment Committee’s chairpersons and ranking
members or their designees.
The bill requires the advisory council’s tribal members to develop
and distribute to all other members written meeting procedures.
Meetings must be held at the tribal members’ discretion, and nontribal
members must attend quarterly, at the tribal members’ invitation.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Environment Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 24 Nay 10 (03/18/2026)