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A1218
ASSEMBLY, No. 1218
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman MICHAEL INGANAMORT
District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)
Assemblywoman DAWN FANTASIA
District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)
SYNOPSIS
���� Provides for no net loss of DEP lands for fishing,
hunting, and trapping purposes.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
providing for no net loss of certain State lands
for the purposes of fishing, hunting, and trapping, and supplementing P.L.1983,
c.324 (C.13:1L-1 et seq.) and Title 23 of the Revised Statutes.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� The
Department of Environmental Protection shall administer State parks and forests
in a manner to support, promote and enhance public recreational
fishing,
hunting, and trapping
opportunities and shall
recognize
fishing, hunting, and trapping
as primary uses of those lands.� The Commissioner of Environmental
Protection shall not give preference to public recreational
fishing,
hunting, or trapping
over other primary uses
of State parks and forests or other priorities established by law.
���� 2.��� The
Department of Environmental Protection shall inventory the amount of acreage in
State parks and forests available for public recreational
fishing,
hunting, and trapping
as of the date of
enactment of this act.� The Commissioner of Environmental Protection shall not
make land management decisions or take any other action that results in any net
loss of acreage in State parks and forests available for public recreational
fishing,
hunting, and trapping
opportunities on or
after the date of enactment of this act.� The commissioner shall expeditiously
find replacement acreage to compensate for closures of any existing State park
and forest land to public recreational
fishing, hunting, and trapping
.� The commissioner shall open as much State park
and forest land as possible for the purposes of public recreational
fishing,
hunting, and trapping
and shall, as much as
possible, expand public recreational
fishing, hunting, and trapping
opportunities when acquiring any new land.
���� 3.���
All
State park and forest land
shall be accessible
for public recreational
fishing, hunting, and trapping
, except for reasons of public safety or homeland
security, as determined by the Commissioner of Environmental Protection in
consultation with the State Police, or for reasons of environmental or wildlife
management, or as otherwise provided by law.
���� 4.��� The
Department of Environmental Protection shall inventory the amount of acreage in
State wildlife management areas, wildlife refuges, public hunting grounds, and
recreational areas managed by the Division of Fish and Wildlife as of the date
of enactment of this act.� The Commissioner of Environmental Protection shall
not make any land management decisions or take any action that results in any
net loss of acreage, managed by the d
ivision
, available for public recreational
fishing, hunting, and trapping
opportunities on or after the date of enactment of
this act, except in the following circumstances:
�� a.����� Closure
due to environmental or biological reasons for the protection of wildlife or
fisheries or their associated habitat; or
�� b.����� Reduction
of acreage as a result of a land exchange wherein the department or division
receives property of equal or greater value.
�� 5.����� The
Commissioner of Environmental Protection shall submit a written report,
pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature,
and to the Senate Environment Committee and Assembly Agriculture and Natural
Resources Committee, no later than the first day of March of each calendar
year, which shall include:
�� a.����� An
inventory of, and information about, the acreage managed by the department that
was available for public recreational
fishing, hunting, and trapping
during the previous year, the closure of such
acreage, and the reasons for any closures of acreage to those uses;
�� b.����� An
inventory of, and information about, the acreage managed by the department that
was opened to public recreational
fishing, hunting, and trapping
to compensate for any acreage closed; and
�� c.����� The
reasons why any newly acquired State parks and forests, wildlife management
areas, wildlife refuges, public hunting grounds, and recreational areas were
not open to public recreational
fishing, hunting, and trapping
.
���� 6.��� The
department shall work in cooperation with sportsmen, conservation
organizations, and others to encourage participation in recreational
fishing,
hunting, and trapping
at a level to ensure
continuation of such activities in perpetuity and prevent any reduction in the
amount of acreage available for the purposes of public recreational
fishing,
hunting, and trapping
.
�� 7.����� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill would protect
fishing, hunting, and trapping opportunities by providing for no net loss of
certain State lands made available for the purposes of public recreational
fishing, hunting, and trapping.
� This bill
requires the Commissioner of Environmental Protection to recognize
fishing,
hunting, and trapping
as primary uses of the
lands and to exercise management authority in order to promote and enhance
public recreational
fishing, hunting, and trapping
opportunities.� The commissioner would not be required
to give preference to
fishing, hunting, or trapping
over other primary uses of State park and forest
land or other priorities established by law.
�� The
commissioner would be required to make land management decisions that do not
result in any net loss of acreage available for public recreational
fishing,
hunting, and trapping
opportunities and would
provide for the expeditious replacement of acreage to compensate for any
closures of existing land for such uses.� By providing for no net loss of
acreage, the department would be prohibited from reducing
the amount of
acreage of land, administered by the department, available for public
recreational fishing, hunting, and trapping opportunities in the State, on or
after the date of enactment of this bill into law.�
Acreage dedicated to State wildlife management areas, wildlife refuges,
public hunting grounds, and recreational areas, managed by the Division of Fish
and Wildlife, would not be reduced except due to environmental or biological
reasons for the protection of wildlife or fisheries or their associated
habitat, or as a result of a land exchange wherein the department receives
property of equal or greater value.�
State parks and forests
would be accessible for the purposes of
recreational
fishing, hunting, and trapping
unless restricted for reasons of public safety or homeland security, as
limited by the commissioner in consultation with the State Police.
���� The commissioner would further
be required to submit an annual
report to the
Legislature and the Senate Environment Committee and the Assembly Agriculture
and Natural Resources Committee including information regarding: the acreage
managed or owned by the department that had been available for public
recreational
fishing, hunting, and trapping
during the previous year, and the reasons for such closures; the amount
of acreage opened to public recreational
fishing, hunting, and trapping
to compensate for the acreage closed; and the
reasons why any newly acquired State public park and forest land, wildlife
management areas, wildlife refuges, public hunting grounds, and recreational
areas were not open to public recreational
fishing, hunting, and
trapping
.
���� A number of states are
considering legislation similar to this bill and a growing number of states
have passed laws protecting public recreational fishing, hunting, and trapping
land by preventing the net loss of acreage for such uses.� Similar legislation
has also been introduced in Congress to prevent the net loss of Federal public
land for the purposes of fishing, hunting, and trapping.