Revises Fish and Game Council membership.

S471

SENATE, No. 471

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Senator BRIAN P. STACK

District 33 (Hudson)

Co-Sponsored by:

Senator Diegnan

SYNOPSIS

���� Revises Fish and Game Council membership.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act
concerning the membership of the Fish and Game Council
and amending P.L.1948, c.448.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� Section 26 of P.L.1948,
c.448 (C.13:1B-24) is amended to read as follows:

���� There shall be within the
Division of Fish
[
,
Game
]

and Wildlife, a Fish and Game Council which shall consist of 11 members, each
of whom shall be chosen with due regard to his knowledge of and interest in the
conservation of fish and game.� Each member of the council shall be appointed
by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate.� Three of
[
such
]

the

members shall be farmers, recommended to the Governor for appointment to the
council by the agricultural convention held pursuant to the provisions of
article 2 of chapter 1 of Title 4 of the Revised Statutes;�
[
six of such
members shall be sportsmen, recommended to� the Governor for appointment to the
council by the New Jersey State Federation� of Sportsmen's Clubs;
]

three of

[
such
]

the

members
shall be sportsmen, recommended to the Governor for appointment to the council
by the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen�s Clubs or its successor
organization; three of

[
such
]

the

members
shall be individuals recommended to the Governor for appointment to the council
by animal welfare organizations in this State;
one of
[
such
]

the

members shall be the chairman of the committee established pursuant to section
7 of the "Endangered and Nongame� Species Conservation Act"
(P.L.1973, c. 309;� C. 23:2A-7)
[
,
]
;
and
one of such members shall be a person knowledgeable in land use management and
soil conservation practices.� One of
[
such
]

the

farmer representatives
[
and
two
]
,
one
of
[
such
]

the

sportsmen representatives
, and one of such animal welfare representatives

in the council shall be chosen from among residents of any of the following
counties--Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Sussex and Warren; one of
[
such
]

the

farmer representatives
[
and
two
]
,
one
of
[
such
]

the

sportsmen representatives
, and one of such animal welfare representatives

�in the council shall be chosen from among residents of any of the following
counties--Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Somerset and Union;
and one of
[
such
]

the

farmer representatives
[
and
two
]
,
one
of
[
such
]

the

sportsmen representatives
, and one of

[
such
]

the animal
welfare representatives
shall be chosen from among residents of any of the
following counties--Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland,
Gloucester and Salem.

����
For the purposes of this
section, �animal welfare organization� means a not�for�profit organization
established to promote animal welfare, exempt from federal taxation pursuant to
section 501(c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. s.501(c)(3)),
and the primary purpose of which is the protection, care, humane treatment or
advocacy of animals.

���� Each member of the council
shall be appointed for a term of
[
4
]

four

years and shall serve until his successor has been appointed and has qualified.

(cf: P.L.1979, c.199, s.72)

���� 2. This act shall take effect
immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill revises the
membership of the Fish and Game Council in the Division of Fish and Wildlife
without changing the council�s size of 11 members.� Under current law, three
members are farmers recommended by the State agricultural convention, six members
are sportsmen recommended by the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen�s
Clubs, one member is the chair of the Endangered and Nongame Species Advisory
Committee, and one member is an individual who is knowledgeable in land-use
management and soil conservation practices.

���� The bill replaces three of the
six sportsmen representative seats with three seats for individuals recommended
by animal welfare organizations in this State, resulting in three sportsmen
representatives and three animal-welfare representatives