RAPID CITY (AP) – Officials say South Dakota has sold nearly 26,000 fewer hunting licenses this year, which has cost the state more than $1 million in lost revenue.
This item is available in full to subscribers.
To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, below, or purchase a new subscription.
Please log in to continue |
RAPID CITY (AP) – Officials say South Dakota has sold nearly 26,000 fewer hunting licenses this year, which has cost the state more than $1 million in lost revenue.
State Department of Game, Fish and Parks official Heather Villa told the Rapid City Journal that the long winter, flooding and a decline in the pheasant population could be to blame. However, she acknowledged that the drop in license sales could also be a continuation of a decades-long decline in hunting, trapping and fishing.
The department generally gets about half its budget from license revenue, and it adopted a resolution last month to examine the recruitment, retention and reactivation of hunters, anglers and trappers.
Gov. Kristi Noem has created a live-trap giveaway and set a bounty on certain predators to encourage hunting.