11/4/2020 UPDATE: Voters in Utah approved the measure with 74 percent voting in favor.
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Voters in Utah will have more than just political candidates and local issues to decide when they go to the polls. Amendment E supports establishing a constitutional amendment for state residents to hunt and fish in Utah. If passed, it takes effect on January 1, 2021.
“Hunting and fishing has always been a critical component of our state. It’s a part of who we are,” Representative Casey Snider, amendment sponsor, testified during the 2020 Utah legislative session. “This bill is not only about protecting who we are, but preserving who we are going forward.”
Twenty-two states currently have similar measures. They are Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. California and Rhode Island have amendments guaranteeing the right to fish but not to hunt. Arizona voters rejected a right to hunt and fish constitutional amendment in 2010.
(Photo source: Utah Division of Wildlife Resources)