2/27/2006

Conservation Department gives resident National Guard, Reserve a break on hunting & fishing permits

The reduced-cost permit recognizes service members' sacrifices.

JEFFERSON CITY-Military service means sacrifice. The Missouri Conservation Commission has recognized the contribution service men and women by creating a new permit that will make hunting and fishing available to them at a hefty discount.

At its January meeting in Marshall, the Commission voted unanimously to create a Resident National Guard and Reserve Service Small Game Hunting and Fishing Permit. The permit will be available July 1 to Missouri residents who are or have been mobilized in the past 12 months, serving full-time on active duty with the National Guard or Reserves.

The Conservation Commission set the price of the permit at $5. The normal price of a resident hunting and fishing permit is $19. The commission considered making the permit free, but settled on the minimal fee to ensure that Missouri does not lose federal fish and wildlife restoration funds. Those funds are allocated on the basis of permit sales. The permits will be available only from the Conservation's Department Central Office in Jefferson City.

Conservation Department Assistant Director John Smith, who is himself a retired colonel with the U.S. Army Reserve, said the new permit is an expression of support for service members.

"Citizen soldiers in the National Guard and Reserve make tremendous sacrifices in service of their country," said Smith. "When mobilized to active military duty, people from all walks of life put their careers on hold and leave their loved ones behind to answer that call. The Conservation Commission wanted to be sure service members know how deeply we value their sacrifices."

The Conservation Department also has a Military Honors Permit designed to ensure that deployments do not deprive military personnel of hunting and fishing privileges they bought. For example, if a soldier buys a hunting and fishing permit and then is deployed out of state before the permit expires, he can get a new permit free of charge upon returning home.

Conservation Department Accounting Assistant Robin Green said she receives many reinstatement requests from military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan who want to be able to resume hunting and fishing as soon as they return to Missouri.

For more information and permit applications, call (573) 751-4115.

-Jim Low-

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