In a quick vote and without hunter’s input, the Illinois House and Senate passed House Bill 2726 which drastically changes hunting in Illinois, including at Carlyle Lake. After repeated emails to an IDNR spokesperson, questions were still not answered regarding the anti-hunter friendly bill.
A bill that will change the hunting policy at Carlyle Lake has passed both the House and the Senate and is waiting to be signed into law by Governor J.B. Pritzker.
House Bill 2726 (20-ILCS 805/805-135 new) will make a new policy the Illinois Department of Natural Resources will be operating under.
After a short debate, House Bill 2726 passed the House on third reading by a 75-37 vote on April 10.
The bill passed the Senate on a third reading by a 39-16 vote on May 21.
Most hunters knew nothing about the bill until it had passed the House and the Senate. Hunters are saying the government snuck the bill through since it was passed so close to Memorial Day weekend. Memorial Day was on May 26.
After passing both the house and senate, on June 17 it was sent to Governor Pritzker to sign into law. Pritzker has yet to sign the bill into law.
If it is signed, the new official policy the Illinois Department of Natural Resources will be operating under will be House Bill 2726. That amends the Department of Natural Resources (Conservation) Law of the Civic Administrative Code of Illinois. It provides that the Department of Natural Resources has the power to exercise all rights, powers, and duties conferred by law and to take measures that are necessary for the implementation of rewilding as a conservation strategy in Illinois. That includes, but is not limited to, the restoration of land to its natural state, the reintroduction of native species, particularly apex predators and keystone species, and the restoration of ecological processes as defined by state-specific baselines.
Senator Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) from the 55th District voted against the bill when it was in the Senate.
“This bill gives the Department of Natural Resources broad authority to carry out a rewilding policy, but it doesn’t even define what rewilding means,” Plummer said. “It may not say outright that wolves must be reintroduced, but it opens the door. This was one of the worst bills to come out of the Senate Environment Committee this session, and I strongly oppose it.”
