LANSING – Governor Whitmer signed House Bill 4126, which amends the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act to change the allocation of fees collected for pheasant hunting licenses.

“Michiganders’ way of life and the strength of our economy depends on preserving our natural resources,” said Governor Whitmer. “This bill will improve how we allocate resources from pheasant hunting licenses, which will support businesses that sell hunting licenses, protect our wildlife from poachers, and improve the Department of Natural Resources. I am proud to sign this bipartisan piece of legislation into law and support Michigan’s natural resources.”

Key revisions and updates to the state’s Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act include the following:

– The Department of Natural Resources would be required to deposit fees from pheasant hunting licenses into the pheasant subaccount except as provided in sections 43541 and 43555 of NREPA.

– The bill would allow authorized hunting license sellers to receive a percentage of the fees for each permit sold.

– The bill would require 35 cents from each license to be deposited in the Wildlife Resource Protection Fund. The amendment would bring pheasant hunting licenses in line with other licenses.

– The bill would allow the DNR to spend money from the subaccount on costs associated with the release and purchase of live pheasants on state-owned land.

This bill was sponsored by Rep. Gary Howell, R – North Branch.

A copy of HB 4126 can be found here.