Attempt to end Noem-era conservation program fails
'Nest Predator Bounty Program' preserved for now
PIERRE — A bid by a member of South Dakota State House leadership to end Game Fish and Park’s (GF&P) Nest Predator Bounty Program failed to garner enough support in a legislative hearing.
Lawmakers on the House’s Agriculture and Natural Resources committee gave a warm endorsement to the program — ushered into existence by former Gov. Kristi Noem during the earlier years of her tenure — despite evidence presented by opposition to suggest the program was not doing anything to improve the state’s pheasant population.
The former governor breathed life into the idea in 2019, touting it as a way to expand trapping to future generations, and to help protect duck and pheasants from common predators.
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