A measure on the ballot this fall will ask voters if Kansas should add rights for hunting and fishing to the state constitution. The amendment is aimed at fending off some types of hunting restrictions found in other states.
Republican state Rep. Ken Corbet runs a hunting lodge and he says the industry has a big economic impact in Kansas. While he doesn’t expect any efforts to limit hunting soon, he wants to make sure the sport is preserved into the future.
“You might be thinking forty years or fifty years," he says. "My grandkids, it might not be as easy for them to do it."
Corbet says the amendment doesn’t change any hunting and fishing rules or regulations. But Midge Grinstead, with the Kansas branch of the Humane Society, is concerned the amendment could be used to block sensible restrictions.
“I think it will and I think it raises the argument for reasonable quotas and season closures. They’re unconstitutional,” Grinstead says.
The Kansas Legislature overwhelmingly passed the amendment earlier this year. It will become part of the state constitution if approved by voters.
