October 22, 2003
Dear Tournament Anglers:
We are on the verge of winning a significant legislative victory for bass-tournament anglers and local businesses throughout Wisconsin, and we need your help. On Tuesday, October 28, at 10:30 a.m. the Wisconsin Assembly Committee on Tourism will hold a hearing on Assembly Bill 569 to legalize culling. If possible, please attend this public hearing in the North Hearing Room on the second floor of the State Capitol building located at One East Main Street in Madison, Wis., or write to Tourism Committee chairperson Mark Pettis to express your support of this bill. Representative Pettis can be reached at [email protected] or Room 20 North, State Capitol, P.O. Box 8953, Madison, Wis. 53708.
We also encourage anglers living in Wisconsin to write to district legislators in the Wisconsin Assembly and Senate to express support for this bill when it is put to a vote. You can find your legislators names and addresses at www.legis.state.wi.us/waml.
Please tell Representative Pettis and Wisconsin’s district legislators that legalizing the common practice of culling will open the doors to significant economic gains for anglers and businesses throughout the state while having no adverse impact on the state’s fisheries. In fact, communities across Wisconsin will be positioned to attract large tournaments that funnel much-needed funds to programs to preserve the state’s natural resources. The immediate economic impact generated by professional tournaments like those produced by FLW Outdoors, for example, ranges from $500,000 to more than $5 million. Additionally, large televised events, like the Wal-Mart FLW Tour World Championship of Bass Fishing and Outdoor Show, generate international media exposure that leads to increased tourism revenue for years to come. This, of course, is good for anglers, local businesses and the state’s fisheries, particularly when you consider the minimal annual cost to administer Bill 569.
Finally, we’d like to thank Representatives Petrowski, Kreuser, Musser, Suder, Hines, Gunderson, Albers, Vrakas, Ladwig, Bies and Webber for the foresight to introduce Assembly Bill 569 on October 9.
Thank you for your support of this worthy legislation. Please write today to Tourism Committee chairperson Mark Pettis and the Wisconsin district legislators in support of Assembly Bill 569, and please attend the first public hearing that will be held Tuesday, October 28, at 10:30 a.m.
Sincerely,
Charlie Hoover
President and CEO
FLW Outdoors