(520 ILCS 30/5)

Sec. 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds the following:

(1) Recreational hunting is an important and traditional recreational activity in which 14,000,000 Americans 16 years of age and older participate.

(2) Hunters have been and continue to be among the foremost supporters of sound wildlife management and conservation practices in the United States.

(3) Persons who hunt and organizations related to hunting provide direct assistance to wildlife managers and enforcement officers of federal, state, and local governments.

(4) Purchases of hunting licenses, permits, and stamps and payment of excise taxes on goods used by hunters have generated billions of dollars for wildlife conservation, research, and management.

(5) Recreational hunting is an essential component of effective wildlife management, in that it is an important tool for reducing conflicts between people and wildlife and provides incentives for the conservation of wildlife, habitats, and ecosystems on which wildlife depend.

(6) Recreational hunting is an environmentally acceptable activity that occurs and can be provided for on State public lands without adverse effects on other uses of that land.

(Source: P.A. 93-837, eff. 1-1-05.)