On March 29, Gov. Jim Justice signed SB 451, allowing Sunday hunting on public lands in West Virginia. The new bill, which passed by a unanimous 99-0 vote, comes less than a year after enactment of SB 345 that legalized Sunday Hunting on private land with written permission.
According to a recent West Virginia Division of Natural Resources news release, the bill will open more than 1.5 million acres of public land to Sunday hunting, provide several additional hunting days each year and make West Virginia more attractive to out-of-state hunters. The bill will take effect in early June and affect the 2018 hunting and trapping seasons thereafter.
“People drive right through West Virginia to Ohio or wherever it may be to be able to hunt on Sunday,” Gov. Justice said. “We lose those dollars because they want to be able to hunt an entire weekend. This will provide additional hunting recreation for our visitors and residents and result in a major economic impact for our small rural businesses. Today is truly historical.”
A National Shooting Sports Foundation study projects Sunday hunting to add $155 million to the state’s economy each year.
For more information, go to wvdnr.gov.
