GFP Commission Holds December Meeting

PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (GFP) Commission held their meeting at Pierre’s Red Rossa meeting center on Dec. 8-9.

PARKS PROPOSALS AND FINALIZATIONS

PARKS FINALIZATIONS

Allowance of Pets

The Commission finalized a rule change allowing people staying in a cabin, lodge, or suite within a state park to have their dog or cat inside designated facilities during their stay.

A dog or cat accommodation fee of $10 per reservation per facility was also approved.

WILDLIFE PROPOSALS

Archery Antelope

The Commission proposed changes to the archery antelope season. They are as follows:

• Unlimited number of nonresident one-tag archery antelope licenses valid on private land not leased by the Department of Game Fish and Parks for public hunting; and,
• No more than 450 nonresident one-tag archery antelope licenses valid on public and private land.

Resident one-tag archery licenses valid on public and private land would remain unlimited.

Archery Deer

The Commission proposed several changes to the archery deer season. They are as follows:

• Unlimited nonresident “any deer” licenses (limit of one per hunter) may be issued statewide valid on private land not leased by the Department of Game, Fish and Parks for public hunting;
• No more than 2,200 nonresident “any deer” licenses may be issued statewide on public and private lands;
• With the proposed limit of 2,200 nonresident “any deer” licenses valid on public and private lands, the Commission proposed to eliminate the April 1 application deadline for those licenses that will be issued by a lottery drawing; and,
• Unlimited resident and nonresident antlerless whitetail deer licenses (limit of one per hunter) may be issued for unit ARD-LM1.

Unlimited resident “any deer” licenses remain unchanged and residents may be issued one statewide license valid on public and private land. In lieu of a statewide “any deer” license, a resident may purchase one East River “any deer” license and one West River “any deer” license valid on public and private land.

Public Comments Currently Being Accepted

If you would like to comment on any of these proposals, visit gfp.sd.gov/forms/positions. Comments can also be mailed to 523 E. Capitol Ave Pierre, SD.

To hear the discussion on these proposals, audio from the meeting is available through South Dakota Public Broadcasting and will soon be available on the GFP website as part of the meeting archive.

To see these proposals in their entirety, visit gfp.sd.gov/commission/information.

To be included in the public record and to be considered by the commission, comments must include a full name and city of residence and be submitted by 11:59 p.m. CST on Jan. 8.

The next GFP Commission meeting will be held at the Matthews Training Center in Pierre on Jan. 12-13, 2023.