Other States Begin to Act While the United States Constitution Remains Silent

• Author: Franklin L. Kury
• Pages: 75-86

75

Chapter 9: Other States Begin

to Act While the United States

Constitution Remains Silent

An overview of the environmental provisions in the 50 state constitu-

tions reveals a bleak scene.1

Consider the following.

• Fourteen states have no environmental provision in their constitution:

Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Maine, Maryla nd, Missouri,

Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, South Dakota, Wash-

ington, and West Virginia.

• Seventeen states have provisions limited to the right to hunt and sh:

Arkansas, California,2 Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky,

Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Da kota, Oklahoma, South

Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

• Seven states explicitly protect hunting and shing rig hts, but also have

another environment-related provision: Alabama, Louisiana, Montana,

North Ca rolina, R hode Island,3 Texas, and Virginia.

• Utah and Colorado4 have provisions limited to the preservation of

forests.

• Eight states have a provision making conser vation of the environment

and natural resources a matter of “policy”: Alabama, Florida, Illinois,

Louisiana, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia.

• Eleven states have environmental provisions but also provide that the

legislature shall implement them: Alaska, Illinois, Louisiana, Massa-

1. Appendix III has a chart comparing the environmental provisions of each state to those of Pennsyl-

vania. It also gives the citations needed to nd the relevant provisions in each state constitution. To

see the text of your state constitution, type in your online browser the name of your state followed

by “constitution.”

2. California species the right to sh but not to hunt and trap.

3. Rhode Island protects the right to sh and shore privileges but not the right to hunt or trap.

4. Colorado also establishes the Great Outdoors Colorado Program to preserve wildlife, parks, rivers,

trails, and open space.