A preview of the commercial fishing and sport fish proclamations will be presented and the participants in the 2018 elk hunts will be announced during the August meeting of the Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission.
The meeting will be held (Thursday-Friday, Aug. 23-24) at the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency’s Region II Ray Bell Building. Committee meetings begin at 1 p.m. on Thursday, while the regular meeting starts at 9 a.m. on Friday. The public is invited to attend.
In addition, winners of the 14 drawn permits to hunt elk on North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area or private lands within the Elk Restoration Zone will be announced. Brad Miller, TWRA elk program leader will make the announcement during Thursday’s committee meetings. This will include seven quota permits for the archery only hunt Sept. 29-Oct. 5. One permit will be drawn for the youth hunt Oct. 6-12. There will be six permits drawn for the Oct. 13-19 where participants will have the option to use archery, gun, or muzzleloader.
Since the elk hunt was implemented in Tennessee in 2009, one of the permits for the gun hunt has been donated to a Non-Government Organization which again is the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Foundation. For the first time this year, a raffle for the permit replaces an online auction held previously to determine the additional participant. The raffle drawing winner will be announced by the TWRF’s Joey Woodard.
TWRA Fisheries Division Chief Frank Fiss will present the proposals for the sport fishing and commercial fishing regulations. Following the meeting, a public comment period will be held for the proposals that were presented. The regulations will be set at the September TFWC meeting to be held in Knoxville.
Kirk Miles, Region III wildlife coordinator, will make a report on the sandhill crane permit drawing held in Rhea County and the duck blind drawings held at 10 locations earlier this month.
Chris Richardson, Assistant Director, will preview potential provisions and concepts to be included in the commercial paddlecraft general permit rule.
Rob Southwick, from Southwick and Associates, will be a guest presenter. Southwick and Associates is a market research firm, specializing in the hunting, shooting, sport fishing, and outdoor recreation markets. He will provide an analysis of TWRA licenses.
The agency will also present its fiscal year 2019-20 budget recommendations to the commission.