A private club wanted to import big game to RI. The state may ban captive hunting instead.

PROVIDENCE − After years of advocacy, bills seeking to ban captive hunting in Rhode Island are gaining momentum.

The legislation, which cleared the Senate in April and is now moving forward in the House of Representatives, has been introduced every year since 2019.

It was first proposed after The Preserve, a high-end sporting club in Richmond, sought permission to import exotic animals, like elk and boar, for members to hunt on its 1,000-acre property.

While there are ethical arguments against the practice, importing non-native animals could also have a negative impact on local wildlife, according to Michael Woods, the chair of the New England chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.

"It had this tremendous risk of introducing this disease that is very problematic," said Woods, the key figure behind the push to ban captive hunting.

Why importing out-of-state animals raises concerns

Among the chief concerns is that imported elk could be carrying Chronic Wasting Disease, which is impossible to detect and could easily spread to the local whitetail deer population.

"It's relatively well known at this point that when you get a captive facility that imports Chronic Wasting Disease, it doesn’t stay there," Woods said.

To date, the Mad Cow Disease-like sickness hasn't reached Rhode Island or any other New England states.

But when an infected animal's carcass is discarded, birds and coyotes will eat it, spreading the lethal disease around, Woods said. That's bad news for local hunters who stock their freezers with venison each fall.

There's also a risk that imported animals could escape from the confines of a hunting preserve — especially wild pigs, which are notoriously destructive and difficult to contain.

"The concern was that whatever happens within this private shooting preserve really does have the ability to affect the public’s resources outside of the private facility," Woods said.

Bill would not ban existing forms of hunting

Hunting is "not quite as ingrained" in Rhode Island's culture as it is elsewhere, Woods observed. As a result, it's taken some time to raise awareness about the concerns about captive hunting, which is also sometimes referred to as "canned hunting."

But the legislation cleared the House of Representatives last year, and is now on the verge of becoming law.

H7294, introduced by Rep. Scott Slater, D-Providence, cleared the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday, while S2732, introduced by Sen. Matthew LaMountain, D-Warwick, has already been approved by the full Senate.

The Department of Environmental Management came out in support of the proposed ban, as did groups including the Humane Society of the United States, the Rhode Island Veterinary Medical Association, The Nature Conservancy, and the Rhode Island Land Trust Council.

The Preserve, which previously hoped to legalize captive hunting, did not respond to a request for comment and has not taken a public stance on the issue in recent years.

The matching House and Senate bills would bar captive hunting, and also prevent native and non-native wildlife from being imported for that purpose. They include exemptions for the release of domestic game birds on public lands and shooting preserves, and the "field trials" conducted by local beagle clubs to train hunting dogs.

In other words, Woods said, the legislation wouldn't ban any activities that are currently occurring in Rhode Island.

"The intention is to prevent things that might happen in the future that we see as potentially damaging," he said.