SSAA NSW

20 Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (NSW) Inc. Shut the gate on illegal hunting One of the key program initiatives of the Department of Primary Industries Game Licensing Unit, in conjunction with the NSW Police, is the 'Shut the Gate on Illegal Hunting'. Managed through Crime Stoppers it allows members of the community, landowners and hunters alike to report activities relating to illegal hunting and rural crime. This goes back to that term we keep hearing so often - 'Shared Responsibility'. We all have a shared responsibility to ensure that our chosen activities are not brought into disrepute and suddenly the focus of negative media or political campaign scaremongering. Unfortunately, the unethical and unlawful actions of just a few is all it takes to tarnish the good reputations of all other ethical, responsible and lawful hunters out there. That's why we all must take a stand and ensure that we report any suspicious and illegal behaviour to the correct authorities. For those of you who have had the chance to hunt in State Forests recently, you may have noticed new signs advertising the program. As well as new signs, DPI GLU have produced community awareness literature and a neat little movie to help promote this initiative. At the time of writing this feature there had only been 501 views of the movie which is posted on the DPI Hunting YouTube channel. If you haven't already seen it, we encourage you to view it and share it amongst your friends, and if you know a rural landowner that could benefi t from this initiative, make sure you share it with them too (https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=J99jtqp13-s&feature=youtu.be). There's also a new Private Landholder Kit containing private property signs, stickers and a range of other useful information to enable prompt reporting of incidents. So, if you know a landholder who is affected by illegal hunting and would benefi t from one of these packs, have them get in touch with the Game Licensing Unit via email game.licensing@dpi.nsw.gov.au.

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