We have mentioned on the MMA forum and Facebook how the state budget for 2023 has some significant dollars proposed for the MI-DNR Fisheries Division. MMA has sent letters of support to the subcommittees responsible for approving this part of the budget and Duke LeBaron represented MMA at the Senate subcommittee meeting. What we really need now is for our members to take action. Please take a few minutes in the next week to send an email your State of Michigan Senator and Representative. To make this as easy as possible we have provided links for you to look up your Senator and Representative and provided a form letter for you to cut and paste in your email, you just need to change the info in brackets to personalize the email. Finally, feel free to share this with all of your fishing friends because there can’t be too much support.

Here are the steps to email your state senator and representative about the proposed budget:

1. Locate your senator by address:
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Locate your representative by address:
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2. Compose email with their email address you found using the link(s) above
3. The subject line should be: FY 2023 Budget
4. Paste the following into the body of the email, don't forget to replace anything in brackets with the correct personal information.

Dear [Senator/Representative their Last name]

As an avid sportsman I urge you to support the DNR Fisheries Division funding requests for the 2023 proposed budget.

The DNR’s requests will provide much needed upgrades to equipment as well as a new coolwater facility for the Wolf Lake Hatchery. These investments will help to improve sport-fishing in Michigan. Sport-fishing is a significant source of recreation dollars, and increasing opportunity is important for anglers and communities across the state. As opportunity increases, license sales increase which provides funding directly as well as increased federal dollars through the Dingell-Johnson Act.

As a constituent and voter in your district I ask that you please support the proposed FY 2023 budget for Natural Resources.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your address]