STATE OF NEW JERSEY
214th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2010 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman BRIAN E. RUMPF
District 9 (Atlantic, Burlington and Ocean)
Assemblyman HERB CONAWAY, JR.
District 7 (Burlington and Camden)
Assemblywoman DIANNE C. GOVE
District 9 (Atlantic, Burlington and Ocean)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywomen Greenstein, Wagner and Assemblyman Moriarty
SYNOPSIS
Establishes, in the Division of Fish and Wildlife in DEP, a program to encourage school children to avoid drug use and appropriates $200,000 therefor from Drug Enforcement and Demand Reduction Fund.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act establishing a program to encourage school children to avoid drug use, supplementing Title 23 of the Revised Statutes, and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. There is established in the Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Fish and Wildlife, a program for school age children which shall be based on the national program developed by the Future Fisherman Foundation that encourages school-aged children to avoid drug use by providing them with alternative activities that involve learning to fish, appreciating aquatic and environmental resources, and developing positive life skills. The division shall assign at least one full-time staff person to develop strategies for assisting school districts or other interested public service organizations in every county of the State in implementing this program. Statewide program implementation shall be modeled after the similar pilot program implemented in Ocean County in calendar year 2000, which shall include, but not be limited to, the distribution of materials to promote and operate the program throughout the State.
b. The division shall work with educational, public safety and environmental groups in order to promote volunteerism among these groups for the purpose of acting as program instructors, mentors or advisors. The division shall also work with public service organizations, sportsman groups and local merchants to encourage the donation of technical, material and financial assistance to the program.
2. The division shall collect and maintain data on the program and provide, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), an annual report to the Legislature including information on the number of school districts or municipalities that have implemented the program and the number of pupils that are participating in the program. The report shall also include information on the effectiveness of the program in terms of drug usage avoidance or incidents among participating students.
3. The Department of Environmental Protection shall adopt, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), such rules and regulations as may be necessary to effectuate the provisions of this act.
4. There is appropriated the sum of $200,000 from the Drug Enforcement and Demand Reduction Fund, established pursuant to N.J.S.2C:35-15, to the Department of Environmental Protection to fund the cost of implementing the fishing program established pursuant to this act. The Legislature, to the extent possible, shall ensure that sufficient appropriations from the Drug Enforcement and Demand Reduction Fund are included every year in the annual appropriations act to maintain the operation of the program.
5. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
The bill establishes, in the Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Fish and Wildlife, a program to encourage school children to avoid drug use by providing them with alternative activities that involve learning to fish, appreciating aquatic and environmental resources, and developing positive life skills.
The program is based on an award-winning, nationally recognized program developed by the Future Fisherman Foundation, the educational arm of the American Sportfishing Association, that focuses on preventing drug use by school age children through an interdisciplinary program that includes sport fishing, aquatic resource education, and life skill development. One of the program's primary purposes, besides increasing a youth's angling skills, is to enhance the development of self-esteem, civic values, family and community relationships, and environmental awareness, all of which are life skills that hopefully will divert children from using drugs.
The Division of Fish and Wildlife launched a similar program in Ocean County in 2000. The bill establishes the program on a Statewide basis by enabling the division to implement at least one operating program in each county. The bill's appropriation would support the initial salary costs of a full-time program director, who would oversee and coordinate a predominantly volunteer staff. This funding would also be used to purchase fishing kits, an essential part of the program, and other program materials.