TOPEKA — A bill that would allow Kansas landowners to resell their permits to hunt white-tail deer to non-Kansas residents has barely passed the state House.
The vote Wednesday was 63-60 and sent the measure to the Senate.
Some rural legislators see the bill as an economic-development measure. Republican Rep. Ken Corbet of Topeka has said it could bring 4,500 tourists a year to Kansas to hunt.
Republican Rep. Joe Seiwert of Pretty Prairie said the additional hunting would decrease the number of vehicle crashes involving deer.
But some state officials have worried the bill would increase poaching by trophy hunters while limiting access to Kansas residents. The Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism opposed the measure.
A similar program two decades ago was suspended after poaching and violations of permit-transfer rules.
