SCI, NRA and SAM Demand Maine Return Interest, Citing $11 Million in Federal Aid

Safari Club International, the National Rifle Association and the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine (SAM) sent a formal notice to Maine Attorney General Frey, they said in a release from San Antonio dated October 30, 2026. The notice challenges a practice they say has sent interest earned on Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IFW) funds to the state’s General Fund for more than three decades.

They estimate that tens of millions of dollars have been diverted. The groups say the practice violates the Maine Constitution and federal requirements on hunting and fishing license revenue. Article IX, Section 22 of the constitution requires that IFW appropriations reflect all revenue the department collects. In the groups’ reading, interest must be credited to IFW. They add that federal regulations on Pittman-Robertson funding also count interest earned on license revenue.

Pittman-Robertson, the federal Wildlife Restoration Act program, paid Maine more than $11 million in 2024 alone. That is nearly half of IFW’s annual appropriation. The money supports habitat improvement, fisheries and hatcheries, wildlife research, population management, and hunter recruitment and retention. Losing it, the groups warn, could sharply limit what IFW can do.

“Wildlife conservation depends on funding being used for its intended purpose, not diverted away from the agency responsible for managing these resources,” said W. Laird Hamberlin, chief executive of Safari Club International. “The state must address these concerns, account for the funds at issue, and ensure conservation resources are protected for the future.”

The notice makes three demands. Maine should end the diversion, credit interest to IFW going forward, and repay the accumulated funds the groups say were improperly retained in the General Fund.

Immediate corrective action is the ask. The groups say they are prepared to pursue all available remedies, including litigation, if the state fails to resolve the issue. The release gave no response date for Maine and no dollar total beyond “tens of millions.”