One of Missouri’s most recognizable conservationists and business leaders is throwing his support behind Amendment 1 just days before voters head to the polls.

Johnny Morris, founder of Bass Pro Shops, is publicly backing the measure, with Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s locations across Missouri beginning a statewide effort to promote the constitutional amendment through Election Day. Customers at every Missouri Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s store will receive informational handouts supporting Amendment 1 in their shopping bags at checkout.

The effort provides supporters of the measure with a broad statewide platform during the final week of the campaign.

“As fellow conservationists, we must speak up to preserve the future of our state parks and to support conservation,” Bass Pro Shops said in a statement accompanying the campaign.

Amendment 1 would renew Missouri’s one-eighth-cent sales tax dedicated to parks, soils, forests, and fish and wildlife conservation. First approved by voters in 1984, the conservation sales tax has been renewed five times.

The Conservation Federation of Missouri praised Morris and Bass Pro Shops for supporting the measure.

“Johnny Morris and the company he founded have spent decades championing Missouri’s outdoor heritage, clean water, healthy forests, abundant fish and wildlife, and the parks and public lands that make our state special,” the organization said. “The Conservation Federation of Missouri thanks Johnny Morris, Bass Pro Shops, and Cabela’s for standing behind Missouri’s outdoor traditions and encouraging Missourians to vote YES on Amendment 1.”

The endorsement from Morris, whose Springfield-based company has long been synonymous with conservation and outdoor recreation in Missouri, comes during the final stretch of the campaign before the Aug. 4 primary election.

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