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Critical to the Future of Hunting
Federal public lands are an important destination for American hunters with millions of hunters relying on public lands for much of their hunting. Increasingly, hunters are reporting that problems with access have taken away from their enjoyment of hunting and have caused them to hunt less, and hunters view access as becoming an even greater problem in the future. When faced with a declining base of hunters, access becomes not just a point of frustration, but a very real barrier to recruiting and retaining hunters.
The issue of access is not new and concerns have been expressed in various forums for more than 40 years. More than a decade ago, Congress requested that the General Accounting Office (GAO) review the adequacy of public access to land managed by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The GAO subsequently published a report estimating that over 50 million acres of public lands had inadequate access. Other reports have similarly suggested that access to federal land is inadequate. However, more information about the nature and scope of the issue is needed before it can be adequately addressed.
The Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, with help from its conservation partners is taking a proactive role in researching the underlying issues and developing solutions to address the problems that are identified. |
Additional Resources:
Why is the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus working so hard? A message from CSF's Executive Director. click here.
CSF's Fall 2003 Newsletter was dedicated to the sportsmen's access issue with special articles by Outdoor Life's Jim Zumbo and Senator Wayne Allard, to download the newsletter click here.
These reports require Adobe Acrobat reader to view.
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