In 2006, the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation encouraged Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to consider a policy shift that would allow hunters to manage overpopulated game species on National Park Service lands. In a series of meetings and letters, CSF urged the Secretary to take the necessary steps to authorize the use of hunters to assist the NPS in achieving its population management objectives as a first and favored option in national parks experiencing problems with game species populations.

Recently, two members of the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus introduced legislation to open the door for elk hunting in some national parks. Representative Mark Udall (D-CO) introduced the legislation to allow hunting to reduce the elk population in his home state’s Rocky Mountain National Park. Meanwhile, Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) introduced a bill to authorize the use of hunting as a management tool to reduce the elk population in his state's Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The issue has also garnered recent media coverage as debate continues.
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