PrintWhite House Conference Outcomes Focus on Access, Wildlife Habitat Enhancements and Recruitment
Bi-Partisanship will be the lifeline that will breed conservation into the next century
The historic meeting to launch the next century of wildlife conservation concluded with the announcement of a new program to increase access for hunters and a challenge to carry forward and implement a far-reaching recreational hunting and wildlife conservation plan.
The conference was the first time in one hundred years that a sitting President convened a meeting to address the challenges facing conservation. Over 500 participants, representing wildlife and hunting conservation organizations, the outdoor industry, landowners, and local, state, tribal and federal resource managers, discussed what is necessary to ensure sustainable wildlife populations and promote our nation's hunting heritage.
The week before the conference, CSF convened the largest inside the beltway gathering of conservation organizations, outdoor industry, state fish and wildlife agencies, federal agency heads and members of the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus to discuss bipartisan policy initiatives that will shape the future of hunting and wildlife conservation in the 21st century.
The common acknowledgement among the speakers and attendees was that the challenges facing fish and wildlife and sportsmen are significant and that each organization, state and federal agency, industry and the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus are willing and ready to pull together to chart the course into the future. Underlying that acknowledgement was the realization that bi-partisanship would be the lifeline that will breed conservation success into the next century.
"We believe this has been an inclusive process and that the action plan is something that will carry forward through the next decade and beyond, no matter who is in the White House or controlling Congress or state houses," remarked Jeff Crane, Vice Chairman of the Sporting Conservation Council and President of the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, at the conclusion of the conference.
"We are grateful for the leadership of this Administration in starting the discussions and 'teeing up' the action plan, but the success of this plan is dependent on all those who care about wildlife and the great outdoors, in particular the wildlife and hunting community and sportsmen in general, embracing the recommendations and carrying it forward."
"Through the leadership of this Administration we were charged with identifying our community's greatest challenges and outlining common-sense solutions that can be embraced by a broad spectrum of stakeholders," stated Bob Model, Chairman of the Boone & Crockett Club who chairs the Sporting Conservation Council a federal advisory committee chartered to advise the U.S. Departments of the Interior and Agriculture on wildlife and hunting issues.
"Their legacy is starting the process and now it is our opportunity to be the bridge to carry these recommendations forward and ensure that they are implemented. The conclusion of the Conference was by no means the culmination of a process, instead it is in fact the beginning of our work for the next decade and beyond."
One of the greatest barriers identified by the hunting community is access to quality hunting opportunities.
During the closing session of the Conference, Vice President Dick Cheney announced a new incentive payment through the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) to landowners who allow public hunting access on their property. Landowners who are enrolled in CRP will now be eligible for a $3 per acre incentive if they sign on to their state's hunting access program; the incentive is expected to open an additional 7 million acres of quality wildlife habitat for hunting.
"Without access to places to hunt, there will be an erosion of people who go hunting - this is one of the most fundamental issues we face today," commented David Nomsen Chairman of the American Wildlife Conservation Partners and Vice President for Government Affairs with Pheasants Forever/Quail Forever.
"Enhancing a program like CRP that has been so successful at protecting critical wildlife habitat by encouraging landowners to open that land for hunting creates a win-win-win situation for private landowners, habitat conservation and hunter access."
Over the course of the last year, the Sporting Conservation Council and members of the American Wildlife Conservation Partners have worked closely with other experts in the wildlife conservation community, the shooting and hunting industry, state and federal management agencies, and congressional leaders to outline major issues facing wildlife and hunting and to make recommendations to address these challenges.
The issue analysis and recommendations are documented in a series of white papers that formed the foundation for a preliminary ten-year Recreational Hunting and Wildlife Conservation Plan that was discussed at the Conference. The goal of the Conference was to ground-truth the action plan and to allow participants to take ownership of the implementation.
In all, Vice President Cheney announced the following new policies:
- A new goal to protect, restore, or improve an additional four million acres of wetlands over the next five years.
- An incentive, under the Conservation Reserve Program, for landowners who allow public hunting on their land.
- Tax incentives for landowners who donate conservation easements.
- New incentives for landowners to conserve wetlands on private lands by planting hardwood forests and providing habitat for waterfowl through the Conservation Reserve Program.
- A proposal to make permanent the Oil and Gas Pilots Offices at the Bureau of Land Management that gives wildlife biologists and State game departments a seat at the table in planning energy development on public lands.
- A proposal to authorize the Sporting Conservation Council to continue for 10 years to support progress on the 10-year Action Plan.
