Legislation to Ensure Sportsmen Access to Federal Public Lands Moves Forward

November 18, 2011 (Washington, DC) – The U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee reported legislation out of the Committee Thursday, with bipartisan support, that would ensure continued opportunities for sportsmen to fish, hunt, and shoot on Federal public lands.

H.R. 2834, the “Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act,” directs federal land management agencies to facilitate use of and access to public lands and waters for recreational fishing, hunting, and shooting when engaging in federal land use planning. 

"The Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus has been working alongside the sportsmen’s community on this legislation to allow Federal public land planners to evaluate the effects that management initiatives have on hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting, and provide a clear analysis of how proposed actions would affect sportsmen’s access to Federal public lands,” said Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) President Jeff Crane.

H.R. 2834 also affirms an “open until closed” management policy for these activities on Federal public lands managed by the USFS and the BLM and maintains states’ authority to manage fish and wildlife on Federal lands.

BLM and USFS lands designated as wilderness, wilderness eligible, or suitable and primitive or semi-primitive areas under provisions of the bill are considered “open” to all legal forms of hunting, fishing and recreational shooting unless there are legitimate reasons to close such areas. Additionally, the bill requires a transparent public process for any closure or restriction. BLM and USFS would be required to report to Congress on the closure or significant restrictions of 1280 or more cumulative acres of land normally used for hunting or fishing and related activities.

On a related policy issue earlier this week, the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council (WHHCC), a federal advisory committee to the Departments of Interior and Agriculture, submitted comments on the draft BLM Recreational Shooting Policies. In those comments, the WHHCC concluded the implementation of the draft policy could effectively remove recreational shooting off public lands, therefore diminishing public access to public lands.

“This draft BLM policy, if adopted, would make things very difficult for recreational shooters on public lands," said CSF Vice President and member of the WHHCC, Gary Kania. "The WHHCC submitted these comments looking for a revision of the proposed policies; hopefully, with the passage of H.R. 2834 we can help ensure the future of recreational shooting, hunting, and fishing is enhanced on our federal public lands.”

Upon hearing the concerns expressed by WHHCC about the draft BLM Shooting Range Policy, BLM issued a statement that in part stated, "We are in no way interested in banning recreational target shooting, hunting, or fishing—on the contrary, our goal is to develop guidance that will help land managers maximize and preserve opportunities for recreational shooting."

Also, H.R. 3117, the “Permanent Electronic Duck Stamp Act of 2011” was reported out of the Committee. This legislation grants the Secretary of the Interior the permanent authority to authorize states to issue electronic duck stamps. State management agencies will be able to issue stamps after consulting with the Secretary. The Fish and Wildlife Service estimates 27 percent of duck stamps are now sold electronically. The proceeds from the stamps make it possible to purchase and effectively manage more National Wildlife Refuges lands for hunting, fishing, and other recreational activities, and for this reason some individual hunters purchase multiple stamps.