Hunting access, conservation funding, and the right to hunt and fish are all facing major battles nationwide.
The sportsmen’s policy landscape is moving fast, with more than 100 state-level policy wins already secured this year and hundreds more issues still in play. Brent Miller, Vice President of Policy at the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, breaks down the biggest victories, ongoing fights, and emerging threats facing hunters and anglers across the United States.
The conversation covers major progress on Sunday hunting in the Northeast, including expanded opportunities in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Connecticut. Miller also explains how no-net-loss laws are protecting hunting and fishing access, including 300,000 acres secured in South Carolina, and why conservation funding remains critical to state wildlife agencies and federal Pittman-Robertson and Dingell-Johnson funding.
The discussion also tackles hunter education in schools, efforts to strengthen the right to hunt and fish, and the defeat of Oregon IP 28, a ballot initiative that would have banned hunting, fishing, and trapping statewide. Colorado’s proposed constitutional right to hunt and fish is another major focus, along with the broader fight over ballot-box biology.
Looking ahead, Miller previews the National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses Summit, including controversial issues such as open fields, genetic modification of wildlife, and a new conservation literacy initiative designed to introduce young people to hunting, fishing, and the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.