On June 28, the Senate passed H.R. 2, the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018, also known as the Farm Bill, on a strong bipartisan vote of 86-11. Similar legislation was first introduced in the House by Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC) Member and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Michael Conaway (TX) on April 12 and passed the House on June 21.
The current Farm Bill, authorized in 2014, is set to expire in September. This legislation contains many vital conservation programs for our nation’s fish and wildlife, which also benefit America’s soil and water conservation efforts on private lands, farms, ranches, and forests.
The Conservation Title of the Farm Bill contains a number of pro-sportsmen’s provisions, including the Conservation Reserve Program, the Agriculture Conservation Easement Program, the Voluntary Public Access and Hunter Incentive Program, the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program.
More information on these and other programs and the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundations priorities for the Farm Bill reauthorization, can be found here.
This important piece of legislation will now go to a conference committee, where the differences in the House and Senate versions of the bill will be reconciled.
Studies conducted at both the state and federal level have found that the number of hunters and trappers have been on a generally declining trend over the past several decades. To increase recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) of hunters and trappers, which initiative do you think would have the greatest impact?
