On Wednesday, January 20, the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee is scheduled to hold a markup on the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act (S. 659).
In March 2015, after a testimony before Congress with various stakeholders and supporters, including Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) President Jeff Crane, the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act, S. 405, was split for two mark ups: S. 556 includes provisions that were marked up the Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee, and S. 659 includes the remaining provisions that will be reviewed by the EPW Committee. After the passage of S. 556, with overwhelming support from the ENR Committee in November, the second portion of the bill awaits its review in order to move forward to a full Senate floor vote.
S. 659 includes: the Hunting, Fishing, and Recreational Shooting Protection Act (adding lead fishing tackle and components to the list of exempted products from EPA regulation); Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act; Polar Bear Conservation and Fairness Act; Farmer and Hunter Protection Act; protecting the right of individuals to bear arms at water resource development projects; and the reauthorization of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act and the Multinational Species Conservation Funds Act.
In anticipation of next week’s markup, contact your Members of Congress on the Senate EPW Committee and urge them to support the interests of America’s sportsmen and women during the mark up of S. 659.
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?
