Why It Matters: To properly conserve natural resources and provide quality hunting and fishing opportunities, state fish and wildlife agencies are charged with a long list of responsibilities. Growing operational costs necessitate adjustments to the revenue that is generated through the American System of Conservation Funding and its complements to ensure that our time-honored outdoor …
CSF-Backed Conservation Funding Bills Receive Hearings in Michigan and Wisconsin Read More »
Why It Matters: Since 1950, the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration program has provided vital funding to state natural resources agencies for fisheries conservation and boating access. Amended in 1984 (also known as the Wallop-Breaux Amendment), the program got a significant boost in the form of excise taxes on marine fuels and small engines. …
Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund Reauthorization Introduced Read More »
Why It Matters: There was no shortage of legislation impacting hunters and anglers in the Magnolia State during the 2025 legislative session. Everything from protecting conservation funding from free and discounted hunting and fishing licenses, creating a new wild turkey stamp, ensuring that poachers pay restitution back to the state for illegally taking wild game held …
Recapping the Sporting-Conservation Issues of the Mississippi Legislative Session Read More »
Why It Matters: The Wyoming Travel, Recreation, Wildlife, and Cultural Resources (TRWC) Committee’s interim work sets the stage for the 2026 budget session, directly impacting sportsmen and women through policies on hunting licenses, wildlife management, and habitat conservation. Engaging now ensures that sportsmen and women play a key role in shaping Wyoming’s future. Highlights: The …
Wyoming Legislative Committee Shapes 2026 Legislative Priorities Read More »
Why It Matters: For many years, some states have maintained vague, outdated laws banning the sale, possession, use, and manufacture of certain types of knives. It is not uncommon for many dated, unnecessary statutes to remain on the books for years and become largely ignored. However, these state laws can still cause legal issues if …
Pro-Knife Legislation Advances in the Northeast as Sessions Wind Down Read More »
Why It Matters: Sportsmen’s issues are fundamentally intertwined with firearms issues, given that firearms of every kind are routinely used in hunting and recreational shooting. Additionally, approximately 80% of Pittman-Robertson funding comes from firearms and ammunition purchases made by recreational shooters. While many hunters may wish to stay out of gun politics, the fact remains …
Guns in the Golden State, Again: Two Bad Bills Bite the Dust Read More »
Why It Matters: The interests of South Carolina’s sportsmen and women were well represented at the State House during the 2025 legislative session. There was proposed legislation that ranged from seeking to protect public hunting access, to making fundamental changes to fisheries management, to educating the next generation of sportsmen and women. While it was …
Why It Matters: The red snapper season in the South Atlantic lasted only 24 hours in 2024. A proposed Secretarial Amendment to the Snapper-Grouper Fishery Management Plan would have provided a few more days in 2025, but it came with an unacceptable tradeoff of a large area closure to all bottom fishing for three months. …
Bottom Fishing Closures Off the Table – What’s Next for Atlantic Red Snapper Management? Read More »
Why It Matters: Bipartisan victories, particularly those regarding firearms, seem to be an increasingly rare occurrence these days. However, Oklahoma’s recent passage of Senate Bill 50 highlights the opportunities that exist to enact meaningful legislation designed to support the safe and responsible handling and storage of firearms while protecting the rights of law-abiding sportsmen and …
Oklahoma Passes Sales Tax Exemption for Firearm Safety Devices, Including Gun Safes Read More »
Why It Matters: On May 14, 2025, “The State Assault Weapons Ban Act” (S. 359) was heard by the Rhode Island Senate Judiciary Committee. A companion bill (H. 5436) had previously mirrored this path in its respective chamber earlier this year. This sweeping anti-firearm package would impact commonly owned rifles, shotguns and handguns with significant …
Rhode Island State “Assault” Weapons Ban Imminent Read More »
Why It Matters: Thanks to the conservation management efforts of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and their partners, utilizing funding generated in large part by hunters through the American System of Conservation Funding, data supports establishing a highly regulated hunting season for black bears in Florida. This would provide hunters with the …
FWC Takes Step Towards Re-Establishing Black Bear Hunting Season in Florida Read More »
Why It Matters: Conserving private forests is critical to maintaining habitat for fish and wildlife as well as access for hunters and anglers. Whether it is a large tract of timberland or a small family-owned parcel, private forestland provides places across the country for sportsmen and women to recreate. The conversion of forests to non-forest …
CSF-Priority Legislation to Conserve Forestland Introduced in House Read More »
Why It Matters: Given the composition of Missouri’s Constitution, opportunities for legislator involvement in hunting and fishing policy are few and far between. However, this has not prevented the Missouri Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus from being an active member of the National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses (NASC), working closely with the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation and partners …
Why It Matters: The Hawai’i Wildlife Conservation and Game Bird Stamp Art Contest highlights the intersection between art, hunting, and conservation. Showcasing native and introduced species while supporting critical wildlife management programs, funds from stamp sales directly bolster Hawai’i’s Wildlife Revolving Fund, ensuring sustainable habitats and hunting opportunities for future generations. The initiative underscores the …
Hawai’i DLNR Announces Wildlife Conservation and Game Bird Stamp Contest Winners Read More »
Why It Matters: The use of ballot initiatives in states that allow them is on the rise, and we are seeing more and more efforts to use the polls to undermine, and potentially ultimately ban, hunting, this time by targeting the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission. The Commission process exists to provide the opportunity for …
Mountain Mobocracy: Yet Another Anti-Conservation Ballot Initiative Proposed in Colorado Read More »
Why It Matters: Southern flounder are among the most popular targeted species of saltwater fish in North Carolina and along most of the South Atlantic. Striking a balance between recreational and commercial anglers is critical to conserving this commonly targeted species and ensuring access for North Carolina’s recreational anglers. Highlights: The North Carolina Southern Flounder …
Parity on the Horizon for North Carolina’s Recreational Flounder Anglers Read More »
Why It Matters: The 2025 West Virginia legislative session was a productive one with Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation engaging early and often on many issues of concern for West Virginia’s sporting community. During legislative sessions, policies that are formed in state’s capitols impact what we do on the water and afield and, fortunately for the sportsmen …
Why It Matters: The Iowa legislative session saw its fair share of sportsmen and women-related bills introduced this year. The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) was active in engaging on legislation that had negative impacts on conservation funding, enshrining the right to hunt, fish, and trap in the state constitution, and establishing a curriculum for firearms, …
Why It Matters: School is where students should be exposed to ideas that they aren’t exposed to at home – and with fewer hunters in the fields and woods, there are fewer hunters to learn from. Offering hunter education in schools stands to expose more prospective hunters to the thrills and tenets of our sporting-conservation …
Why It Matters: The MAPOceans Act introduced last week in the House will require the federal agency with the most U.S. waters under their jurisdiction, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), to digitize and map public information about federal fishing and boating restrictions in marine waters and make timely, updated information readily available to …
Bill To Better Inform Anglers and Boaters in Marine Waters Introduced in House Read More »
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