Contact: John Culclasure, Southeastern States Assistant Director On November 11, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’ (DGIF) Agency Advisory Group (AAG) convened in Richmond to discuss wildlife conservation issues in the Commonwealth. Attended by representatives from national and in-state sportsmen’s groups, the AAG meeting provided a forum for Virginia’s hunting and fishing community …
Virginia: CSF Participates in Agency Advisory Group Meeting Read More »
On December 12, the U.S. Senate confirmed Ms. Aurelia Skipwith to serve as the next Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on a bipartisan vote. In advance of today’s vote, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) and 27 other sporting-conservation organizations sent a letter to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee urging the Committee to …
Senate Confirms U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Read More »
On December 10, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass the Coastal and Great Lakes Communities Enhancement Act (H.R. 729). This package of bills contains two priority fisheries conservation funding provisions for the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF), including the National Fish Habitat Conservation Through Partnerships Act (NFHP) and the Great Lakes Fishery Research Authorization Act. …
House Votes to Advance Priority Fisheries Conservation Bills Read More »
Following efforts by the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) and partners in the sporting-conservation community, Congress continues to seek more ways to address the spread and prevalence of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). In total over the last 11 months, Congress has held two oversight hearings, two legislative hearings, included funding in appropriations bills, and introduced a …
Congressional Efforts to Address CWD Continue to Gain Momentum Read More »
Contact: John Culclasure, Southeastern States Assistant Director On November 25, Florida Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus Member Representative Tommy Gregory pre-filed legislation that would increase harassment protections for sportsmen and women and create a sales tax holiday for hunting and fishing supplies. Specifically, House Bill 777 would augment the statute prohibiting harassment of hunters, anglers and trappers …
Contact: Ellary TuckerWilliams, Inter-Mountain Western States Coordinator In a recent lawsuit filed by the Western Watersheds Project, WildEarth Guardians and Wilderness Watch against the US Forest Service (USFS) and US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), environmental groups aim to ban bear-baiting in both Idaho and Wyoming, claiming that these federal agencies are violating the Endangered …
Contact: Ellary TuckerWilliams, Inter-Mountain Western States Coordinator On November 21, the New Mexico Game Commission unanimously voted to approve a proposed regulation, prohibiting recreational trapping of cougars within the state for the 2020-2024 seasons. The attack on sportsmen’s trapping traditions and heritage in New Mexico ramped up during the 2019 legislative session after an extremely …
Contact: Brent Miller, Senior Director, Northeastern States On November 20, pro-sportsmen legislation introduced by New York Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus Member Senator Patrick Gallivan – which increases penalties for those who violate hunting, fishing, and trapping laws – was signed into law by the Governor. The law-abiding sportsmen’s community honors a strong tradition of ethics and …
New York: State Increases Punishment for Fish and Wildlife Violators Read More »
On December 5, the House Natural Resources Committee voted to pass the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act and the Modernizing the Pittman-Robertson Fund for Tomorrow’s Needs Act on a strong bipartisan vote, two top priority pieces of legislation for the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF). Since the beginning of this Congress, CSF has worked to help introduce and advance …
House Committee Passes Two Top Priority Conservation Bills Read More »
On Wednesday, November 27, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, the Democratic Co-Chair of the Governor’s Sportsmen’s Caucus, signed into law S. 147, marking the most significant progress ever realized in the effort to overturn the state’s more than three-centuries old prohibition on Sunday hunting for game species. In recognition of today’s significant victory for the Pennsylvania hunting community, Governor …
Historic Sunday Hunting Bill Signed into Law in Pennsylvania Read More »
Contact: Andy Treharne, Senior Director of Western States Last week, the District Court for the City and County of Denver affirmed the Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) Commission’s ability to study wildlife dynamics in two areas of Colorado where mule deer populations have declined from historic levels. Consistent with the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation’s recognition …
On November 12, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) joined with other partners in the firearms and hunting community to support the nomination of Kenneth Charles “Chuck” Canterbury, Jr. to be the next director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). Eleven organizations, including CSF, penned a letter to Senator Lindsay Graham, …
Contact: John Culclasure, Central Appalachian States Manager On November 21, the House Criminal Justice Committee discussed knife ban repeal legislation (Senate Bill 140). The bill previously passed the Senate with strong bipartisan support (32-1) on June 27. Originally sponsored by former Ohio Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus Co-Chair Senator Joe Uecker, SB 140 would repeal the prohibition …
Ohio: Knife Ban Repeal Legislation Discussed in Committee Read More »
From November 12-15, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) hosted the 16th Annual National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses (NASC) Sportsman-Legislator Summit in Greensboro, GA. At the awards banquet on the final evening of the Summit, members of CSF’s States Program Team recognized caucus members from each region who made significant contributions to hunting and fishing policy …
Sportsmen’s Caucus Leaders Honored at Annual NASC Sportsman-Legislator Summit Read More »
By Chris Horton, Senior Director of Midwestern States and Fisheries Program Accountability is a word that often gets thrown around in the ongoing feud between recreational and commercial anglers. For me, watching and participating in the Gulf of Mexico red snapper war for almost a decade, one of the most frustrating aspects has been how some …
On November 20, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 925, the North American Wetlands Conservation Extension Act (NAWCA), on a bipartisan suspension vote. Introduced by Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC) member Rep. Mike Thompson (CA), H.R. 925 will authorize $60 million annually through Fiscal Year 2024 to conduct on-the-ground wetland conservation projects across North America. Prior to …
On November 20, the Hunting and Shooting Sports Conservation Council (HSSCC) held a meeting to discuss pressing issues facing the hunting and shooting sports community, and were joined by the Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, and other senior officials from the Departments of the Interior (DOI) and Agriculture (USDA). The HSSCC, …
On November 19, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (Committee) voted to advance the nomination of Ms. Kate MacGregor to serve as Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Interior. In addition, the Committee also voted to advance the Land and Water Conservation Fund Permanent Funding Act (S. 1081). Both actions passed on a …
Senate Committee Advances Important Interior Nominee and Conservation Funding Bill Read More »
Nearly 50 bipartisan legislators and leaders from state fish and wildlife agencies from more than 25 states gathered in Greensboro, Georgia for the 16th Annual National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses (NASC) Sportsman-Legislator Summit. Hosted by the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF), this year’s Summit theme was “Partners Advancing America’s Conservation Movement: NASC, Fish & Wildlife Agencies, …
Contact: Aoibheann Cline, Western States Coordinator On November 2, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation attended the 2019 Sportsmen’s Rendezvous in Anchorage, Alaska, hosted by the Outdoor Heritage Foundation of Alaska (OHFA). The Sportsmen’s Rendezvous brought together Alaska Outdoor Heritage Caucus (Caucus) members, state and federal agencies, and non-government organization (NGO) partners from across Alaska. OHFA is …
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