Why It Matters: Access to quality outdoor opportunities for sportsmen and women is one of the greatest limiting factors facing the sporting-conservation community. The Voluntary Public Access – Habitat Incentives Program (VPA-HIP) represents one solution to this challenge by providing landowners with financial and technical assistance in exchange for the provision of public access to their property for outdoor recreation. The recently introduced Voluntary Public Access Improvement Act would ensure that VPA-HIP receives a much-needed increase in funding and is included in the Farm Bill’s baseline moving forward.
Highlights:
- The bipartisan Voluntary Public Access (VPA) Improvement Act was recently introduced in both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate by Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC) Members Representatives Dingell and Johnson, Senators Daines and Bennett, and CSC Vice-Chair Senator Marshall.
- The VPA Improvement Act would increase VPA-HIP funding to $150 million over the life of the next Farm Bill while including the program in the Farm Bill’s baseline, ensuring its inclusion in the bill moving forward.
- The VPA Improvement Act is one of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation’s (CSF) top priorities for the next iteration of the Farm Bill.
Last week, bipartisan leaders and members of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate reintroduced the Voluntary Public Access (VPA) Improvement Act. Introduced in the House by CSC Members Representatives Dingell and Johnson and in the Senate by CSC Members Senators Daines and Bennett and CSC Vice-Chair Senator Marshall, the VPA Improvement Act would increase the Farm Bill’s Voluntary Public Access – Habitat Incentives Program (VPA-HIP) to $150 million while adding the program to the Farm Bill’s baseline.
The provisions of the VPA Improvement Act have long been a priority for the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation given the program’s role in promoting public access for sportsmen and women while rewarding landowners who voluntarily enroll their property in the program. Through VPA-HIP, state fish and wildlife agencies apply for program funding to create state-led public access programs. Landowners in participating states can then enroll their property, permitting public access for outdoor recreation in exchange for financial and technical assistance. Landowners retain the ability to set the terms for access to their property, ensuring that property rights are protected.
As one of the most limiting factors facing sportsmen and women today, providing access to quality properties through programs like VPA-HIP are widely supported by the sporting-conservation community. Further, participating landowners around the country have reported a high level of satisfaction with the program as well. Recognizing this, CSF applauds the reintroduction of the VPA Improvement Act and will continue to support this priority legislation’s inclusion in the next Farm Bill.
