Why It Matters: The passage of these bills marks the first time that either bill has passed its respective chamber. The Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act will help maintain access for sportsmen and women by ensuring that federal agencies do not arbitrarily or haphazardly ban traditional ammunition and fishing tackle. The Trust the Science Act recognizes that gray wolves have been recovered across the country and rightfully restores their primary management to state fish and wildlife agencies.
Highlights:
- Last week, the U.S. House of Representative passed two priorities for the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) on bipartisan votes.
- First, the House voted to pass H.R. 615, the Protecting Access for Hunters & Anglers Act, an important bill led by former Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC) Leader and current CSC Member Rep. Rob Wittman, to protect the use of traditional ammunition and fishing tackle on certain federal lands unless a specific criteria is met.
- Additionally, the House passed H.R. 764, the Trust the Science Act, which will delist the gray wolf across the lower 48 states and return the management authority of these recovered species to state fish and wildlife agencies.
- Prior to the vote, CSF conducted direct outreach to many Members of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus, including sending a House Caucus alert, to help secure a bipartisan floor vote.
Last Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted to pass the Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act as well as the Trust the Science Act on a bipartisan vote.
The Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act would prohibit the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior from banning the use of lead ammunition and fishing tackle on select federal lands and waters unless certain science-based triggers are met. The legislation does not remove the federal government’s ability to implement site-specific prohibitions on the use of traditional ammunition and fishing tackle, but rather establishes a criteria to be met. Specifically, the federal lands of focus include lands and waters managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Forest Service.
H.R. 615 would require that any claims indicating a decline in fish and wildlife populations at a specific unit of land or water where lead ammunition and tackle is being restricted must be substantiated through field data from that unit. Secondly, any restrictions on the use of lead ammo and tackle must be consistent with the regulations of the impacted state fish and wildlife agency. Lastly, any restriction on the use of lead ammunition and tackle within the federal lands of focus must have the support of the respective state fish and wildlife agency.
The Trust the Science Act would reinstitute the 2020 rule to delist the gray wolf in the lower 48 from the threatened and endangered species list, which was vacated by a district court in 2022. Gray wolf populations continue to experience an endless circle of being scientifically delisted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service only to be relisted by the courts for extraneous reasons. Unfortunately, the endless circle of scientific delisting and judicial reinstatement threatens to undermine the integrity of the Endangered Species Act. In states where wolves have been delisted, wolf populations continue to meet and exceed population goals. The opposition to delisting gray wolves is not rooted in science, but rather hangs on minor, extraneous challenges to delisting efforts that have no impact on the populations of wolves. This legislation would simply return the primary management authority of gray wolves to our state fish and wildlife agencies, but more importantly help harness this endless cycle of federal decisions and instant litigation.
The bills now head to the Senate for further consideration.
