Why it Matters: Nearly two weeks ago, Congress passed and the President signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB). Included in the legislation are a number of provisions that will have a direct impact on sportsmen and women, fish and wildlife, and our nation’s lands and waters. Notably absent from the OBBB was language to mandate the disposal of certain federal public lands, which the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) worked hard to defeat.
Highlights:
- On July 4, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the comprehensive bill that has been the focus of Congress since the beginning of the 119th Congress in January, was signed into law.
- While this legislation is a large and all-encompassing, there are a few particular provisions of note that will impact sportsmen and women across the country.
Importantly, the OBBB omitted the mandate to sell-off certain federal public lands across 11 western states, which was an effort strongly opposed by CSF. While there were a number of proposals to sell off public lands that were considered throughout the process of developing the OBBB, CSF strongly opposed the consideration of any public land disposal through this process. As a result of CSF’s efforts, the language to mandate the sale of certain public lands was ultimately removed from the final bill that became law.
The OBBB included a provision to reduce the $200 National Firearms Act Form-4 tax stamp to $0 for the purchase of firearm suppressors and certain types of firearms. Prior to the enactment of the OBBB, each time an individual purchased a suppressor they needed to pay a one-time $200 tax stamp. Under new law, individuals will no longer have to pay the $200 for the tax stamp each time they purchase a suppressor, but they must still file the requisite paperwork and undergo the attendant background check.
Additionally, several of the Farm Bill’s conservation programs and previous investments made through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 are now officially considered to be part of the Farm Bill’s baseline. This means that current funding levels will serve as the base once Congress begins the hard work of writing the next iteration of the Farm Bill. Likewise, the OBBB language for these programs removed many of the climate limitations that, as pointed out by many within the sporting-conservation community, failed to include many key practices that benefit wildlife habitat and mitigate impacts commonly attributed to climate change. This bill also included $105 million to continue the successful Feral Swine Eradication and Control Program and, most important to hunters and anglers, included $70 million for the Voluntary Public Access – Habitat Incentive Program (VPA-HIP) which provides financial incentives for private landowners to voluntarily open their properties to public hunting access in many states.
Further, the OBBB includes significant forest management provisions to support the long-term sustainability of U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands by improving forest resilience to wildfire and other threats through increased timber sales. Specifically, the reconciliation bill directs the USFS to increase the volume of timber sold over the next ten fiscal years by a minimum of 250 million board feet annually more than the prior fiscal year and directs the BLM to increase the volume of timber sold over the same period by a minimum of 20 million board feet annually more than the previous fiscal year. Additionally, the OBBB aims to provide stability by requiring the USFS to enter a minimum of 40 20-year timber sale contracts and requiring the BLM to enter at least five 20-year timber sale contracts. The mandated and incrementally increasing timber sales align with Executive Order 14225, Immediate Expansion of Timber Production; Secretary’s Memorandum 1078-006, Increasing Timber Production and Designating an Emergency Situation on National Forest System Lands; and the USFS’s new National Active Forest Management Strategy. After two and a half decades of relatively stagnant federal timber sales that resulted in overstocked, unproductive forests for wildlife, the increased timber harvests will improve habitat diversity and increase forest resiliency to support fish and wildlife habitat and access for hunters and anglers.
