On May 16, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke and other senior Department of the Interior (DOI) officials hosted a select group of hunting, fishing, and other wildlife conservation leaders to discuss their proposed reorganization of the department and other conservation priorities. Additionally, the implementation of Secretarial Order 3362, which seeks to improve western big game winter range and migration corridors within 11 Western States, was also discussed.
Among the meeting attendees were Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) President Jeff Crane, along CSF Board Members Simon Roosevelt (Olimpia Fund Management) and Phil Morlock (Shimano American Corporation).
“CSF is thankful for the leadership and commitment of Secretary Zinke and the Interior Department to America’s sportsmen and women. We look forward to working with sportsmen’s community partners and the Department on further implementation of Secretarial Order 3362,” said Crane.
Later in the day, DOI hosted a meeting with Casey Stemler, who was recently appointed as the Senior Adviser to the Director for Western States. In his role, Stemler will work to strengthen collaboration between DOI and western state fish and wildlife agencies to improve the habitat and populations of western big game species. During this meeting, Stemler discussed his vision to work in partnership with state fish and wildlife agencies, private land owners, and sportsmen’s conservation groups to successfully implement Secretarial Order 3362.
Studies conducted at both the state and federal level have found that the number of hunters and trappers have been on a generally declining trend over the past several decades. To increase recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) of hunters and trappers, which initiative do you think would have the greatest impact?
