On April 15, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF), along with 67 other conservation organizations, sent a letter to the House Natural Resources Committee, urging them to reauthorize the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act (FLTFA) (H.R. 1651).
Introduced by Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC) Members, Congressman Dan Newhouse (WA) and Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis (WY) in March, FLTFA is a crucial piece of legislation that would enable Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Forest Service, and National Park Service to sell public land for ranching, community development, and other projects. It would support conservation projects that increase public access for hunting, angling, and other outdoor recreation in the western United States. Additionally, the revenue would provide funding to conserve wildlife habitat, protect water quality, and preserve historic and cultural resources.
First enacted in 2000, FLTFA expired in 2011, giving BLM little capacity to sell land to private landowners. Consequently, without adequate funding from the sale of these lands there is insufficient funding for critical conservation projects.
According to the support letter, FLTFA will “provide benefits for local economies, communities, agencies, conservation and the West.”
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?
