On October 22, President Donald Trump and Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced the nomination of Aurelia Skipwith to be Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Skipwith currently serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and is responsible for stewardship of national park and wildlife refuge system lands…
By Bee Frederick, Southeastern States Director On November 6, Georgia voters will have the opportunity to establish the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Fund at the ballot box with Amendment 1. If passed, the constitutional amendment would dedicate 80 percent of the existing excise tax – without raising taxes or creating any new fees – on outdoor…
Recently, the Hunting and Shooting Sports Conservation Council (HSSCC) submitted recommendations to the Departments of Agriculture and Interior related to increasing hunting opportunities and enhancing wildlife management on federal lands. Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) President and HSSCC Chairman Jeff Crane recently signed a letter to Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke and another letter to…
By Brett Stayton, Mid-Atlantic States Coordinator On October 15, two bills aimed at further expanding the prohibitions on bear hunting were introduced in the New Jersey State Senate Environment and Energy Committee. Senate bill 3007 would require the New Jersey Fish and Game Council to update the state’s comprehensive black bear management policy on an…
On October 9 – 11, the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board held a meeting to approve a suite of recommendations on horse and burro management for the BLM. The panel, which is composed of nine members representing a wide array of interests, voted to recommend that the BLM use…
By John Culclasure, Central Appalachian States Manager On October 12, a coalition of sportsmen’s conservation organizations submitted a letter to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (WRC) encouraging the agency to move forward with rulemaking to open Sunday hunting on Game Lands. In 2017, the Outdoor Heritage Enhanced legislation was signed into law, removing the…