Why It Matters: As an experienced leader in forestry and public lands management, Tom Schultz will guide a multiple-use mission agency that has significantly reduced its timber harvesting levels over the last few decades – to the detriment of forest health, wildlife habitat, communities, and the sportsmen and women that recreate on and nearby national…
Why It Matters: Each year, legislators across the country and in West Virginia, introduce well-meaning legislation that provides free and discounted hunting, fishing, and trapping licenses for certain qualified individuals/groups. However, these initiatives have the potential to have negative impacts on the state’s fish and wildlife agency’s budget. To prevent the loss of sportsmen-generated dollars…
Why It Matters: Colorado SB25-003 (SB3) many semi-automatic rifles and shotguns commonly used by America’s sportsmen and women in hunting and recreational shooting. However, after multiple rounds of amendments, SB3 now seeks to impose new permitting requirements for gun owners. Modern sporting rifles and semi-automatic shotguns are not only important to our hunting heritage but…
Why It Matters: South Carolina has more than 12.6 million acres of private working forests and public forests that support the state’s economy and provide habitat for fish and wildlife, open space, and places for people to hunt and fish. As the state’s forest industry faces challenges that may depress forest management activity, coupled with…
Why It Matters: In recent years, as southern coastal states face rapid influxes of new residents, efforts to conserve lands open to public hunting access remain front and center for sportsmen and women. Proactive measures to establish a “no-net-loss” of public hunting access will protect sportsmen and women’s ability to get outdoors, and in return,…
Why It Matters: Across the country, hunters, anglers, recreational shooters, and trappers shoulder the responsibility of funding state fish and wildlife agencies through the American System of Conservation Funding (ASCF). However, due to constantly increasing staffing and programmatic costs, supplemental funding sources outside of the traditional ASCF model are critical to these agencies’ ability to…