Why It Matters: Maryland House Bill 741 and Senate Bill 634 contain a provision that will require the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to create a lead hunting ammunition phase-out plan on or before July 1, 2029. The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) encourages the legislature and the Department of Natural Resources to work together…
Over the past decade, several states have introduced regulations allowing these cartridges, which provide effective, safe hunting options in densely populated zones. Straight-walled cartridges are considered safer due to their lower velocity and reduced risk of over-penetration compared to traditional bottlenecked cartridges, making them ideal for areas with high population density. These cartridges also often…
Why It Matters: It is no secret that the Mid-Atlantic region (DE, MD, PA, VA, WV) plays an important role in our outdoor heritage. However, with the region also presents many challenges for sportsmen and women, conservation efforts generally. As 2024 ends, we can look back at the successes that are attributed to a strong…
Why It Matters: The 2024 Maryland Legislative Session adjourned, “Sine Die”, on Monday, April 8th. With that, five anti-sportsmen bills the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) engaged on failed, of which two egregious anti-sportsmen bills died as they did not pass out of both chambers before the deadline. Senate Bill 983 (SB 983) would have started…
Why It Matters: Maryland Senate Bill 983 seeks to require the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to create a lead hunting ammunition phase-out plan and ammunition verification process by December 31, 2026. The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) encouraged the legislature and the Department of Natural Resources to work together to instead consider implementing voluntary,…
Why It Matters: Currently, if you go game bird hunting in Maryland and Delaware, you can only do so Monday-Saturday. Maryland House Bill 778 (MD HB 778) seeks to remove the legislative prohibition on Sunday migratory game bird hunting (waterfowl and dove), while Delaware House Bill 271 (DE HB 271) seeks to remove the Sunday…
Why It Matters: Maryland State Senator Jack Bailey, representing the 29th Legislative District (Calvert and St. Mary’s Counties), was presented with the 2023 National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucus’ (NASC) Heritage Award for the Northeastern Region during the 20th Annual NASC Sportsman-Legislator Summit held in Dewey Beach, DE from December 5-8, 2023. Sen. Bailey was recognized…
Opportunities to expand angling access throughout the country have become increasingly limited in recent years due to increases in private ownership along waterways and attendant riparian rights limiting new access construction. State authorities often have the opportunity to expand fresh water angling access through the establishment of access points when state highway transportation departments are…
Many sportsmen and women depend on federal lands managed by agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for access to activities like hunting, fishing and recreational shooting. As these agencies develop strategies to manage federal lands, it is critical for those who support these activities…
“No-Net-Loss” of public lands has become increasingly important to ensure access to public lands and waterways for current and future generations of sportsmen and women. Sometimes referred to as “Hunting Heritage Protection Acts,” these policies limit the loss of access to hunting and fishing opportunity by establishing a minimum acreage of publicly- owned areas open…
Sunday hunting bans are one of the last remaining examples of the puritanical blue laws that were initially designed to encourage church attendance. At the time when these restrictions were first put in place, other activities that were illegal on a Sunday included opening a store for business, drinking alcoholic beverages, and tilling your fields….
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a progressive, fatal, degenerative neurological disease occurring in farmed and free-ranging deer, elk, caribou, and moose. The disease was first recognized in 1967 as a clinical ‘wasting’ syndrome of unknown cause in captive mule deer in Colorado. CWD belongs to the family of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs)….