WASHINGTON – The American Wildlife Conservation Partners, comprised of the nation’s top 50 sporting-conservation organizations, including founding member, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, have released Wildlife for the 21st Century, Volume 6 (W21). This publication will aid policymakers in the administration and the next two Congresses in making decisions that will help the future of conservation thrive.
Recommendations included in Volume 6 focus on conservation practices of fish, wildlife and their habitats across the nation. The implementation of sound, science-based conservation is important for the future of wildlife, and guidance provided through the AWCP coalition will lead wildlife conservation in a pragmatic direction. CSF played an active role in the development of W21 through the leadership of Andy Treharne, CSF’s Senior Director of Western States and Federal Policy, who serves on the AWCP Steering Committee.
These recommendations will also increase opportunities for sporting-related activities on federal lands and waters. Increasing access for sportsmen and women is critical to ensuring the future of our time-honored sporting traditions, conservation funding and the associated economic activity that hunting and recreational shooting provide the nation. Last year alone, sportsmen and women contributed nearly $2.96 billion to the American System of Conservation Funding. Sportsmen and women are the primary contributors to wildlife conservation, providing the majority of funding for state fish and wildlife agencies through purchases of sporting licenses and sporting equipment which generate revenue through excise taxes that are specifically directed towards conservation.
Wildlife for the 21st Century publications are developed every four years to define the sporting community’s priorities for the upcoming presidential term. The recommendations provided by the AWCP in this publication will benefit the future generations of sportsmen and women by supplying professional and science-based conservation management recommendations, showcasing initiatives that will increase hunting and recreational shooting participation for the future and providing overall guidance that highlights the needs of the sporting-conservation community to ensure our heritage remains for years to come.
This past four years saw many attempted environmental protection rollbacks, but also saw federal judges check the federal government’s decisions. The biggest include the blocking of the Keystone XL pipeline due to permit granting not taking into account how the project would affect endangered species. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline was also blocked by a Fourth Circuit Court Judge in Virginia, a decision which in addition to the decision on the KXL pipeline, were reasons the project was scrapped.
Despite these rollbacks, President Trump has also signed into law permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund and is expected to sign the Great American Outdoors Act: A bill that will permanently and fully fund the LWCF while providing $1.9 billion annually for the next five years to begin addressing the deep maintenance backlog on federal lands.
House of Representatives set to vote on landmark GAOA
The Great American Outdoors Act is the largest public lands funding package to receive an up-or-down vote in Congress in a lifetime, and the U.S. House of Representatives is set to take a final vote on the bill next Wednesday, setting the bill up to be sent to the President’s desk to be signed into law.
The House companion of the Great American Outdoors Act was introduced by Representative Joe Cunningham (R-S.C.), and the Senate companion was led by Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), with both versions of the bill receiving strong bipartisan support. GAOA passed the Senate last month, 73-25.
GAOA will provide $9.5 billion over five years to address the deferred maintenance backlog on federal public lands and waters, while permanently and fully funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund at $900 million a year. Further, $3 billion will be set aside from the $9.5 billion to restore the infrastructure on hundreds of millions of acres that collectively provide 25 million hunting days and 45 million fishing days for America’s sportsmen and women, while also ensuring that $15 million of LWCF funding is set aside for the purpose of increasing access for hunting, fishing, recreational shooting and other forms of outdoor recreation on public lands and waters.
To contact their representative in the House to urge a “yes” vote without any changes to the bill, sportsmen and women can call 202-224-3121.
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