June 28, 2012
Appropriations Bill Includes Hunter-access Funding
The U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee today approved the fiscal year 2013 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill that includes $7.5 million to expand and enhance access for hunting, fishing and recreational shooting on U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management lands. Securing this funding has been a priority for the National Shooting Sports Foundation® (NSSF®) along with partner organizations such as the Boone and Crockett Club, NRA, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation and others.
If included in the final appropriations measure, the funding will allow the Forest Service and BLM to acquire rights-of-way and other land interests from willing-seller landowners to open access to existing federal lands for hunting and fishing where it is closed or significantly restricted.
“The biggest challenge facing hunters and shooters is diminishing access to public lands. This important appropriations provision addresses this challenge head-on, and the NSSF is deeply grateful to Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers and Interior Subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson for championing this cause,” said Larry Keane, senior vice president and general counsel of NSSF.
Read the full NSSF press release.
Categories: Government Relations, Hunting, Industry News, Shooting