July 7, 2025

NSSF Applauds President Establishing the ‘Make America Beautiful Again Commission’

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — NSSF^®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, applauds President Donald Trump’s Executive Order Establishing the  “Make America Beautiful Again” Commission. President Trump signed the Executive Order on July 3, which will prioritize expanding public land access for hunting and encourage wildlife conservation efforts through proactive, voluntary, on-the-ground collaborative efforts.

“President Trump’s Executive Order is a significant step toward ensuring public lands continue to be places where the public can safely practice and pass along the traditions of hunting and recreational target shooting,” said Joseph Bartozzi, NSSF President and CEO. “Equally important is the commitment to sustainable wildlife conservation. Thriving wildlife across America is successful only through the investments by hunter-conservationists and firearm and ammunition manufacturers that pay the overwhelming share of excise tax dollars to fund this vital effort. America’s successful wildlife conservation is the envy of the world. Conservation-minded policies keep us connected to the lands and the wildlife we enjoy.”

President Trump’s “Make America Beautiful Again” Commission will be chaired by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. The commission’s focus will be on conserving America’s national treasures and natural resources, facilitating interagency coordination on conservation efforts, providing the president with actionable recommendations to improve conservation efforts, developing policies to recover fish and wildlife populations through collaboration over regulation and including state wildlife agencies in those efforts.

Key to these efforts will be developing policies that will expand access to public lands, national parks, national forests and wildlife refuges to promote outdoor recreational activities, including hunting.

President Trump’s Executive Order noted that hunters, hikers, anglers and outdoorsmen and women have been stripped of their ability to access public lands through mismanagement of public land resources, regulatory overreach and neglect of routine maintenance. The Executive Order also recognized that bureaucratic restrictions have undermined outdoor traditions and threatened conservation funding. Additionally, President Trump noted that since the NSSF-supported Great American Outdoors Act was signed into law, the outdoor recreation economy has grown to $1.2 trillion in economic output and comprises 3.1 percent – or 5 million – jobs in the United States.

President Trump’s Executive Order follows Secretary Burgum’s Secretarial Order to begin implementing key provisions of the NSSF-supported Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences (EXPLORE) Act, which was signed into law last year. The EXPLORE Act includes the NSSF-priority Range Access Act, which requires the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), after consultation with local stakeholders, to build recreational shooting ranges in each BLM district and National Forest in areas where opportunities do not already exist. These opportunities will allow for more access to public shooting ranges for target practice, to sight in rifles and shotguns before the hunting season and venues for in-person hunter safety education courses, all without competing against private ranges that offer the same opportunities.

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About NSSF
NSSF is the trade association for the firearm industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of thousands of manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations and publishers nationwide. For more information, visit nssf.org.

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Media contact:
Mark Oliva
202-220-1340

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