To: ALL MEDIA
For immediate release

April 4, 2017

For more information contact:

Mike Bazinet
203-426-1320

NSSF Praises President Trump’s Signature to Rollback Federal Rule on Alaska’s Wildlife Management

NEWTOWN, Conn. — The National Shooting Sports Foundation® (NSSF®), the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industries, praised President Donald Trump’s signing of H.J. Res 69, overturning what is known as the Alaska Final Rule, first introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska).

“This joint resolution is crucial in restoring the cooperative relationship of state wildlife management agencies and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Wildlife management has long been entrusted to the states, where they are more able to recognize the impacts of decisions and adjust policies that ensure healthy and sustainable wildlife populations,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel. “President Trump is demonstrating his commitment to sportsmen and women by enacting this bipartisan and joint resolution that ends misguided and bureaucratic management decisions driven by political agendas in Washington, D.C.”

The signing of the joint resolution disapproves the rule that seized authority from Alaska to manage wildlife within the state’s borders. Instead, the rule gave Washington, D.C., final authority to manage wildlife, removing the authority of Alaska’s Department of Fish and Game for both non-subsistence and subsistence use.

The Alaska Final Rule was enacted Sept. 6, 2016, to curb predator hunting within Alaska’s National Wildlife Refuges. The rule, as it currently stands, applies to 16 federal wildlife refuges in Alaska, amounting to 76.8 million acres or 20 percent of the state – roughly equal in size to New Mexico.

Both Sen. Sullivan and Rep. Young argued the Washington, D.C., final rule on Alaska’s wildlife management violated law. If allowed to stand, the final rule could set precedent that the federal government would have last say over state fish and wildlife agencies, upsetting the successful state-federal relationship in National Wildlife Refuges (NWR).

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About NSSF
The National Shooting Sports Foundation is the trade association for the firearms industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of more than 12,000 manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations and publishers. For more information, visit www.nssf.org.