Six months after launching the unprecedented national Unlocking Sportsmen’s Access campaign at the Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) reports that nearly 18,000 sportsmen have signed a petition to oppose the sale or transfer of federal public lands to the states.
More than 174,000 letters have been sent to local, state, and federal lawmakers to ask that they stand with sportsmen in opposing the seizure of federal lands, which would undoubtedly result in a loss of access for the nation’s hunters and anglers
“There can be no mistaking the position of hunters and anglers on the issue of federal lands transfer, the threat of which is very real,” said Whit Fosburgh, president and CEO of the TRCP. “We remain focused on crafting real solutions for improving federal land management, but we won’t hesitate to amplify the near-unanimous outcry from sportsmen and women opposed to the bad idea of offloading federal lands.”
During the 2015 Western state legislative season, a total of 37 bills were introduced in 11 states to promote the transfer of federal public lands to individual states. Only six bills in four states passed, but the fight still moved to Congress, where the Senate passed a non-binding budget resolution earlier this year that encourages lawmakers to “sell, or transfer to, or exchange with, a state or local government any Federal land that is not within the boundaries of a National Park, National Preserve, or National Monument…”
A letter signed by 114 national and state sportsmen’s groups from 10 western states was sent to Congress expressing opposition to “this misguided approach” for overhauling federal lands management and asking that lawmakers reject efforts to dispose of America’s public lands legacy. Among the national groups signing the letter besides TRCP were the Dallas Safari Club, National Wild Turkey Federation, :Pheasants Forever, Quail Unlimited, Wild Sheep Foundation and National Wildlife Federation.
