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Senate Committee Will Hold Hearing On Bill Establishing New Guidelines For Filming Hunting And Fishing Programs On Federal Lands

Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation

Washington, DC --(AmmoLand.com)- The United States Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests has scheduled a hearing on April 28 concerning S. 1241, sponsored by CSC Senate Vice-Chair Sen. Jon Tester.

This legislation would establish new guidelines for filming hunting and fishing programs on federal lands.

Along with companion legislation filed last year in the U.S. House, H.R. 2031, sponsored by CSC House Co-Chair Rep. Dan Boren, and co-sponsored by six CSC members including Co-Chair Rep. Paul Ryan, S. 1241 would direct the Secretary of Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to create an annual permit and fee for commercial filming activities on Federal land for film crews of 5 persons or less.

Currently, fees and permits are used to help offset any impact made to public lands, but for the average hunting or fishing program the present rate is completely incompatible with the impact they actually make. The criteria for granting permits are most often inconsistently applied at the discretion of regional managers.

S. 1241 and H.R. 2031 would create a separate guideline and fee schedule to be truly reflective of the impact small crews’ activity has on the Federal land.

About:
The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2009. Throughout this time, CSF has maintained a singleness of purpose that has guided the organization to become the most respected and trusted hunting and fishing organization in the political arena. Visit: www.sportsmenslink.org

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Supreme Court Agrees With SCI and Strikes Down Law That Could Criminalize Hunting Videos

Safari Club Internationa

Washington, DC –-(AmmoLand.com)- The U.S. Supreme Court today, in United States v. Stevens, struck down a federal law that could have criminalized the sale of hunting videos.

As reported on AmmoLand.com Safari Club International and the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation joined to file an amicus (friend of the Court) brief that explained how the law could apply to many hunting videos. The Court quoted SCI’s brief and relied, in part, on SCI’s arguments to hold the law unconstitutionally overbroad.

The law made the production or sale of a depiction (e.g., video or picture) of “animal cruelty” punishable by up to five years in prison. The Supreme Court found that Congress wrote the law much too broadly. The law made illegal any depiction of the killing or wounding of a live animal if the act being depicted is itself illegal in the state where the video is sold. As a result, videos of hunting activities that are legal where filmed would violate the law if the videos were sold in a state where that type of hunting activity is illegal. One example from SCI’s brief on which the Court relied was the sharp-tailed grouse, which may be hunted in Idaho, but not in Washington.

The Court also quoted from SCI’s brief to reject the argument that hunting videos would be protected by the law’s exception for videos with serious educational or scientific value. The Court’s opinion stated “According to Safari Club International and the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, many popular [hunting] videos ‘have primarily entertainment value’ and are designed to ‘entertai[n] the viewer, marke[t] hunting equipment, or increas[e] the hunting community.’”

SCI President Larry Rudolph said, “This tremendous victory is a great example of how SCI is First for Hunters. SCI did not hesitate to devote its resources to filing a brief with the Supreme Court to advocate our interests. The people who produce and sell the hunting videos we all enjoy should not have to risk five years in prison and now they will not. With this opinion, SCI has reached a new level of advocacy for SCI members and for all hunters.”

-SCI-
SCI-First For Hunters is the leader in protecting the freedom to hunt and in promoting wildlife conservation worldwide. SCI’s approximately 190 Chapters represent all 50 of the United States as well as 18 other countries. SCI’s proactive leadership in a host of cooperative wildlife conservation, outdoor education and humanitarian programs, with the SCI Foundation and other conservation groups, research institutions and government agencies, empowers sportsmen to be contributing community members and participants in sound wildlife management and conservation. Visit the home page www.safariclub.org or call (520) 620-1220 for more information.

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