Sportsmen For Responsible Energy

DENVER, CO --(Ammoland.com)- The Bureau of Land Management’s proposed rules on public disclosure of the contents of hydraulic fracturing fluids, as well as the handling of wastewater and the integrity of well casings, represent a step forward in ensuring responsible energy development on public lands, a sportsmen’s coalition said Monday.

Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development has called on the BLM to make sure resources such as water, fish and wildlife are conserved when oil and gas are developed on public lands. The draft rule on hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” is a prudent response to concerns about the potential impacts of drilling and the handling of drilling fluids on the lands that are crucial to the West’s water supplies, fish and wildlife, said Brad Powell, energy director for Trout Unlimited’s Sportsmen’s Conservation Project. TU is a member of the SFRED coalition.

The proposed federal rule would require public disclosure of the chemicals in fracking fluids before and during drilling. Companies stating that the fracking mixtures are proprietary would have to explain why the information should be kept from the public.

The proposal also addresses testing to ensure the integrity of well casings, pipes placed down a borehole and held in place by cement to keep the oil and gas from mingling with anything else.

The document includes rules for safely storing and disposing of waste from recovered fluids.

Some states, including Wyoming and Colorado, have approved regulations requiring disclosure of fracking fluids’ contents as increased drilling has raised concerns about the chemicals used.

“Complete and timely public disclosure is an important step toward ensuring that public health, water quality, fish and wildlife are protected from contamination by hydraulic fracturing,” said Michael Saul, attorney with the National Wildlife Federation, also an SFRED member. “BLM is moving in the right direction by mandating disclosure of all chemicals and by codifying the prohibition on unlined storage pits.”

“Sportsmen are pleased that our federal decision makers recognize the need to increase transparency during all phases of energy planning and development,” said Tom Franklin, senior director of science and policy for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, an SFRED member. “We will continue to work closely with the administration, Congress, industry and our conservation partners to assure that public lands energy projects employ a science-based approach that sustains our nation’s fish and wildlife resources and outdoors opportunities.”

Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development is a coalition of more than 500 businesses, organizations and individuals dedicated to conserving irreplaceable habitats so future generations can hunt and fish on public lands. The coalition is led by Trout Unlimited, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and the National Wildlife Federation.

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

Denver, Colorado,--(Ammoland.com)- Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) are raising concerns about a new proposal for Colorado’s 4.2 million acres of national forest roadless areas, and are calling on President Obama on Tuesday to ensure they are at least as safeguarded as roadless areas in other states.

At issue is a state-based rule that would guide management of more than four million acres of valuable backcountry lands located in Colorado.

The appeal, published as a 3/4-page ad in Tuesday’s Denver Post, comes as a final version of a proposal that would replace the national roadless rule in Colorado is being formulated. It also follows a ruling by the federal Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals upholding the national Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which conserves roughly one-third of America’s national forests, along with the prime fish and wildlife habitat and outdoor recreation opportunities found on those lands.

The ad reads: “[Y]our proposed plan for Colorado’s roadless forests would open pristine habitat to commercial development, such as road-building, drilling and power line construction. As drafted, it threatens the state’s best backcountry and multi-billion dollar outdoor recreation industry.”

OIA and TRCP maintain that standards for Colorado’s roadless national forests must be at least as strong as the Roadless Area Conservation Rule in order to gain support from the sportsmen’s and outdoor recreation communities and to ensure the responsible management of these important public lands.

Economics are an important consideration in managing Colorado’s public lands. According to a report published by Outdoor Industry Association, outdoor recreation contributes $7.6 billion in annual retail sales and services, generates nearly $500 million in annual state tax revenue and supports 107,000 Colorado-based jobs.

Under the draft Colorado roadless rule, however, massive power line corridors and increased energy development would be allowed. Sportsmen and outdoor recreationists have been heavily invested in the years-long development of the Colorado rule and remain committed to resolving its shortfalls.

“Sportsmen across Colorado want to see our 4.2 million acres of backcountry national forests kept intact,” said TRCP Colorado Field Representative Nick Payne, “but as drafted, the Colorado roadless rule allows development, such as drilling and power-line corridors, that would fragment some of the finest fish and wildlife habitat in the country. Hunters and anglers are depending on the Obama administration to fix the rule’s shortfalls for the benefit of fish, wildlife and our outdoor traditions. The rule must be as strong as or stronger than the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule — nothing less.”

Colorado’s roadless areas are the source of about one-third of the state’s surface water, which provides irreplaceable access to hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation. Elk and deer require Colorado’s backcountry to survive and thrive, and the headwaters of all the state’s major rivers are located in roadless lands.

“Colorado’s roadless areas provide world-class recreation experiences,” said Frank Hugelmeyer, president and CEO of OIA. “Protecting roadless values will drive Colorado’s recreation economy for generations to come.”

The national roadless rule conserves nearly 60 million acres of national forest lands in 38 states. It was the result of the largest public lands review process in U.S. history, with more than 1.2 million comments and 600 public hearings. The Oct. 2011 Tenth Circuit decision to uphold this policy followed a similar ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2009.

Outdoor Industry Association
Based in Boulder, Colorado, Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) is the leading trade association for the outdoor industry and the title sponsor of Outdoor Retailer. OIA supports the growth and success of more than 4,000 manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, sales representatives, and retailers of outdoor recreation apparel, footwear, equipment, and services. For more information, go to outdoorindustry.org or call 303.444.3353.

Sportsmen Ask Obama to Conserve CO Roadless Back Country

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the traditions of hunting and fishing. Learn more at trcp.org.

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- Following a State of the Union address during which the president focused heavily on jobs, economics and natural resources, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership today released its TRCP 2012 Conservation Policy Agenda, highlighting federal funding challenges and key policy issues central to the nation’s hunting and angling traditions.

Ensuring strong funding for conservation programs – many of which face cuts or elimination in budget proposals being considered by Congress – led the list of the sportsmen’s policy priorities.

Developed in concert with the TRCP’s individual and organizational partners, which include national hunting, fishing and conservation organizations, labor unions and grassroots sportsmen, the report outlines the sportsmen’s consensus priorities over the coming year.

“Federal funding for crucial conservation programs, responsible management of both public and privately owned lands, judicious administration of our aquatic and marine resources … all while sustaining the fish and wildlife populations that sportsmen prize. These form the core of the TRCP’s policy objectives over the year to come,” said TRCP President and CEO Whit Fosburgh.

“Hunting and angling contribute significantly to the more than 9.4 million jobs and $1 trillion annually generated by the outdoors and historic preservation,” continued Fosburgh. “We remain ready to seize opportunities and explore new ideas that can benefit fish, wildlife and their habitats, all while ensuring a brighter future for the American outdoor way of life.”

Issues highlighted in the TRCP 2012 Conservation Policy Agenda include the following:

• Leveraging the combined weight of the outdoor community – especially hunters and anglers – to ensure continued federal funding for conservation, in 2012 and beyond;
• Implementing federal policies to better conserve fish and wildlife during all phases of energy project planning and development, both traditional and renewable;
• Sustaining a robust and economically competitive Conservation Reserve Program, along with other components of the Farm Bill Conservation Title;
• Securing reauthorization and full funding of the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program (“Open Fields”) in the 2012 Farm Bill and funding in upcoming appropriations bills;
• Upholding and defending the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, including preventing the advancement of any federal legislation that would weaken it;
• Sustaining fisheries populations and recreational use opportunities with a strong and effective Magnuson-Stevens Act, comprehensive and timely data collection and restoration activities in the Gulf of Mexico;
• Preventing development of the Pebble Mine Complex in Bristol Bay, Alaska;
• Restoring Clean Water Act protections to the nation’s wetlands, rivers, lakes and streams;
• Ensuring strong funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund and State Wildlife Action Plans to address the challenge of climate change and its effects on fish and wildlife.

“The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership looks forward to continuing to engage with the administration and Congress to expeditiously address problems of great concern to our community,” said Dr. Steve Williams, president of the Wildlife Management Institute, former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and chairman of the TRCP policy council.

“The TRCP remains committed to advancing the values of the nation’s conservation-minded hunters and anglers, as well as all Americans who care about our shared natural resources and the outdoor activities that depend on them.

• Read the complete TRCP 2012 Conservation Policy Agenda.
• Review a one-page summary of the TRCP 2012 Conservation Policy Agenda.”

Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations
and grassroots partners working together to preserve the traditions
of hunting and fishing.

Steven Rinella new original series - MeatEater

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership has teamed up with Bass Pro Shops and cutting-edge outdoorsman Steven Rinella to highlight conservation issues key to the future of America’s fish and wildlife and hunting and angling traditions.

Presented by Bass Pro Shops, “TRCP’s Conservation Field Notes” is a video series featuring Rinella, host of the smash hit TV show “MeatEater,” which premiered Jan. 1 on the Sportsman Channel. “MeatEater” follows Rinella to far-flung destinations across the country in search of adventure, thrilling hunts and killer food. Viewers can visit the TRCP website to see Rinella on location talking about critical conservation issues related to the hunts and regions featured on the show.

“A hunter who doesn’t protect his environmental resources is like a hunter who stores his firearms in saltwater,” says Rinella.

“Great habitat is a prerequisite to great hunting. All outdoorsmen need to take a bold stance against the degradation of our hunting and fishing lands, and that’s what the TRCP does, day in, day out. I’m thrilled to be a part of their team.”

Rinella is the author of “The Scavenger’s Guide to Haute Cuisine” and “American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon,” and his articles have appeared in publications ranging from Petersen’s Hunting to The New Yorker. In 2011 he hosted the critically acclaimed show “The Wild Within” on the Travel Channel.

Natural resources conservation has been a cornerstone of Bass Pro Shops since it was founded by Johnny Morris in 1972. Morris, a lifelong conservationist, and his company have received more awards and recognition for their work on conservation and with outdoor education groups than any other outdoor retailer in the nation. By partnering with the TRCP in the sponsorship of this special conservation series, Bass Pro Shops continues to engage the public on the issues that matter most to America’s outdoor traditions.

“The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership remains committed to informing and engaging sportsmen on the natural resource issues with the greatest potential to impact our outdoor opportunities,” said TRCP President and CEO Whit Fosburgh.

“‘TRCP’s Conservation Field Notes’ has a simple premise: The future of hunting and fishing relies on sportsmen’s dedication to responsible conservation activities. Thanks to Bass Pro Shops’ investment in conservation and the voices of influential sportsmen such as Steven Rinella, the TRCP can continue to drive this message home to American hunters and anglers.”

Watch the latest video.

Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the traditions of hunting and fishing.

About:
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the tradition of hunting and fishing. Visit: www.trcp.org

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- Sportsmen throughout the nation are applauding a 20-year moratorium on new mining claims on 1 million-plus acres of public lands fish and wildlife habitat surrounding the Grand Canyon, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership announced today.

The federal decision withdraws public lands north and south of the Grand Canyon from filings of new mining claims and additional in-situ production of uranium. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced the moratorium, which follows a temporary ban, this afternoon in Washington, D.C. The withdrawal does not affect mining claims with valid existing rights.

Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service lands encompassed in the claims moratorium include large expanses of the Arizona Strip, Kaibab Plateau and North Rim, all of which contain some of the most productive habitat in the nation for trophy elk and mule deer.

“Sportsmen from all over the country vie for the permits issued by the Arizona Game and Fish Department to hunt elk and mule deer each year,” said Dr. Bennett Brown, a TRCP field representative and avid big-game hunter. “These hunters spend millions of dollars annually pursuing their quarry in one of the most spectacular landscapes remaining in North America. We thank the Department of the Interior for this foresighted decision, which is good news for America’s economy, as well as our outdoor recreational opportunities.”

The moratorium on new mining claims diminishes the risk of contamination to aquifers that provide water for nearby residents. The quality of water for millions more Americans who depend upon the Colorado River for domestic and irrigation water is protected, as well as habitat for native species such as the endangered razorback sucker and humpback chub.

“President Theodore Roosevelt said of the Grand Canyon, ‘Leave it as it is. You cannot improve upon it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it,’” said TRCP President and CEO Whit Fosburgh. “Secretary Salazar’s decision safeguards the magnificent vistas and incredible biological diversity that characterize the Colorado Plateau – lands that are part of our collective cultural heritage and form the underpinnings of our outdoor traditions.”

Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the traditions of hunting and fishing.

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- Prominent sportsmen’s groups spoke out in support of measures in proposed U.S. Senate legislation that would help minimize the impacts of climate change and variability on fish and wildlife, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership announced today.

The Safeguarding America’s Future and Environment (SAFE) Act, S. 1881, would require federal resource agencies to plan for the projected long-term effects of climate change and encourage states to prepare natural resources adaptation plans while ensuring that these plans are guided by the best available science. In a letter to the bill’s co-sponsors, Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse and Max Baucus, the sportsmen expressed concern about the future of hunting and angling in the face of increasing human development along with the impacts of climate change.

“We strongly support legislative approaches, such as those in the SAFE Act, that recognize the reality of climate change and create the national leadership and structure to minimize its anticipated effects,” said Noreen Clough, director of conservation of B.A.S.S. and signatory of the letter.

“Our groups have been recommending the adoption of similar standards for fish and wildlife adaptation for years, and we urge these elements to be included in any forthcoming climate legislation.”

“Sportsmen are often the first to notice the impacts of our changing climate, which already is affecting where and how we hunt and fish,” said Dr. Steve Williams, president of the Wildlife Management Institute, a signatory of the sportsmen’s letter, and former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“We commend the science-based approach that underlies the SAFE Act, and we urge the Senate to do its part to uphold the public’s hunting and angling opportunities by advancing the adaptation components of this legislation without delay.”

Maintaining ecosystems capable of supporting fish and wildlife populations is critical to the nation’s health, economy and natural services such as flood control, water filtration and groundwater security. With each passing season, the need to develop strategies to help fish and wildlife adapt to a changing climate becomes more pressing. Guided by the members of its Climate Change Working Group, the TRCP is engaged in ensuring that the issue of climate change and fish and wildlife adaptation are properly addressed in congressional legislation.

“Abundant outdoor opportunities, including hunting and fishing, are the dividends we reap when we exercise responsible management of our natural resources,” said TRCP Climate Change Initiative Manager Bill Geer, “and the fish and wildlife provisions in the SAFE Act set the course for on-the-ground actions that sustain these resources and consequently our sporting traditions. Sportsmen and professional fish and wildlife managers strongly support this pragmatic approach to resource conservation.”

Learn more about the TRCP’s work to address the impacts of climate change on hunting and angling.

Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the traditions of hunting and fishing.

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar and Agriculture Department Secretary Tom Vilsack met with the board of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership this week to discuss the challenges facing fish and wildlife conservation, public access to lands and waters, and funding cuts to programs key to hunting and angling.

“The investments in conservation historically made by American sportsmen and –women are substantial,” said TRCP Board Chair Katie Distler Eckman, “and we greatly appreciate the fact that the administration is acknowledging these contributions and demonstrating its commitment to working with hunters and anglers as we navigate this rocky terrain toward economic sustainability.”

During his remarks to the TRCP board yesterday, Secretary Salazar underscored the need to frame conservation by the funding challenges currently capturing the attention of Congress and the administration. He spoke positively about America’s Voice for Conservation, Recreation and Preservation, a coalition led in part by the TRCP that is committed to securing continued funding for conservation, outdoor recreation and historic preservation programs. A recently issued report cited by the AVCRP demonstrates that the outdoors and historic preservation generate more than $1 trillion in total economic activity and support 9.4 million jobs every year.

“From President Theodore Roosevelt’s bold steps to establish national parks, wildlife refuges and forests to President Obama signing the 2009 Public Lands Bill into law in his first days in office, America has a proud tradition of protecting the places that matters most to hunters, fishermen and our families,” said Secretary Salazar. “One in 20 U.S. jobs is in the recreation economy – more than there are doctors, lawyers or teachers. With the help of the TRCP and the support of sportsmen and businessmen across the country, the Obama administration is promoting investments in conservation that contribute to the economic growth of America.”

Secretary Vilsack, who met with the TRCP board this morning, reiterated the necessity for innovation in addressing budget constraints and economic challenges. The secretary emphasized the USDA’s commitment to demonstrating to businesses that investments in conservation will achieve profitable results.

“Outdoor recreation has an extraordinary capacity to create jobs, boost tourism and stimulate the economy,” said Vilsack. “Sportsmen’s voices will be critical to reinforce the fact that USDA is doing its part to uphold and expand outdoor opportunities and that these good programs do important things to protect the environment and improve the quality of life for people throughout the country.”

“Funding that upholds our natural resources and outdoor traditions equals a sound fiscal investment from which all Americans stand to gain,” stated TRCP President and CEO Whit Fosburgh. “The administration’s support of key measures such as Open Fields and the Conservation Reserve Program achieve twin goals of conservation and economic sustainability. The TRCP and our partners value this clear dedication to sportsmen’s interests and look forward to continued opportunities to work together toward these goals.”

Learn more about the TRCP’s work in support of conservation funding.

About:
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the tradition of hunting and fishing. Visit: www.trcp.org

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- The establishment of a U.S. Department of Agriculture plan to improve fish and wildlife habitat and water quality in the Gulf of Mexico watershed drew praise from American sportsmen, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership announced today.

The Gulf of Mexico Initiative will direct up to $50 million over three years toward conservation assistance to landowners in priority areas along major rivers that drain into the Gulf. Launched via the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, the initiative is among the efforts being undertaken by the administration’s Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force.

“Sportsmen are encouraged to see this important part of the Gulf restoration equation being addressed by the administration,” said Geoff Mullins, TRCP senior director of policy initiatives and communications.

“A comprehensive approach to conservation and land use for the region – one that focuses not only on the coastal and marine habitats but the lands upstream as well – is the best way to restore the unique Gulf coast ecosystems. What’s at stake is healthy habitat for the coastal fish and wildlife species that are critical to supporting the strong economic engine of hunting and sport fishing throughout the region.”

The Gulf of Mexico Initiative comprises five Gulf Coast states – Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas – and focuses funds restoring water supplies, wildlife populations and fisheries associated with riverside communities and cities in these states. Sixteen priority watersheds are targeted for participation in the Gulf of Mexico Initiative.

“Like so many of our most identifiable waters, the Gulf of Mexico has water quality challenges that get their start hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away from the Gulf itself,” said Steve Kline, director of the TRCP Center for Agricultural and Private Lands. “Hunters and anglers across the country – not just on the Gulf Coast – applaud the administration’s support of these outdoors-dependent economies.

“A clean Gulf of Mexico begins in a flooded Texas rice field, a Mississippi cotton field, an Alabama pine stand and a citrus grove in Florida,” Kline continued. “Sound upstream conservation efforts like the USDA Gulf of Mexico Initiative underline the importance of a holistic, watershed-based approach that invests money wisely in places where real impacts can be made and benefit the public for generations to come.”

“Nationally, activities related to fishing support more than 1 million jobs and contribute almost $125 billion annually to the economy, with the Gulf region alone supporting more than 82,000 jobs and $8 billion in economic output” said American Sportfishing Association President and CEO Mike Nussman. “If we want to improve our financial situation we should continue to invest in our open spaces. The Gulf of Mexico Initiative takes steps in this direction, and we appreciate the government’s investments in the Gulf’s natural resources, citizens and economy.”

• Learn more about the TRCP’s work in support of responsible marine fisheries management.
• Learn about the TRCP’s efforts to conserve America’s agricultural and privately owned lands.

About:
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the tradition of hunting and fishing. Visit: www.trcp.org

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- In a letter to President Obama, leading economists and academics expressed the economic imperative of conserving federal public lands and stressed the long-term value these lands bring to both communities and individuals, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership announced today.

The letter, which is signed by more than 100 influential leaders from universities and institutions across the country, describes the profound economic benefits derived uniquely from responsibly managed public lands in the American West, stating, “The West’s public lands contribute to our economic well being in a variety of ways, including resource extraction and recreation.”

“Sportsmen have always known that sound conservation practices produce tangible economic benefits,” said TRCP President and CEO Whit Fosburgh. “Conservation funding and well managed public lands are critical to our hunting and fishing traditions.”

The announcement comes on the heels of a recent study commissioned by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation that reports the tremendous positive impact outdoor pursuits have on the economy.

“Active, outdoor recreation supports $289 billion in annual retail sales and services and supports more than 6.5 million jobs,” said Frank Hugelmeyer, president and CEO of the Outdoor Industry Association. “Our nation’s network of federal-to-local parks, forests, rivers, lakes and trails are at the heart of this growing industry.”

“The West is home to some of the last, best fisheries in the world, the majority of which flow through public lands,” said American Sportfishing Association President and CEO Mike Nussman. “Nationally, activities related to fishing support more than 1 million jobs and contribute almost $125 billion annually to the economy. If we want to improve our financial situation we should continue to invest in our open spaces.”

Learn more about the TRCP’s work in support of conservation funding.

Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the traditions of hunting and fishing.

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found that the Department of the Interior adhered to federal law in its decision to vastly expand energy development on wildlife-rich public lands located on southwestern Wyoming’s Pinedale Anticline, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership announced today.

The TRCP suit, filed in 2008, contended that the Bureau of Land Management failed to implement “adaptive environmental management” and mitigation activities as committed to in decision documents for the Pinedale Anticline natural gas project, which comprises crucial winter range for one of the state’s largest mule deer populations and prime sage grouse habitat in the Upper Green River Basin. Mule deer numbers have declined by more than half in the project area in the decade since development began.

The court ruled that the BLM properly considered a reasonable range of alternatives in the 2008 record of decision, or ROD, for the project, even though it did not consider an alternative that would restore wildlife to levels consistent with the initial ROD, released in 2000. The court further found BLM’s prior commitments could not be enforced because the new 2008 ROD superseded those commitments and BLM was entitled to a presumption that it would implement the 2008 ROD to ensure against unnecessary and undue degradation.

“Essentially, federal law allows the Bureau of Land Management to permit expanded energy development even in the face of declining wildlife populations. If this is the law, then law needs to be changed,” said TRCP President and CEO Whit Fosburgh. “Mule deer populations in the area have declined precipitously since development began in 2000 and since the 2008 ROD. No one disputes this fact. These losses are unacceptable to sportsmen and should outrage anyone who cares about the conscientious administration of fish, wildlife and public lands.”

In its ruling, the court also found that the agency fully considered the impact of the project on hunting in the region and that the mitigation measures adopted by BLM on balance would comply with BLM’s duties under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act. The TRCP maintains that BLM decisions regarding development in the anticline consistently ignore current science about the impacts of natural gas projects on mule deer and a host of other species important to sportsmen.

“As defined by the court, the bottom line in the Pinedale Anticline natural gas project is that the federal government has the discretion to take whatever action it deems appropriate, even at the expense of responsible fish and wildlife management, the interests of citizens, including hunters and anglers, and in conflict with the multiple-use approach the BLM is legally bound to uphold,” said Dr. Rollin Sparrowe, TRCP board member and past leader of the Pinedale Anticline Working Group Wildlife Task Group. “This is unacceptable.

“If the BLM can oversee oil and gas development on our public lands with little or no regard to fish and wildlife populations,” continued Sparrowe, a former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist who lives near the project site, “then the public needs stronger laws or regulations to protect our valuable and shared natural resources. The TRCP remains committed to ensuring that responsive policy measures addressing these deficiencies are enacted.

“The mule deer population on the Pinedale Anticline is the most intensively studied herd in the American West being affected by unusually intensive gas development,” Sparrowe stated. “Ten years of research and monitoring indicate a negative downward trend and an overall decline of close to 60 percent – a number that was confirmed before the documented die-offs from last year’s severe winter. Losses are expected to increase even further this year. Data also show that surrounding mule deer herds not affected as much by gas drilling all are in better condition. Further declines will occur as the rest of the drilling moves into new, important habitats. The unique negative influence on this Mesa Herd is winter drilling, which proves without a doubt that such drilling is incompatible with sustaining a wintering deer herd.”

“The TRCP is in favor of sustainable energy development on public lands, but the project on the Pinedale Anticline clearly is degrading wildlife and hunting opportunities,” concluded Fosburgh. “The real tragedy in Pinedale is that energy development could have been accomplished without these huge losses in mule deer and other wildlife – but the BLM and the drillers insisted on a pace of development that turned our public lands into an industrial zone and hammered a once-iconic mule deer herd, likely past the point of recovery. American citizens, whether or not they ever will hunt in southwestern Wyoming, must live with the disastrous results of the Pinedale debacle for generations to come.”

The TRCP supports responsible public-lands energy development that is pursued in accordance with federal law and ensures citizens’ continued ability to access our lands and natural resources.

Learn more about the TRCP’s work in support of responsible energy development.

Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the traditions of hunting and fishing.

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- Sportsmen-conservationists today condemned a federal decision to defund a keystone land conservation program, the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program, also known as Open Fields, that facilitates responsive private lands management practices and public access for activities such as hunting and angling, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership announced.

“While the necessity of reducing federal spending is inarguable, the truth is that Farm Bill conservation programs like VPA-HIP are critical to the more than $95 billion in economic activity annually contributed by hunting and angling,” said Jennifer Mock Schaeffer, Farm Bill coordinator for the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies.

“We are deeply disappointed by the shortsighted decision to completely eliminate fiscal year 2012 funding for VPA-HIP, which can help stabilize an economy already taxed to the point of collapse.”

The fiscal year 2012 “minibus” conference report, unveiled on Monday by House and Senate appropriators, would fund the U.S. Department of Agriculture along with a range of other federal entities.

In addition to VPA-HIP, numerous Farm Bill conservation programs face drastic cuts:

• · Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program cut by $35 million;
• · Wetlands Reserve Program cut by approximately $200 million;
• · Grasslands Reserve Program cut by approximately $30 million;
• · Environmental Quality Incentives Program cut by $350 million.

“Dedicated and ongoing work by the sportsman-conservation community has been instrumental in bolstering Farm Bill programs that play a key role in conserving privately owned lands and waters,” said Steve Moyer, vice president of government relations for Trout Unlimited.

“Programs such as Open Fields, which address the paramount issue of public access to these areas, help perpetuate our outdoor traditions, along with the significant economic boost they provide rural communities all across the country.”

A vital part of U.S. private-lands conservation, the Farm Bill has helped conserve and enhance millions of acres of fish and wildlife habitat and the hunting and fishing opportunities they provide. VPA-HIP, which incentivizes owners and operators of privately held farm, ranch and forest lands to provide public access to their lands for wildlife-dependent activities such as hunting and fishing, was included in the 2008 Farm Bill for the first time in large part due to the efforts of the TRCP and its partner groups.

“Loss of access is the No. 1 reason hunters and anglers stop pursuing the traditions we enjoy,” said Steve Kline, director of the TRCP Center for Agricultural and Private Lands.

“For a program like VPA-HIP to be eliminated in the rush to cut spending means Congress will be turning ‘Open for Hunting’ signs into ‘Posted: No Trespassing’ signs all across the country, with real impacts on local economies.”

The TRCP’s farm policy work is guided by the Agriculture and Wildlife Working Group, composed of representatives from the nation’s leading sportsmen’s groups and formed by the TRCP to provide recommendations to Congress and the administration on Farm Bill conservation programs critical to private lands conservation and hunting and angling.

Learn more about the TRCP’s agricultural and private lands conservation work.

Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the traditions of hunting and fishing.

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)-  As the U.S. Senate debates the budget for the Army Corps of Engineers this week, prominent sportsman-conservation groups roundly criticized an amendment that would defund the administration’s work on Clean Water Act guidance that is crucial to sustaining wetlands and waterways.

Ducks Unlimited, the Izaak Walton League of America, the National Wildlife Federation, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and Trout Unlimited strongly oppose the so-called Barrasso-Heller amendment, which would block the Army Corps of Engineers from taking agency action toward restoring Clean Water Act protections to streams, wetlands and other waters.

“The language in the Barrasso-Heller amendment will fundamentally diminish America’s clean water legacy,” said Jan Goldman-Carter, wetlands and water resources counsel for the National Wildlife Federation. “American sportsmen unite in urging the Senate to reject this and any measure that would block agency action to secure our clean water and wetlands ecosystems.”

Over the past decade, safeguards for headwater streams and critical wetlands have steadily eroded, impacting the ability of these ecosystems to recharge aquifers, retain floodwaters, sustain important fish and wildlife habitat and provide clean water for iconic systems such as the Chesapeake Bay, Great Lakes and Puget Sound. As these waters are polluted and diminished, their tremendous ecological and public health benefits likewise are lost.

“Clean water is the foundation on which enjoyable and productive hunting and angling trips are built,” said Steve Kline, director of the TRCP Center for Agricultural and Private Lands. “We can create jobs without draining wetlands and polluting streams; indeed, thanks to sportsmen, wetlands and streams are great job creators. Sitting in a duck blind or floating on a trout stream, sportsmen have the chance to appreciate first-hand just what clean water means. Now we must act as advocates for the conservation of our nation’s waters and wetlands until these irreplaceable resources are appropriately managed and conserved.”

Proposed guidance issued by the administration in April would more clearly define which U.S. waters are subject to Clean Water Act protections and begin restoring protections for many of the nation’s wetlands and waterways left vulnerable since the SWANCC (2001) and Rapanos (2006) Supreme Court decisions. The wording of the decisions left regulators, landowners and manufacturers confused about which U.S. waters are protected by the Clean Water Act.

“Supreme Court rulings and agency guidance issued over the past decade have jeopardized crucial water resources and wildlife habitat, removing protections for at least 20 million acres of wetlands, particularly prairie potholes and other wetlands essential to waterfowl,” said Scott Yaich, director of conservation operations for Ducks Unlimited. “Streams that sustain critical fisheries and feed the public drinking water systems for more than 117 million Americans are also at risk.”

“As proposed, the administration’s guidance increases clarity and efficiency for agencies, farmers and businesses while keeping Clean Water Act jurisdiction well within its historical bounds,” said Steve Moyer, vice president of government relations for Trout Unlimited. “Moreover, the guidance does not – and cannot – limit exemptions for normal activity related to agriculture, forestry and mining that have been in the act since 1977. Its importance cannot be overstated.”

The total economic contributions of hunting and angling are substantial. In 2006, hunters and anglers accounted for $95.5 billion in economic activity, including trip-related expenses and equipment costs. Wildlife watchers contributed $43.5 billion, including trip-related expenses and equipment costs. Altogether, these two groups spent approximately $139 billion in 2006 alone, breathing life into rural communities and supporting millions of jobs across the country.

“Hunting and angling annually contribute more than $95 billion in economic activity, and restoring protections for America’s waters and wetlands directly benefits citizens, fish and wildlife, and outdoor recreation,” said Scott Kovarovics, conservation director for the Izaak Walton League of America. “The amendment by Senators Barrasso and Heller threatens not only water quality and healthy habitat but the hunting and angling economy as well.”

Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the traditions of hunting and fishing.

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership today commended a decision by the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals that reinstated the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule as the law governing 49 million acres of inventoried roadless areas located on the nation’s national forests and grasslands.

The ruling overturned a lower district court’s decision enjoining the 2001 rule in August 2008 and resolved uncertainty about federal management of roadless areas across America.

The so-called “roadless rule” is a multiple-use national forest management regulation that was designed to limit road building and timber harvest on undeveloped public lands managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The rule determines the management of all national forest roadless areas outside of Idaho.

“Today’s decision affirmed the value of backcountry areas in sustaining healthy and secure habitat for fish and wildlife – something hunters and anglers have known for years,” said Joel Webster, director of the TRCP Center for Western Lands.

“Sound roadless conservation policies safeguard big-game habitat security, productive trout and salmon fisheries and our sporting traditions. The 2001 roadless rule is a strong mechanism for conserving America’s backcountry recreational activities and outdoor heritage.”

The TRCP has mobilized a broad cross-section of sportsmen, conservationists and recreationists supporting conservation of roadless areas and the outdoor opportunities they foster. For purposes of the rule, roadless areas are defined as contiguous blocks of backcountry public land that are 5,000 acres or larger and do not have improved roads.

While access is important to sportsmen, densely roaded areas have been shown to negatively affect elk and deer behavior, reproduction and survival and consequently hunter opportunity. Excessive, poorly located roads contribute to increased sediment loads in waterways that are important to wild trout and salmon, thereby diminishing the number and size of fish.

“We appreciate the dedication of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in upholding this popular land management policy,” said TRCP President and CEO Whit Fosburgh, “and we applaud the court’s decision as one made in the absolute best interest of our public-lands fish and wildlife populations and outdoor recreation.

“As the 2011 fall hunting season continues, sportsmen have reason to celebrate backcountry conservation,” continued Fosburgh. “Whether they’re hunting the West Big Hole of Montana, the northern Blue Range of New Mexico or backcountry lands in Vermont’s White Mountains, public-land hunters across the nation will benefit from the court’s thoughtful decision for generations to come.”

Learn more about the TRCP’s work in support of roadless area conservation.

Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the traditions of hunting and fishing.

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- Officials looking for cost-effective ways to stimulate the economy should look no further than out their own windows: That’s where the authors of a new economic study demonstrate that the great outdoors and historic preservation generate a conservative estimate of more than $1 trillion in total economic activity and support 9.4 million jobs each year.

“As a former Secretary of the Interior, governor, senator and mayor, I have witnessed firsthand how historic preservation, conservation and outdoor recreation result in tremendous benefits to our nation’s economy,” said Dirk Kempthorne. “This study is a valuable tool for reaffirming and quantifying those benefits.”

“Sportsmen put billions of dollars of their own money annually into conservation through the licenses they buy and the excise taxes that they pay on hunting and fishing equipment,” added Lindsay Thomas, a former U.S. Congressman and current chairman of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation.

“This combined with the other taxes that are paid through activities associated with outdoor recreation and historic preservation total over $100 billion annually contributed to state and federal coffers.”

Conducted by Southwick Associates, the study is packed with highlights including:

• In 2006, the total contribution from outdoor sports in the United States was nearly $730 billion per year, generating more than 6.4 million U.S. jobs and $99 billion in federal and state tax revenues. This includes hunting, fishing, wildlife viewing and other outdoor sports that include hiking, camping, skiing, paddle sports and bicycling.
• In 2006, the combined spending effect of hunting, fishing and wildlife watching associated with National Forest Service land totaled $9.5 billion in annual retail sales, supported 189,400 jobs and provided $1.01 billion in annual federal tax revenues.
• Every million dollars invested in residential historic rehabilitation generates approximately 36 jobs, $1.24 million in income and nearly $200,000 in state and local taxes.
• In 2010, 15 million visitors to Civil War battlefields managed by the National Park Service in just five states (Missouri, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia) generated 7,700 jobs.

Commissioned by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the study is being conducted as part of a larger ongoing effort by NFWF to determine the economics associated with natural resource conservation.

The study has commanded the attention of many, including America’s Voice for Conservation, Recreation and Preservation, a coalition of more than 770 organizations representing tens of millions of citizens with diverse political backgrounds who have united in support of conservation, recreation and preservation programs as a means to create jobs and improve the economy.

“Natural resource conservation and historic preservation programs provide hundreds of thousands of jobs and strong returns on public investments that primarily help rural communities and cannot be exported abroad,” said John L. Nau III, chairman emeritus of the Civil War Trust and co-chair of the AVCRP. “This country needs jobs that leverage private investment and conserve our precious natural resources and historic spaces.”

“The jobs that our public lands and cultural heritage create are jaw-dropping,” said William H. Meadows, president of The Wilderness Society and the AVCRP’s other co-chair. “This study is yet more evidence that investing in the environment is good for the fiscal health of our country.”

Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the traditions of hunting and fishing.

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership today welcomed Daniel Ashe’s confirmation by the Senate as director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Ashe, an avid hunter and angler, previously served as the USFWS deputy director for policy.

“The Service oversees a range of activities vital to sportsmen, including conserving migratory birds, sustaining wetlands and managing the National Wildlife Refuge System and National Fish Hatchery System,” said TRCP President and CEO Whit Fosburgh.

“This work directly benefits not only the 40 million Americans who hunt and fish but also an outdoors-based industry worth billions of dollars annually to the U.S. economy.

Dan Ashe is an exceptional leader, conservationist and sportsman well suited to guide these important efforts.”

“Sportsmen look to the Fish and Wildlife Service for leadership, particularly given the growing threats facing fish and wildlife and their habitats and the challenge of enabling public access for enjoyment of these resources,” said TRCP Director of Government Affairs Vaughn Collins.

Daniel Ashe Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

“We look forward to continued opportunities to work with Mr. Ashe to address and overcome these obstacles – and to safeguard the outdoor heritage that is every American’s birthright.”

In March, Ashe met with the TRCP board of directors to discuss conservation issues of significance to the hunting and angling community.

Learn more about the TRCP and read the TRCP 2011 Conservation Policy Agenda.

Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the traditions of hunting and fishing.

H.R. 2018 would undermine EPA authority to enforce Clean Water Act, diminishing water quality and harming valuable fish and wildlife habitat.

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- WASHINGTON, DC – American sportsmen today strongly criticized the House Transportation Committee for hastily passing legislation that would dramatically weaken the Clean Water Act and undercut four decades of progress in restoring the nation’s waters and wetlands and conserving valuable fish and wildlife habitat.

The Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act of 2011, H.R. 2018, has received minimal review and no hearings since its introduction three weeks ago. The bill attacks two critical components of the CWA: enforcement of water quality standards and protection of waters from discharges of dredged and fill material. H.R. 2018 would increase state control over Environmental Protection Agency implementation of the CWA, including veto authority over EPA enforcement of water quality standards and over EPA authority to block projects that compromise or diminish fish and wildlife habitat.

“In the name of responsible management of our irreplaceable waters, wetlands, and fish and wildlife habitat, we urge House lawmakers to abandon their hasty approach to advancing this legislation,” said Scott Kovarovics, conservation director for the Izaak Walton League of America. “The committee should step back and hold a hearing to assess the sweeping consequences this legislation could have on water quality, streams and critical fish and wildlife habitat.”

“Sportsmen strongly oppose this misguided and damaging legislation,” said Jan Goldman-Carter, wetlands and water resources counsel for the National Wildlife Federation. “H.R. 2018 will lead to a hodgepodge of water quality standards and contribute to an overall reduction in U.S. water quality, our natural resources and outdoor opportunities such as hunting and angling.”

In April, sportsmen welcomed proposed guidance issued by the administration that would more clearly define which U.S. waters are subject to Clean Water Act protections, a move that would begin restoring long-standing protections to many of the nation’s wetlands, streams, lakes and headwaters that have remained threatened in the wake of two ambiguous Supreme Court decisions and subsequent agency guidance. Recent actions undertaken by House lawmakers since that time, however, attempt to weaken or undercut these restorative measures.

“The Clean Water Act has led to immense progress nationwide in cleaning up our waters, restoring fish habitat, protecting drinking water sources, reducing wetlands loss and developing water-based recreational economies,” said Steve Kline, director of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership’s Center for Agricultural and Private Lands. “While states play a lead role in implementing some CWA protections, the law does not function without a federal backstop that ensures its goals are met. We cannot afford to threaten our waters, which serve as economic powerhouses for innumerable communities across the country.”

Waters and wetlands in the United States sustain the activities of 40 million anglers, who spend about $45 billion annually, and 2.3 million waterfowl hunters, who spend $1.3 billion annually.

“Whether Trout Unlimited is restoring small headwater streams in the Potomac Headwaters in West Virginia, removing acidic pollution caused by abandoned mines in Colorado, or protecting the world famous salmon-producing watershed of Bristol Bay, Alaska, the CWA is the safety net on which we rely,” said Steve Moyer, vice president of government affairs for Trout Unlimited. “H.R. 2018 would cut large holes in the safety net.”

Read a letter from sportsmen to House decision makers opposing H.R. 2018.

About:
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the tradition of hunting and fishing. Visit: www.trcp.org

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership announced today that Vaughn T. Collins has joined the staff of the national sportsmen-conservation group.

As the TRCP’s director of government affairs, Collins will represent the TRCP on Capitol Hill and before federal agencies while promoting increased funding for fish and wildlife conservation and sound natural resources management.

“The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and our partners are fortunate to have Vaughn Collins, a dedicated conservationist, skilled political strategist and avid sportsman, working to organize and mobilize the sportsmen’s community in support of responsible management of the nation’s natural resources,” said TRCP President and CEO Whit Fosburgh.

“Decisions made in Washington, D.C., impact sportsmen and -women across the country, from how our public lands are managed to the rules governing marine fisheries,” Fosburgh continued. “Moreover, to ensure that critical conservation programs like the Land and Water Conservation Fund and Conservation Reserve Program receive adequate funding, hunters and anglers must systematically engage in the federal appropriations and budget process. Vaughn will play a key role in assuring that sportsmen’s values are represented in these important conservation funding decisions.”

Collins was formerly director of public policy for Ducks Unlimited, where he advocated for wetlands conservation in Congress and worked with federal agencies and conservation groups to facilitate wildlife friendly federal programs. Prior to his time at DU, Collins was chief of the federal Duck Stamp Office at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Department of the Interior. He also served as deputy director of the Agriculture Department’s National Rural Development Partnership Office and was executive director of the Vermont Council on Rural Development.

“America’s fish and wildlife populations and our hunting and angling heritage rely on responsible management and sound conservation practices,” said Collins. “I am honored to be working with the TRCP on the front lines of conservation decision-making, in the halls of Congress and with the administration, to advance policy solutions that will benefit our natural resources and outdoor traditions alike.”

A New Englander who lived in northern Vermont for more than 20 years and who still owns a rural property there, Collins resides in Alexandria, Va., with his wife. He is an avid outdoorsman, conservationist, birder and waterfowl hunter.

Learn more about the TRCP and read the TRCP 2011 Conservation Policy Agenda.

TRCP 2011 Conservation Policy Agenda

About:
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the tradition of hunting and fishing. Visit: www.trcp.org

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- As negotiations for fiscal year 2012 budgets continue in the U.S. House of Representatives, sportsmen-conservationists are criticizing a measure that would defund the administration’s work on Clean Water Act guidance that is crucial to sustaining wetlands and waterways, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership announced today.

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development met this morning to deliberate and mark up the FY 2012 budget for the Army Corps of Engineers and other water development agencies, including the measure that would strip protections for clean water and habitat.

“None of the funds made available by this Act or any subsequent Act making appropriations for Energy and Water Development may be used by the Corps of Engineers to develop, adopt, implement, administer or enforce a change or supplement to the rule … or guidance documents … pertaining to the definition of waters under the jurisdiction of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act,” it reads.

“While sportsmen understand the need for fiscal conservatism, this rash decision by Congress leaves vulnerable waters that provide critical habitat to fish and wildlife, flood control, drinking water and a range of other benefits,” said Steve Kline, director of the TRCP Center for Agricultural and Private Lands.

“We urge House appropriators to reconsider this budgetary measure, which takes several steps backward in our efforts to restore Clean Water Act protections to the nation’s streams and wetlands.”

The TRCP and its partners welcomed proposed guidance issued by the administration in April that would more clearly define which U.S. waters are subject to Clean Water Act protections, a move that would begin restoring long-standing protections to many of the nation’s wetlands, streams, lakes and headwaters that have remained threatened in the wake of two ambiguous Supreme Court decisions and subsequent agency guidance.

“Americans support clean water, and we recognize that responsibly managing our headwaters and wetlands is essential to that goal,” said Jan Goldman-Carter, wetlands and water resources counsel for the National Wildlife Federation and co-chair of the TRCP Wetlands and Clean Water Working Group. “Conserving drinking water, protecting communities from flooding and sustaining fish and wildlife habitat and local economies are objectives of the administration’s Clean Water Act guidance, and we are deeply disappointed that Congress would undertake any actions that undermine these goals.”

“It’s ironic that this provision would bar the Corps from doing the one thing that almost everyone agrees should happen – revising its regulations to more clearly define ‘waters of the United States,’” said Scott Kovarovics, conservation director for the Izaak Walton League of America and working group member. “If this provision became law, it would lock in the status quo that threatens drinking water for 117 million Americans and the most productive duck habitat in the country.”

The TRCP and its partners on the TRCP’s Wetlands and Clean Water Working Group, including Ducks Unlimited, the Izaak Walton League of America, the National Wildlife Federation and Trout Unlimited, have been promoting restoration of protections for the nation’s wetlands and clean waters. Recent budget deliberations have repeatedly threatened the sportsmen’s efforts to conserve these resources.

“Hunters and anglers are strongly opposed to this policy rider, and our vigorous opposition helped defeat a similarly ill-conceived rider when the House passed the FY 11 Continuing Resolution, or HR 1, earlier this year,” said Steve Moyer, vice president of government affairs for Trout Unlimited and WCWWG co-chair.

“Sportsmen know the Clean Water Act is a vital safety net for fish and wildlife resources that is being partially repaired by the Corps-EPA guidance. The guidance is reasonable, science-based, consistent with the Clean Water Act and beneficial to fish, wildlife and the public; therefore, sportsmen will do everything in our power to stop the rider.”

The proposed Clean Water Act guidance would begin restoring protections for intermittent streams that sustain critical fisheries and feed the public drinking water systems for more than 117 million Americans and at least 20 million acres of the nation’s wetlands, particularly prairie potholes and wetlands essential to waterfowl. The guidance is available for public comment and review until July 1.

Learn more about the TRCP’s work to conserve American wetlands.

About:
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the tradition of hunting and fishing. Visit: www.trcp.org

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- As House appropriators deliberate the Department of Agriculture’s budget for fiscal year 2012, sportsmen are sharply criticizing cuts proposed for Farm Bill conservation programs instrumental to fish and wildlife habitat and hunting and fishing, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership announced today.

The House Appropriations Committee is meeting this afternoon to consider more than a billion dollars in reductions to mandatory conservation programs agreed to last week by the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee.

• Conservation programs facing drastic cuts include the following:
• The USDA conservation operations budget would be cut by $128 million.
• The Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) would be cut by $35 million.
• The Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) would be reduced by 64,200 acres.
• The Grasslands Reserve Program (GRP) would be reduced by 96,000 acres.
• The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) would be cut by $350 million.
• Funding for the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program (VPA/HIP), also known as Open Fields, would be completely eliminated.

“Agricultural- and private-lands conservation remains a cornerstone of the TRCP’s policy work, and the efforts of the TRCP and our partner organizations have been instrumental in bolstering vital conservation programs in previous Farm Bills,” said Steve Kline, director of the TRCP Center for Agricultural and Private Lands.

“The reductions presently being considered represent a quarter century of taxpayer investment in conservation. Sportsmen strongly oppose these cuts.”

The TRCP’s farm policy work is guided by the Agriculture and Wildlife Working Group, formed by the TRCP to provide recommendations to Congress and the administration on conservation programs in the 2008 bill. Composed of representatives from the nation’s leading sportsmen’s groups, the AWWG currently is developing recommendations for the 2012 Farm Bill.

“These proposed reductions will hamstring the USDA’s ability to responsibly manage priority fish and wildlife habitats and help landowners reduce potential threats to their operations associated with priority wildlife concerns such as lesser prairie chickens, sage grouse, and New England cottontail, all of which are candidate species for listing under the ESA,” said Jennifer Mock Schaeffer, Farm Bill coordinator for the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies and AWWG chair.

“We prefer to use WHIP, EQIP, GRP and other conservation programs to help producers address these priority habitat concerns,” continued Mock Schaeffer, “and in the process to try to preclude the need to list the species. Cutting funding from these programs will eliminate opportunities to help private landowners and operators sustain their operations and secure these important wildlife habitats on privately owned lands.”

“Increasingly, sportsmen cite the inability to access lands and waters as an obstacle to hunting and fishing,” said Dave Nomsen, vice president of government affairs for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever and AWWG member. “VPA/HIP, or Open Fields, addresses this problem by encouraging owners of privately held farm, ranch and forest lands to enable public access to their properties for wildlife-dependent recreation. VPA was included in the 2008 Farm Bill thanks to the unflagging support of hunters and anglers, and American sportsmen now urge continued funding of this critical and strictly voluntary public-access program.”

The Farm Bill is a vital part of U.S. private-lands conservation. Millions of acres of fish and wildlife habitat and the hunting and fishing opportunities they provide have been conserved and enhanced through Farm Bill programs. The TRCP Agriculture and Wildlife Working Group is committed to ensuring that the 2012 Farm Bill authorizes and strongly funds conservation programs and builds on a conservation legacy that secures America’s outdoor heritage.

“While sportsmen acknowledge the need for the federal government to reduce spending levels, we can’t forget that Farm Bill conservation programs like WRP and GRP are the underpinning of the almost $80 billion dollars a year that hunters and anglers spend pursuing fish and game,” said Dan Wrinn, director of public policy for Ducks Unlimited. “Furthermore, many of these expenditures are in rural areas, where communities already are struggling in these hard economic times.”

Funding for Farm Bill conservation programs already was reduced by nearly $500 million in the FY 2011 budget, and the House’s proposed cuts cast further doubt on conservation funding in the 2012 Farm Bill. The Senate will be considering agriculture spending requests later this year.

Learn more about the TRCP’s agricultural- and private-lands conservation work.

About:
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the tradition of hunting and fishing. Visit: www.trcp.org

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)-  The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership today released a comprehensive report analyzing the federal government’s policy approach to managing energy development while promoting and conserving mule deer populations in the American West.

“Mule Deer and Energy: Federal Policy and Planning in the Greater Green River Basin” examines collaborative efforts in mule deer management between federal land agencies and state wildlife agencies, offering insights into federal management of the species and its habitat during public-lands energy development. The report focuses on the greater Green River Basin, home to some of the most significant mule deer herds in North America as well as many of the nation’s largest energy reserves. It studies the conflicts resulting from the coexistence of these valuable resources and presents specific recommendations for resolving them.

“We need more and better coordination for meeting management objectives and better integration of known science in the management of these cornerstone mule deer populations,” said Steve Belinda, director of the TRCP Center for Responsible Energy Development. “This report offers an opportunity to look ahead and do better – both for mule deer herds in the Green River Basin and across the West.”

Icons of the western United States, mule deer are related to white-tailed deer but have different habitat requirements and respond differently to human-caused disturbance. While white-tailed deer are highly adaptable, mule deer rely on specific seasonal habitats that enable annual migrations between summer and winter range, the latter being a major limiting factor for the species and typically protected from disturbance. Most winter range is closed to vehicle traffic and human activity to safeguard mule deer populations, and energy leases located within winter range often have restrictions on development.

The greater Green River Basin of southwestern Wyoming, northwestern Colorado and northeastern Utah comprises 10.2 million acres of mule deer crucial winter range on Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service lands. Of this total, 2.4 million acres already have been leased for development. The TRCP report notes that, while seasonal restrictions intended to protect mule deer from additional stress are in place, industry often asks for and receives relief from them. In Wyoming, for example, 83 percent of requests for relief from wildlife protections were approved in an 18-month period in 2007-2008.

“More than 15,000 wells already have been drilled in mule deer crucial winter range,” said Belinda. “To date, most of this activity has taken place outside of the critical winter season. But how long these protective measures will continue to be applied is unknown. Industry has made no secret of its belief that these measures, which are intended to protect deer and other wildlife, are unnecessary and impediments to development.

“In the Pinedale Anticline in southwestern Wyoming,” continued Belinda, “mule deer have declined more than 60 percent in the last 10 years, and the BLM has increasingly authorized development on crucial winter ranges year-round. We can do better for mule deer during energy development, but we must better integrate the science, better plan for mitigation, and formulate an overall plan for managing mule deer habitat.

“Overall we found inconsistencies across all jurisdictions regarding how state mule deer plans are incorporated into federal plans and energy projects,” stated Belinda, a former BLM biologist. “We also found that energy development is the dominant priority for BLM policy and planning within the Green River Basin, that mule deer science often is ignored or misinterpreted, and that coordination between habitat managers and state deer managers is weak, if it occurs at all.”

“The need for greater coordination is the lesson learned from this report,” said Miles Moretti, president and CEO of the Mule Deer Foundation, which is a member of the TRCP Fish, Wildlife and Energy Working Group, “coordination not just between federal and state entities but among all stakeholders. We have the power to address deficiencies in management that have negatively affected this prized sportsmen’s resource – and to forge a brighter future for mule deer.”

• Read “Mule Deer and Energy: Federal Policy and Planning in the Greater Green River Basin.”
• Review a summary of the TRCP report and recommendations.

About:
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the tradition of hunting and fishing. Visit: www.trcp.org

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- At its spring meeting, the board of directors of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership elected Katie Distler Eckman, a seasoned conservationist with significant experience in the nonprofit and foundation realms, to chair the TRCP board.

“I am honored to lead the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership during a time that is so critical to conservation in America,” said Distler Eckman.

“The strength of this organization, its deeply committed staff and its dedicated board members position us to make major gains in the name of natural resources conservation and hunting and angling. I am thrilled with this opportunity.

“Through our partnerships in the sportsmen’s community and our many individual members, the TRCP is effecting conservation policy that benefits fish and wildlife and our outdoor traditions,” continued Distler Eckman. “Theodore Roosevelt said, ‘The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena.’ I look forward to sharing the ‘great enthusiasm and devotion’ of which Roosevelt spoke as I work with the TRCP to address the challenges that lie before us.”

A consultant for foundations and nonprofits, Distler Eckman most recently served as executive director of the Turner Foundation, a conservation foundation established by Ted Turner, where she oversaw all aspects of the foundation’s giving and developed strategic funding agendas that enhanced the foundation’s mission. Before joining Turner, Katie worked for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, directing programmatic and financial management of a $35 million conservation grant portfolio. An avid outdoorswoman with a passion for fly fishing, she lives in Winston-Salem, N.C., with her husband and two young children.

Distler Eckman takes the reins as TRCP board chair from longtime board member Jim Martin, a biologist and the former chief of fisheries for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife who currently is conservation director of the Berkley Conservation Institute.

“In taking on leadership of the TRCP board, Katie Distler Eckman brings an exciting new energy to this organization and our conservation policy work,” said Martin. “Katie’s knowledge of conservation issues and experience with the nonprofit and foundation communities, combined with her love for the outdoors, make her an outstanding guide as we navigate the choppy waters of natural resources policymaking.”

“Distler Eckman’s strategic approach to conservation funding and natural resources conservation is unsurpassed,” said TRCP President and CEO Whit Fosburgh, “and her leadership will enhance TRCP’s ability to build the partnerships and promote the policy decisions that ultimately will assure a future for the outdoor legacy that lies at the heart of our national identity.”

During its meeting, the TRCP board also voted to name TRCP co-founder Dr. Rollin Sparrowe a board member emeritus. Sparrowe, a former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist, is a past TRCP board chair and has served the TRCP board since the group’s inception.

Learn more about the TRCP and read the TRCP 2011 Conservation Policy Agenda.

About:
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the tradition of hunting and fishing. Visit: www.trcp.org

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- As the U.S. Forest Service completes work on new planning regulations for the nation’s forests and grasslands, an assemblage of prominent sportsman-conservation groups is uniting in support of policy that conserves wildlife and fish populations, habitat, hunting and angling, and high-quality outdoor experiences, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership announced today.

“The Buck Stops Here,” a statement signed by 64 hunting and angling groups from across the country, strongly asserts sportsmen’s priorities for managing America’s 193 million acres of national forests and grasslands.

“In charting the future of our national forests and grasslands, the buck stops here,” said Joel Webster, director of the TRCP Center for Western Lands.

“These areas provide some of the nation’s finest fish and wildlife habitat and publicly accessible hunting and fishing to millions of sportsmen. From wild sheep, deer, elk, turkey and grouse hunting to wild trout and salmon fishing, these lands will only become more important for our outdoor traditions as America’s population continues to grow.”

“With more than 400,000 miles of streams and 3 million acres of lakes, the Forest Service has a central role in the future of our nation’s water supplies and fisheries habitats,” said Keith Curley, director of government affairs with Trout Unlimited, a “Buck Stops Here” signatory. “The planning rule must ensure that management decisions are made using the best available science – and critical resources such as riparian habitats and water quality are protected or restored so that healthy populations of fish and wildlife may be sustained on Forest Service lands.”

“The Wildlife Society encourages the Forest Service to strengthen the role of science in the final rule,” said Michael Hutchins, executive director and CEO of The Wildlife Society, which signed the sportsmen’s letter, “and to ensure that the ecosystem-based conservation and management approach leads to healthy fish and wildlife populations by placing greater emphasis on focal species-level monitoring.”

“In order to sustain quality hunting and angling opportunities, forest plans must show how they will support not only rare plants and animals but also important species such as deer, elk, grouse and trout that are enjoyed and used by the public,” stated Webster. “Non-routine projects must be carefully monitored to safeguard fish and wildlife – both during and after these activities.”

Promulgated under the National Forest Management Act, the new regulations will govern management of fish and wildlife populations, watersheds, road building, timber harvest and habitat restoration on the nation’s national forest lands. A series of forums enabled the public to ask questions and learn about the new regulations. Comments must be submitted by May 16.

Read “The Buck Stops Here” and review the list of sportsmen signatories.

TRCP Buck Stops Here

About:
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the tradition of hunting and fishing. Visit: www.trcp.org

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- WASHINGTON – A report released today by the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership outlines recommendations for restoration of the Gulf of Mexico’s fisheries, fish and wildlife habitat, and economy following last year’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

“The Gulf Spill Recreational Fishing Response Group: Recommendations for Resource Recovery” culminates a TRCP-facilitated outreach effort with local stakeholders and experts in the Gulf region as well as discussions with leaders in the Gulf recreational fishing and conservation communities. The ad hoc Gulf Spill Recreational Fishing Response Group provides insights into rehabilitating the fisheries, habitat and sport-fishing economy that were devastated by the oil spill.

The TRCP meetings, held in Pensacola, Fla.; Gulfport, Miss.; and New Orleans, La., included representatives from recreational angling organizations, individual recreational anglers, academics, state fish and wildlife department officials and habitat restoration experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“Nearly six million saltwater anglers who take more than 45 million fishing trips each year rely on resources the Gulf provides,” said Jeff Angers, chairman of the GSRFRG steering committee and president of the Center for Coastal Conservation. “When that resource is in jeopardy, so too are the countless businesses and livelihoods in the region that depend on healthy fisheries and strong recreational fishing activity.”

The Gulf of Mexico is one of the most popular areas for recreational fishing in the United States. Recreational fishing contributes $41 billion in economic output in the Gulf Coast region annually and supports more than 300,000 jobs. The TRCP report outlines the consensus priorities for investments that could restore the quantity and quality of Gulf recreational fishing opportunities – at a minimum to pre-spill levels and ideally to levels that are improved overall.

“This report enables policymakers to frame decisions informed directly by recreational anglers – one of the most important stakeholder groups in the Gulf,” said Whit Fosburgh, TRCP president and CEO. “We took the time with our partners to forge specific recommendations representing the strong consensus of recreational anglers throughout the region.”

“Restoring the many important components of the Gulf ecosystem – and understanding and quantifying the impacts on fish, habitat and businesses in the region – will take years,” said David Cresson, executive director of the Coastal Conservation Association, Louisiana, and GSRFRG co-chair. “This fact underlies the report’s overarching recommendation for long-term, dedicated funding in the Gulf region to address the repercussions of the spill.”

“As awful as this crisis and its fallout have been,” said Ken Haddad, marine fisheries advisor with the American Sportfishing Association and GSRFRG co-chair, “an opportunity exists to reset some of our fisheries management and habitat protection practices in the Gulf with targeted investments that should have been taken before the spill. We need, for example, a new approach to fisheries data gathering that ensures we possess fundamental baseline information about key Gulf fisheries, should a disaster hit again.”

The TRCP report presents recommendations on habitat restoration and improvement, both inshore and offshore, such as research on sargassum beds and the creation of new reefs. It offers guidance on improving fishery monitoring, data collection and research management, such as funding more frequent full new stock assessments. The report also addresses the impacts on recreational fishing businesses, along with angler interest and confidence, and advises how to publicly promote fishing in the region as well as how to remove impediments to fishing.

Gulf Spill Recreational Fishing Response Group Report

Learn more about the TRCP’s work in support of America’s ocean and coastal resources.

About:
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the tradition of hunting and fishing. Visit: www.trcp.org

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON -WASHINGTON, DC --(Ammoland.com)- Some of the nation’s top sportsmen’s organizations – Ducks Unlimited, the Izaak Walton League of America, the National Wildlife Federation, Trout Unlimited and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership – applaud the administration for taking an important step today to begin restoring Clean Water Act protections to streams and wetlands.

These waters provide critical habitat to fish and wildlife, flood control, drinking water and many other benefits.

The proposed guidance issued by the administration would more clearly define which U.S. waters are subject to Clean Water Act protections.

This would begin restoring longstanding protections for many of the nation’s wetlands, streams, lakes and headwaters that have been vulnerable to pollution and destruction since the SWANCC (2001) and Rapanos (2006) Supreme Court decisions. Issuing agency guidance – instructions to staff in the field about how to interpret laws or court decisions – is a well-established practice used by every administration. To ensure transparency and diverse stakeholder participation in the process, the proposed Clean Water Act guidance will be available for public comment and review for 60 days.

Decisions in the two Supreme Court cases and agency guidance issued in 2003 and 2008 jeopardize crucial water resources and wildlife habitat. Taken together, they removed protections for at least 20 million acres of wetlands, particularly prairie potholes and other seasonal wetlands essential to waterfowl populations throughout the country. Intermittent streams that provide critical habitat for fish, especially trout, and feed into the public drinking water systems for more than 117 million Americans also are at risk.

“The importance of this guidance cannot be overstated,” said Steve Moyer, vice president of government relations for Trout Unlimited. “Restoring these lost protections means more habitat in the long run for all the fish and wildlife that sportsmen love to pursue.”

Restoring protections for these waters directly benefits the American people, fish and wildlife, and outdoor recreation, including hunting, fishing and boating. The economic benefits to the United States from these wetlands and streams are staggering. For example, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that wildlife-dependent recreation in the United States generates $80 billion in hunting and fishing expenditures annually.

The wording of the two Supreme Court decisions left state and federal regulators, landowners and manufacturers confused about which U.S. waters are protected by the Clean Water Act.

“This confusion led to lost protections for some of our nation’s most important waters, which could have significant consequences for wetland conservation, particularly in areas important for breeding and migratory waterfowl,” said Scott Yaich, director of conservation operations for Ducks Unlimited. “Clear guidance could go a long way toward restoring wetland protections important to our nation’s waterfowl and waterfowl hunters.”

“We are pleased the administration has taken this crucial first step to provide clarity to landowners, conservationists and businesses regarding waters of the United States,” said Whit Fosburgh, president and CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “This action has been taken with no expansion of federal reach but simply restoring protections Congress originally put in place. This not only will conserve healthy habitat and water quality; it also will safeguard and support the sporting traditions that tens of millions of Americans enjoy.”

The proposed guidance takes a moderate approach that falls within the limits of the Supreme Court decisions. For example, it generally excludes roadside ditches, gullies or small washes from coverage under the Clean Water Act and does not apply to ponds and other ornamental bodies of water constructed by excavating dry land. Moreover, the proposed guidance does not affect any of the existing exemptions in the Clean Water Act for a wide range of farming and forestry activities, including plowing, cultivating and seeding and the construction and maintenance of stock ponds and logging roads.

“The administration’s proposal is balanced and reasonable,” said Scott Kovarovics, conservation director for the Izaak Walton League of America. “It restores traditional Clean Water Act protections to streams and wetlands while clearly retaining exemptions from the Act for farming, ranching and logging.”

“This guidance reflects a more faithful reading of Justice Kennedy’s pivotal ‘significant nexus’ test for jurisdiction and places clean water programs on more solid legal and scientific footing,” said Jan Goldman-Carter, wetlands and water resources counsel for the National Wildlife Federation. “There is also widespread agreement that a rulemaking is needed to further clarify and restore protections that existed prior to the SWANCC decision for our nation’s wetlands, streams and other waters. This guidance is very encouraging, and we now look forward to a solid rule further clarifying and reinforcing these protections.”

• Learn more about the guidance released today.
• Read more on the EPA website.

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Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com) Following the U.S. Forest Service’s release of a new management document that could define development on more than 4.2 million acres of national forest lands in Colorado, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership today pronounced the revised Colorado roadless rule “a positive step forward.”

“While strengthened, the Colorado roadless rule requires fine-tuning to adequately conserve the backcountry values of these public lands,” said Joel Webster, director of the TRCP Center for Western Lands.

“Sportsmen see opportunities to improve the rule and will be working alongside state and federal decision makers to assure a strong future for Colorado’s public-lands outdoor heritage.”

The rule issued today, the first iteration of the state-based management tool to be created under the Obama administration, represents what could be the final opportunity for the public to comment on guidance that will permanently direct the future administration of key big-game habitat, valuable fisheries and opportunities for public-lands hunting and fishing that have been used and relied upon by citizens for generations.

“In 2010, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack pledged that the Colorado rule would be as protective as or more protective than the national roadless rule,” said TRCP Colorado Field Representative Nick Payne. “The administration has made important strides toward that end, but we haven’t arrived just yet.

“Colorado’s national forest lands support some of the largest mule deer and elk herds in the nation, and we can’t afford to sell these backcountry areas short,” Payne continued. “Hunters and anglers urge the administration to carefully review the successful conservation outcome attained in the Idaho roadless rule, including the expansion of upper-tier roadless acreages acreages valuable to big-game populations and fisheries, with the goal of reaching a similar conclusion in Colorado.”

The TRCP, which has been involved in development of the Colorado rule since the petition was created in 2006, emphasized that sportsmen would be actively engaged in submitting suggestions for improvement during the 90-day public comment period that begins today.

“This new version of the rule represents our last, best chance to resolve a process has continued for five years without resolution,” concluded Webster. “It’s time to resolve the final issues in the Colorado roadless rule, shake hands and move on.”

Read the new version of the Colorado roadless rule.

Learn more about the TRCP’s work in support of backcountry conservation.

About:
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the tradition of hunting and fishing. Visit: www.trcp.org

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- At a U.S. House of Representatives committee hearing this morning, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership President and CEO Whit Fosburgh advocated budgetary measures that would sustain fish and wildlife resources and hunting and angling opportunities while enabling responsible development of public-lands energy reserves.

The TRCP represented the interests of sportsmen-conservationists before the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee, which met to review Fiscal Year 2012 budget proposals for the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service in the context of energy and minerals development, job creation and deficit reduction.

While praising energy leasing reforms announced by Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar as “a step in the right direction,” Fosburgh spoke sharply against energy policies that eliminate protections for fish and wildlife resources, reduce citizen involvement in public-lands energy development and unduly prioritize energy development above valuable fish and wildlife uses and values. He highlighted master leasing plans as a component of lease reforms that promote responsible development, at the same time stressing that adequate funds must be allocated for these and other programs to be effective.

“Recent policy changes are positively affecting management of public-lands energy resources and returning balance to a dynamic that previously held energy as a primary value of these lands,” said Fosburgh. “Federal budgets for fish and wildlife programs have been neglected and are inadequate, however, and further cuts would irreparably harm natural resources prized by hunters and anglers.”

The TRCP and the hunting and angling community in general support responsible domestic energy development and maintain it must be done in a way that conserves and sustains other values along with those of energy production. The sportsmen’s group advocates multiple use and sustained yield of public-lands resources, including energy production, while upholding a fish and wildlife conservation legacy for this and future generations.

“Overall, we believe that more can be done at the planning or leasing stages for conservation of fish, wildlife, water and recreation that will result in less conflict, better multiple use and more certainty for developers of our public-lands energy resources,” said Fosburgh. “Sportsmen continue to support responsible energy development, yet we will not sit idly by while public resources are ignored to meet the financial needs of energy companies – and certainly not at the expense of our nation’s great natural resources legacy and outdoor traditions.”

The TRCP and its partners believe that to better balance the concerns of fish and wildlife in the face of accelerating energy development, federal land management agencies must follow the conservation tenets outlined in the FACTS for Fish and Wildlife.

Read the TRCP’s House testimony.

Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the traditions of hunting and fishing.

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- Following today’s release of the America’s Great Outdoors initiative, billed by the White House as a “21st century conservation and recreation strategy,” the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership lauded measures in the document that reflect the priorities of American hunters and anglers.

President Obama invoked the legacy of the nation’s greatest conservation president, Theodore Roosevelt, as he addressed an audience of conservationists from the East Room of the White House this afternoon in unveiling the AGO report.

The president established the initiative last spring to promote and support community-level conservation efforts and reconnect Americans to the outdoors. It drew input and ideas from thousands of citizens, including sportsmen, who stressed the urgency of funding key programs that facilitate the acquisition of public lands, access to both public and private lands and conservation of valuable fish and wildlife habitat.

“The America’s Great Outdoors initiative enabled sportsmen to impress upon our leaders the importance of programs like the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which has acquired and conserved some of our nation’s most popular public lands for hunting and fishing, and Open Fields, which facilitates sportsmen’s access to farms and ranches and encourages fish and wildlife habitat management on private lands,” said TRCP President and CEO Whit Fosburgh, who attended today’s announcement.

“Sportsmen appreciate the president’s receptiveness to our concerns and his enthusiasm for the hunting and fishing traditions so central to the American identity,” Fosburgh continued. “Yet our ability to conserve both our shared resources and our outdoors way of life hinges on these and other programs receiving ample funding. Fully funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and allocating some of that funding to expand recreational access on public lands, is a significant step in the right direction. We strongly encourage Congress to pass it.

“America’s hunters and anglers urge President Obama and the administration to redouble their efforts to sustain the places and outdoor opportunities that make our nation great,” Fosburgh concluded, “and we stand ready to support their work during the budgetary challenges we presently are confronting.”

• Learn more about priority issues for sportsmen in the TRCP 2011 Conservation Policy Agenda.
• Learn more about the America’s Great Outdoors initiative.
• Read the AGO report.

About:
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the tradition of hunting and fishing. Visit: www.trcp.org

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership today announced the release of its 2011 Conservation Policy Agenda, presenting conservation issues of importance to American hunters and anglers and outlining the sportsmen’s priorities for the coming year.

By organizing hunting, angling and conservation groups, labor unions and individual grassroots partners, the TRCP works to strengthen the laws, policies and practices concerning fish and wildlife conservation and hunting and fishing in the United States.

The combined voices of TRCP partners help advance conservation policy solutions benefiting the nation’s sportsmen, thereby helping the TRCP guarantee every American quality places to hunt and fish.

“In this, a time of budget austerity, we at the TRCP continue to maintain the necessity of safeguarding our shared natural resources through responsible management, up-to-date regulations and laws, and strongly funded conservation programs,” said TRCP President and CEO Whit Fosburgh. “The TRCP’s Conservation Policy Agenda represents our priority issues in 2011 and offers a conservation roadmap to the administration and Congress.”

Issues highlighted in the TRCP 2011 Conservation Policy Agenda include the following:

• Strongly funded agricultural- and private-lands conservation programs through legislation such as the Farm Bill
• The need to safeguard fish and wildlife resources during the planning and development of conventional and renewable energy projects on public and private lands
• Common-sense reform of U.S. mining laws to restore habitat and conserve important natural areas threatened by mining activities
• Conservation of the nation’s clean waters and the outdoor opportunities they enable
• Responsible management of our saltwater fish resources and restoration of degraded marine ecosystems
• Conservation of pristine backcountry habitat from development to ensure a strong future for public lands hunting and fishing
• Commitment to fully funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund and permanently establishing the Conservation Easement Tax Incentive program

“America’s hunting and fishing traditions depend on responsible management of our lands, waters and the species that inhabit them,” said Dr. Steve Williams, president of the Wildlife Management Institute, former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and chairman of the TRCP policy council. “The TRCP’s success in advancing conservation policy that benefits fish, wildlife and sportsmen lies in the partnerships it brokers and the combined strength that these coalitions bring to Washington.”

“Theodore Roosevelt never wavered in his conviction that the U.S. conservation movement is above all an exercise in democracy,” said Jim Martin, chairman of the TRCP board of directors, “and his goal was ‘to give reasonable opportunities for the exercise of the skill of the hunter, whether he is or is not a man of means.’

“The TRCP continues to seek opportunities and explore new ideas that can benefit fish, wildlife and their habitat,” Martin concluded, “and we remain committed to ensuring a brighter future for the American sportsman – regardless of means – and for our nation’s outdoor way of life.”

Read the TRCP 2011 Conservation Policy Agenda.
TRCP 2011 Conservation Policy Agenda

About:
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the tradition of hunting and fishing. Visit: www.trcp.org

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership Launches Redesigned Website

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership today premiered its redesigned website, www.trcp.org, an interactive, engaging resource for sportsmen to learn about fish and wildlife conservation and access issues and take action in support of America’s hunting and angling traditions.

The enhanced design offers new online tools for sportsmen, improves navigability and presents a multimedia experience for visitors.

“The new TRCP website is a portal for sportsmen to learn about the key issues affecting hunting and fishing in the United States,” said Geoff Mullins, TRCP director of policy initiatives and communications, “as well as how they can most effectively be involved in support of the fish, wildlife, lands and waters that make these activities possible.”

TRCP site visitors will enjoy investigating expanded multimedia offerings such as videos, slideshows and a state-by-state map of hunting and angling resources, in addition to updated information on the TRCP’s policy initiatives and the work of its partner organizations. The streamlined design aids site navigation, positioning current news and events front and center and requiring minimal clicks for visitors to take action, make donations and support the work of the TRCP and its partners.

“At its core, the TRCP remains a collaboration, drawing our influence and basing our accomplishments from the range of sportsmen and groups that form our partners,” said TRCP President and CEO Whit Fosburgh. “The new TRCP website highlights these partnerships – in particular the many fine organizations represented on the TRCP policy council and our working groups – and allows individuals to support the policy work that is central to securing our nation’s outdoor heritage.”

Visit the new TRCP website at www.trcp.org.

About:
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the tradition of hunting and fishing. Visit: www.trcp.org

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- A U.S. 9th District Court decision upholding the legality of the Idaho roadless rule – and thereby creating management certainty for Idaho’s 9.3 million acres of roadless national forests – was praised today by the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.

The sportsmen stressed the importance of backcountry habitat to fish and wildlife and reiterated the need for responsible management of roadless lands across the country.

“The Idaho roadless rule conserves key backcountry fish and wildlife habitat and important sporting opportunities – outcomes that hunters and anglers wholeheartedly support,” said Joel Webster, director of the TRCP Center for Western Lands. “Overall, the Idaho rule is as strong as the national roadless rule, which many sportsmen maintain has established a minimum standard for safeguarding these valuable public lands.”

Idaho has more acres of national forest roadless areas than any other state in the contiguous United States. From 2006 to 2008, the TRCP worked with sportsmen, the Idaho governor’s office, the Roadless Area Conservation National Advisory Council and the U.S. Forest Service to help create a state-based roadless rule that benefits fish, wildlife and Idaho’s exceptional public-lands hunting and fishing.

“From the Bannock Range in the Great Basin to the Selkirk Range in the Panhandle, Idaho’s expansive landscapes offer opportunities for backcountry hunting and fishing found nowhere else on earth,” continued Webster. “That outdoor legacy is worth conserving, and the Idaho roadless rule is a good plan that gets the job done.”

The Idaho roadless rule is the only state-based roadless rule that has been completed. Colorado, the one other state to elect to develop a state-specific rule for management of roadless areas, currently is working with the Forest Service to finalize its rule. Sportsmen have actively participated in developing the Colorado roadless rule petition and remain engaged in addressing shortfalls in the plan’s management language.

“The Colorado roadless rule must be as strong as or stronger than the national rule to uphold Colorado’s great backcountry traditions,” said Webster. “We hope that a soon-to-be-released revision of the rule will be significantly improved from previous drafts, and we will continue to help rectify any remaining deficiencies to ensure a top-quality management document for federal backcountry lands located in the state.”

Roadless areas located in 37 states outside of Idaho are managed under the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, a national forest management regulation that was designed to limit road building and timber harvest on 58.5 million acres of undeveloped public lands across the country. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals presently is considering a suit brought against the 2001 rule; a ruling is expected early in 2011.

Learn more about the TRCP’s work to conserve America’s national forest roadless areas.

Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the traditions of hunting and fishing.

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON – A decision by the U.S. Forest Service not to issue energy leases on more than 44,000 acres of public lands in the Wyoming Range drew praise from the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.

The TRCP had submitted comments via the National Environmental Policy Act recommending that leasing and development of these parcels be prohibited to conserve important fish and wildlife habitat and sustain hunting and other outdoor recreation.

Located southeast of Jackson, Wyo., in Bridger-Teton National Forest, the proposed leases are sited in prime habitat for elk, mule deer, moose and forest grouse that is a popular hunting destination. The area also is home to native cutthroat trout populations and provides ample fishing opportunities. These recreational offerings are a mainstay of local economies and have supported outfitters, guides and a range of other sportsmen-dependent businesses for more than a century.

“Wyoming’s federal public lands have born witness to significant oil and gas development over the past decade – development that in some cases has decimated fish and wildlife populations and hunting and fishing opportunities,” said TRCP Western Energy Coordinator Neil Thagard.

“The decision to not lease these parcels, based on thorough environmental review and under the mandate of multiple-use, equals a victory for the responsible management of our federal public lands and for sportsmen – both in Wyoming and across the country.”

In particular, the TRCP maintained that developing the leases would compound the pressures on mule deer in southwestern Wyoming. A federal scientific report released in November 2010 shows that mule deer populations in the area had declined by 60 percent since oil and gas development began around Pinedale, Wyo., in 2000.

The USFS decision factors in deficiencies identified in previous environmental analyses, new information on issues such as protection of threatened species, impacts on air quality, other energy projects under way in the area and public comments. It does not affect development of other existing, valid oil and gas leases located elsewhere in the Wyoming Range.

“Sportsmen who care about our public lands offer our thanks to the U.S. Forest Service – and in particular Bridger-Teton National Forest Supervisor Jacque Buchanan – for this courageous and foresighted action,” said Dr. Rollin Sparrowe, TRCP board member and a former federal biologist.

“Her decision exemplifies the type of approach the TRCP has advocated since this energy boom started: namely, looking beyond individual projects at the overall impact of multiple developments on a landscape level, particularly in valuable fish and wildlife habitat located in the Upper Green River Basin.”

In April 2008 the TRCP supported inclusion of the 44,000-plus acres in analysis of the entire draft environmental impact statement for the region at a time when a USFS scoping notice suggested that the decision might be made separately.

“In 2008, we presented to the Forest Service an array of key issues that merited consideration in the region’s management,” continued Sparrowe, an avid hunter who lives in Daniel, Wyo., “and Supervisor Buchanan and her staff clearly listened to our input in reaching this decision, which will help sustain the world-class sporting and recreational opportunities in the Wyoming Range.”

In 2007, Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso introduced the Wyoming Range Legacy Act, legislation to safeguard more than 1.2 million acres by prohibiting future energy leasing and allowing buybacks of current leases. This action acknowledged the critical role the Wyoming Range plays in the state’s fish and wildlife populations, in Wyoming’s economic health and to sportsmen. The act passed in 2009 but did not affect disputed oil and gas lease parcels or existing leases.

Learn more about the TRCP’s work in support of responsible public-lands energy development.

About:
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the tradition of hunting and fishing. Visit: www.trcp.org

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- WASHINGTON – -(Ammoland.com)- The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership today welcomed a U.S. Department of Agriculture announcement regarding continued funding for the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program, popularly known as “Open Fields,” which is dedicated to expanding public access and conserving valuable fish and wildlife habitat on privately owned lands.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack stated that public access programs in 2011 will receive additional grants totaling $8 million toward the total of $50 million that is available for three years through Open Fields. Many of the grants funded in 2010, the first year of the program’s implementation, were for multiple years and will receive continued funding in 2011.

One of the signature issues of the TRCP, Open Fields was successfully included in the 2008 Farm Bill following the efforts of the TRCP and many TRCP partner organizations. Open Fields can open millions of additional acres of private lands to hunters and anglers by augmenting existing state access programs and encouraging new walk-in programs. The increased funding facilitates the creation or expansion of existing public-access programs or provides landowner incentives to increase sportsmen’s access and improve fish and wildlife habitat on newly enrolled lands.

“By allocating these millions of dollars to Open Fields, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is showing its support of practices that benefit fish and wildlife and public access to the nation’s private lands,” said Jennifer Mock Schaeffer, Farm Bill coordinator for the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies and chair of the TRCP Agriculture and Wildlife Working Group. “Without the USDA’s vote of confidence, these important conservation programs would not otherwise be funded.”

The $8 million to be made available in 2011 is in addition to the initial VPA-HIP monies approval for the program in 2010; approximately $11.75 million was awarded to 17 states last year following approval of these funds.

“Our nation’s hunting and fishing traditions are inextricably tied to the health of America’s privately owned farm, ranch and forest lands,” said Dave Nomsen, vice president of government affairs for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever and member of the TRCP Agriculture and Wildlife Working Group. “We appreciate Secretary Vilsack’s commitment to American sportsmen and our shared natural resources through his support of continued funding of Open Fields.”

Twenty-six states currently have public access programs for hunting, fishing and other related activities. Sportsmen are encouraging states and tribal governments to submit VPA-HIP applications for 2011 funding through the federal government’s grants portal to the Farm Service Agency for consideration.

“America’s sportsmen-conservationists already have demonstrated overwhelming support of the Open Fields program – and of similar private-lands conservation programs included in the 2008 Farm Bill,” said TRCP President and CEO Whit Fosburgh. “We offer the USDA our thanks for continuing to see that public access and fish and wildlife conservation remain priorities of the federal government, and we look forward to working to sustain funding for these crucial programs as the 2012 Farm Bill is deliberated in the months to come.”

• Learn more about Open Fields and other Farm Bill programs.
• Read more about the TRCP’s work on the Farm Bill.

About:
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the tradition of hunting and fishing. Visit: www.trcp.org

Celebrating 25 Years of New Habitat Creation

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- The CRP enables public access to quality hunting and angling resources that otherwise would be unavailable. Idaho Fish and Game/Michael Woodruff.

A standout U.S. Department of Agriculture initiative known as the Conservation Reserve Program is celebrating 25 years of success in ensuring quality fish and wildlife habitat and resources for sportsmen, and we want your help in saying thanks!

The CRP is a volunteer-based program that encourages agricultural and private landowners to convert highly erodible cropland to fish and wildlife friendly cover – often favored by game birds such as pheasants, quail and mallards.

Through the CRP, landowners receive payments and cost-share assistance in establishing long-term conservation practices on farmland. Combined with other Farm Bill programs such as the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive or “Open Fields” Program, the CRP enables public access to quality hunting and angling resources that otherwise would be unavailable.

Today, the total CRP enrollment stands at 31.3 million acres – acres that create habitat, reduce soil erosion and sustain water quality. Take a moment now to thank the USDA for creating the CRP.

Send an e-mail to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack at AgSec@USDA.gov with the following message (or write your own!)

“As a sportsman, I can only hope that future generations of Americans will have the same hunting and fishing memories I have experienced. Initiatives like the Conservation Reserve Program help make this dream a reality by converting marginal cropland into quality habitat. Thank you for working to keep the CRP a priority for the USDA.”

About:
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the tradition of hunting and fishing. Visit: www.trcp.org

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- WASHINGTON – Sportsmen-conservationists across the country are welcoming news that Rep. Frank Lucas has been elected chair of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership announced today.

With jurisdiction over federal agriculture programs, the House Committee on Agriculture administers funding for critical natural resources policy such as the Farm Bill, the conservation title of which is the single-largest source of federal funding for conservation on private lands in the country. A lifelong farmer, Lucas is the first Oklahoman to chair the committee, on which he has served as a member since he first was elected to Congress in 1994.

Agricultural- and private-lands conservation remains a cornerstone of the TRCP’s policy work, and the efforts of the TRCP and its partner groups were instrumental in the inclusion of and improvements to vital conservation programs in the 2008 Farm Bill. The TRCP’s farm policy work is guided by the Agriculture and Wildlife Working Group, a coalition of representatives from the nation’s leading conservation and sportsmen’s organizations that currently is developing recommendations on conservation programs for the 2012 Farm Bill.

“Representative Lucas is taking on leadership of the House Committee on Agriculture at a watershed moment for our nation,” said Jennifer Mock Schaeffer, Farm Bill coordinator for the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies and chair of the TRCP Agriculture and Wildlife Working Group. “The 2008 Farm Bill increased total spending on conservation by approximately $4 billion to about $7.9 billion through 2012, and citizens are relying on Congress to sustain these important programs in the 2012 Farm Bill.”

“The House Committee on Agriculture plays a crucial role in establishing and continuing conservation programs that sustain America’s private-lands fish and wildlife populations – and consequently in maintaining our hunting and fishing traditions,” said Tom Franklin, TRCP director of policy and government relations. “Sportsmen look forward to advising the committee about fish and wildlife needs as we work together to develop a new Farm Bill, and we extend our willing support of Chairman Lucas’s efforts to conserve these irreplaceable resources.”

Learn more about the TRCP’s work in support of agricultural- and private-lands conservation.

About:
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the tradition of hunting and fishing. Visit: www.trcp.org

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- At its third annual Capitol Conservation Dinner, held last night in Washington, D.C., the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership lionized the achievements of giants in the sportsman community and brought together influential policymakers, union leaders and conservationists to celebrate the TRCP’s work in guaranteeing all Americans quality places to hunt and fish.

The flagship TRCP event honored the conservation accomplishments of Minnesota Congressman Collin C. Peterson, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, and Dave and Perk Perkins of the Orvis Company.

The dinner also spotlighted the Jim Range Conservation Fund, which commemorates the life’s work of the TRCP’s former chairman and co-founder.

“Through the TRCP’s Capitol Conservation Dinner, the sportsmen’s community celebrates the incalculable contributions of our nation’s most dedicated conservationists,” said Whit Fosburgh, TRCP president and CEO. “Following a trail blazed by President Theodore Roosevelt, the sportsmen honored at this year’s event exemplify the uniquely American drive to responsibly manage and enjoy our irreplaceable fish and wildlife resources.”

Chairman Peterson was presented with the James D. Range Conservation Award for his persistent efforts to conserve the nation’s natural resources, particularly on funding private and agricultural lands management programs via the federal Farm Bill. In lively introductory remarks by Peterson’s Minnesota colleague Sen. Al Franken and Pheasants Forever Vice President of Government Affairs Dave Nomsen, the congressman was cited as an unparalleled champion of fish and wildlife resources and our sporting culture.

“American communities depend on the smart use of our agricultural lands and on balancing the protection of natural resources with the needs of the nation’s farmers,” said Franken. “No one understands that balance better then Collin Peterson.”

“The last Farm Bill did more for conservation than any previous Farm Bill,” said Peterson. “Looking ahead to the next Farm Bill, we will work together to do the best we can to further conservation efforts and the way of life that are central to our great nation.”

Orvis Vice Chairman Dave Perkins and Orvis Chief Executive Officer Perk Perkins were honored with the TRCP Lifetime Conservation Achievement Award for their commitment to natural resources conservation as embodied in the mission of the Orvis Company and its hunting and fishing product lines. Johnny Morris, founder of Bass Pro Shops and recipient of the 2009 Lifetime Conservation Achievement Award, presented the 2010 award to the Perkinses.

“Orvis is simply a conduit for the hard work being done in the name of conservation by agencies, individuals and groups such as the TRCP,” said Dave Perkins in accepting the award. “We are proud to help advance these efforts that help sustain America’s fish and wildlife resources and long-held outdoor traditions.”

“Theodore Roosevelt once said, ‘I am only an average man, but, by George, I work at it harder than the average man,” said TRCP Board Chair Jim Martin, conservation director of the Berkley Conservation Institute. “Our 2010 honorees give credence to Roosevelt’s belief that our most valuable contributions arise from a simple desire to ‘work hard at work worth doing.’”

Lead sponsors of the 2010 Capitol Conservation Dinner included Bass Pro Shops and the High Lonesome Ranch.

A hero of modern conservation, Jim Range was instrumental in the crafting and passage of a string of landmark natural resource laws, including the Clean Water Act, and served on the boards of directors for numerous conservation groups. Range’s dedication to the conservation of fish and wildlife in support of the nation’s sporting traditions remains entrenched in sportsmen’s lives through the TRCP. Launched in October 2009, the two-year Jim Range Conservation Fund has raised more than $500,000.

Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the traditions of hunting and fishing.

Farm Bill programs such as WHIP provide important resources so farmers and private landowners can conserve key fish and wildlife habitat for species like the lesser prairie chicken. Photo courtesy of USDA.gov/Marcus Miller.

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- Farm Bill programs such as WHIP provide important resources so farmers and private landowners can conserve key fish and wildlife habitat for species like the lesser prairie chicken.

Sportsmen are celebrating a victory with the announcement of new federal measures in support of private-lands conservation. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a final rule for the federal Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program that adds a new national priority to restore and enhance wildlife habitat – much of which is important to game species.

The new WHIP national priority is “to protect, restore, develop or enhance important migration and other movement corridors for wildlife.”

This new focus complements the four existing national WHIP priorities that focus on activities benefitting native fish and wildlife habitats, conservation of at-risk species, protection of declining or important aquatic wildlife and reducing the impacts of invasive species on fish and wildlife habitat.

Authorized under the 2008 Farm Bill, WHIP is a voluntary program for conservation-minded landowners who want to develop and improve fish and wildlife habitat on agricultural and private land. Since its establishment in 1997, the program has resulted in habitat improvements on approximately 6.5 million acres nationwide. The program provides cost-share funding to farmers, ranchers and private landowners for projects ranging from removing barriers to fish migration in New England to establishing native warm-season grasses in the Southeast.

The TRCP long has advocated for increased measures to conserve fish and wildlife habitat and hunter access in the Farm Bill and is pleased to see the USDA highlighting programs that improve fish and wildlife habitat, sustain our waters and conserve energy.

• Learn more about WHIP.
• Learn more about the TRCP’s work on the Farm Bill.

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The Mission of the Texas State Rifle Association is to protect and defend the inalienable rights of the individual Texan to acquire, possess, transport, carry, transfer ownership and enjoy the right to lawful use of firearms for self preservation, for the defense of family and property and the common defense of the Republic and the individual liberties of the people. Visit: www.TSRA.com

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- Many of you recently took action and asked Congress to support the Land and Water Conservation Fund, helping to ensure the fund can continue saving some of America’s most popular sporting destinations from development and closure to recreation. Sportsmen have a final chance to speak up this week as Congress makes its last push toward the end of the session. Now is your chance to ask Congress to fully fund the LWCF at $900 million per year.

The TRCP has produced a video about the importance of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. See why hunters and anglers support full funding of the LWCF.

The LWCF accumulates money from off-shore energy leases and uses these funds to purchase public lands that provide access to hunting and fishing, maintain important waterfowl nesting sites and provide functional habitat for a range of species.

Speak up now and support full and dedicated funding of $900 million per year for the Land and Water Conservation Fund to improve public access to hunting and fishing opportunities on public lands.

About:
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the tradition of hunting and fishing. Visit: www.trcp.org

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership is appealing a court decision in its suit against the Department of the Interior over the government’s mishandling of a southwestern Wyoming energy development and the resulting impacts to wildlife, the sportsmen’s group announced today.

The TRCP suit, filed in 2008 in U.S. District Court, contends that the BLM failed to implement “adaptive environmental management” and mitigation activities as committed to in decision documents for the Pinedale Anticline natural gas project, which encompasses approximately 200,000 acres of the Upper Green River Basin in Sublette County, Wyo.

Sometimes referred to as an “American Serengeti” because of its seasonal and migratory use by wildlife, the Upper Green River Basin comprises crucial winter range for one of the state’s largest mule deer populations and has been identified by wildlife experts as one of the last, best habitats for sage grouse. A recently released federal report documents declines of 60 percent in mule deer numbers in the project area in the decade since development began, which will have serious repercussions for northern Wyoming Range mule deer hunting.

The TRCP maintains that BLM decisions regarding development in the Pinedale Anticline consistently ignore current science about the impacts of natural gas projects on these and a host of other species and lead to unnecessary impacts to wildlife. Dr. Rollin Sparrowe, TRCP board member and past leader of the Pinedale Anticline Working Group Wildlife Task Group, cited the report as a “prime example” of the federal government’s misguided approach to resource management and evidence of its failure to sustain mule deer numbers in the region.

“Current science, along with lessons learned from past actions, enable us to practice a balanced approach toward management of two world-class resources – wildlife and natural gas – located on the Pinedale Anticline,” said Sparrowe, a former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist and lifelong hunter who lives near the project site. “Yet the government’s failure to implement practices that conserve seasonal habitat for mule deer are furthering this population’s decline.

“Our appeal is rooted in our interest in assuring the responsible development of these energy resources,” continued Sparrowe, “and in our desire to see the BLM address mitigation, monitoring and adaptive management in a way that is both meaningful and effective for species prized by American sportsmen.”

“Why should we care about Pinedale, Wyoming?” said TRCP President and CEO Whit Fosburgh. “In short, because this project, touted as a paragon of public lands energy development, instead exemplifies a broken, out-of-balance management system.

“The court’s ruling essentially states that BLM can concoct a management plan, fail to implement that plan, rewrite the plan, and have the plan affirmed by a federal court, despite its failure to live up to the BLM’s contract with the American people,” Fosburgh said.

“The needs of fish and wildlife – and the interests of sportsmen and other public lands users – remain at the mercy of the BLM and its subjective interpretation of its mission,” Fosburgh concluded. “The nation’s public lands should be held and managed in trust for all Americans and for future generations to use and enjoy; the BLM’s failure to do this in Pinedale is setting a dangerous precedent for management of our shared natural resources.”

The TRCP supports responsible public-lands energy development that is pursued in accordance with federal law and ensures citizens’ continued ability to access our shared lands and natural resources.

• Learn more about the TRCP’s energy work.
• Learn more about the Pinedale Anticline.

About:
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the tradition of hunting and fishing. Visit: www.trcp.org

Win this Orvis Access 9’, 4-piece, Tip-flex fly rod

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- Sign up as a Hunter and Angler for Responsible Development today! Photo courtesy of Joel Webster.

Threats to valuable fish and wildlife habitat on Western public lands are escalating at an alarming rate. America’s outdoor heritage faces mounting pressure from energy development – both traditional and renewable, hard-rock mining, changing and extreme weather patterns and new incursions into pristine backcountry lands.

The TRCP is dedicated to confronting these challenges to safeguard important habitat and continued outdoor opportunities for sportsmen across the country.

But we need your help to assure the responsible management of our shared natural resources.

If you want to sustain a positive future for Western public-lands hunting and fishing, become a Hunter and Angler for Responsible Development today!

The TRCP will keep you informed about important Western public-lands habitat issues and help you take action on the issues that matter most to your sporting traditions. We’ll also enter you into a drawing to win the Orvis Access 9’, 4-piece, Tip-flex fly rod and an Orvis fly reel.

Supporting our Western public lands by becoming a HARD sportsman costs you nothing. Sign up for your chance at winning an Orvis fly rod today!

About:
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the traditions of hunting and fishing. Visit: www.trcp.org

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

WASHINGTON --(Ammoland.com)- Following the release of a monitoring report documenting steep declines in mule deer numbers on federal public lands in Wyoming’s Upper Green River Basin, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership is renewing calls for urgent action to conserve important seasonal habitat and arrest the dramatic decline of the prized game species.

Winter home to once-legendary populations of mule deer, the Pinedale Anticline in southwestern Wyoming also hosts one of the nation’s largest producing natural gas fields. The report, prepared by Western Ecosystems Technology Inc., documents a 60-percent decline in mule deer since 2000, when energy development on the anticline began in earnest.

Thresholds previously established by the Bureau of Land Management were exceeded in the first year of implementation of a revised Record of Decision, which drastically increased the number of wells allowed and permitted more drilling within typically restricted mule deer crucial winter range.

Yet at a recent meeting held in Pinedale to discuss the report, the BLM resisted making explicit commitments to address the mule deer declines, instead promising to further consider action and respond to public concerns later.

“Sportsmen frankly are outraged that these mule deer losses are not seen by the federal government as ‘severe’ and warranting specific reparative actions,” said Steve Belinda, TRCP director of energy programs and a former BLM biologist. “This lackadaisical response is, in a word, unacceptable, and it continues a string of broken promises by the BLM that were meant to assure responsible management of these public resources.”

“This portion of the Sublette mule deer herd is one of the most studied, documented populations of mule deer in the country, yet the BLM continues to insist that we don’t know enough to change course on actions that affect them,” said Dr. Rollin Sparrowe, a former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist and TRCP board member who lives near the project site. “By labeling its misguided approach ‘adaptive management,’ the BLM is avoiding doing what it must to sustain these animals and fulfill its multiple-use mandate for all resources, not just extraction of energy.

“Less than two years ago, biologists documented losses of 30 percent and changes in mule deer distribution patterns as a result of drilling operations in Pinedale,” continued Sparrowe, past leader of the Pinedale Anticline Working Group Wildlife Task Force. “Thousands of additional wells will be drilled in the anticline over the next decade. What further losses should we expect if corrective action is not taken at this critical moment?”

Read the report from Western Ecosystems Technology Inc.

Mule Deer Monitoring 2010 Annual Report

The TRCP supports responsible energy development balanced with natural resource management to assure sustainable fish and wildlife populations for this and future generations of Americans. Learn more about the TRCP’s energy work.

About:
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the traditions of hunting and fishing. Visit: www.trcp.org