Cryptolero

Sportsmen’s Heritage Act of 2012 [H.R.4089]

May 11, 2012

Dear Mr. Evans:

Thank you for contacting me with your thoughts on wilderness conservation. I appreciate hearing from you.

As you may know, the vast majority of federal lands are already open to hunting and fishing. On February 27, 2012, Representative Jeff Miller [R-FL-1] introduced the Sportsmen’s Heritage Act of 2012 [H.R.4089]. This bill would restrict the ability of local federal lands managers to close public land for fishing, sport hunting, and recreational shooting without approval by the director of the land management agency.

Under this bill, some public land could remain closed for national security, public safety, or resource conservation reasons. Other provisions of the bill would allow national monument land to be opened to recreational shooting, prevent the President from designating a national monument without first receiving the permission of that state’s governor and legislature, require an evaluation of the impact on hunting, fishing and recreational shooting in all land and resource planning, block federal regulation of lead-based bullets and tackle, and allow hunters to import trophies from Canadian polar bear hunts taking place before 1997. Please know that I will keep your thoughts in mind should I have the opportunity to consider this or related legislation in the Senate.

Throughout my time in Congress, I have supported the laws that serve as the cornerstones of our nation’s environmental stewardship, such as the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act, Clean and Safe Drinking Water Acts, Superfund, and others. I have also cosponsored bills that helped protect vulnerable habitats, such as the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA), which is designed to protect, enhance, and manage wetlands and habitats for migratory birds, fish, and wildlife. Since its enactment in 1990, NAWCA has helped protect over 25 million acres of habitat.

Again, thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with me. For more information about my work for Nevada, my role in the United States Senate Leadership, or to subscribe to regular e-mail updates on the issues that interest you, please visit my Web site at http://reid.senate.gov. I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.

My best wishes to you.

Sincerely,

Please tell your Senators to say "NO" to hunting across our National Park System »

Stop Congress from opening the National Park System to Hunting!

No, this ain’t a story from The Onion!

On Tuesday, April 17, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Sportsmen’s Heritage Act, which as drafted, could allow much of the National Park System to be opened to hunting and recreational shooting. The bill included language that purports to exclude national parks and national monuments from hunting and recreational shooting, but is so poorly drafted that it could result in hunting being permitted in national parks, like Yellowstone and the Great Smoky Mountains [Learn More]. In addition, it ignores the many designations of “national park unit” that also do not allow hunting, such as national historical park, national military park, national memorial, etc. Now that the bill has moved over to the Senate, its advocates are working aggressively to get it to the Senate floor. It is essential that the bill include a genuine exclusion for the National Park System that does not change current law.

Link https://secure.npca.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=807

House Votes to Open Much of National Park System to Hunting »

On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Sportsmen’s Heritage Act, which as drafted, would allow the National Park System to be opened to hunting and recreational shooting. The bill included language that purports to exclude national parks and national monuments from hunting and recreational shooting, but it does NOT provide a guarantee. In addition, it ignores the many designations of “national park unit” that also do not allow hunting, such as national historical park, national military park, national memorial, etc. Now that the bill has moved over to the Senate, its advocates are working aggressively to get it to the Senate floor. It is essential that the bill include a genuine exclusion for national parks that does not change current law.