Something we (the FTA) and myself personally have been tracking, and I think it's important to all outdoorsman to be aware of.
https://www.sportsmensalliance.org/...imal-activists-over-public-land-hunting/We have got to speak up at every turn, and voice our concerns. Below is a letter one of our board members drafted, please feel free to make it your own and you can locate your appropriate representatives through the above link to share your concerns.
FORM DRAFT LETTER
Representative/Senator XXXX,
On August 8, 2021, the Department of Interior announced that the US Fish and Wildlife Service had opened and expanded hunting, trapping, and sport fishing opportunities on more than 2 million acres across 88 National Wildlife Refuges in the United States. This announcement documented the largest expansion of hunting, trapping, and fishing in the history of the National Wildlife Refuge System and expanded opportunities for the almost 40 million hunters, trappers, and anglers in the United States. Through these activities, hunters, trappers, and anglers contribute approximately $80 billion dollars to the economy annually (US Department of Interior 2016). Furthermore, the fees and taxes paid by these constitutes through hunting and fishing license sales and excise taxes paid for certain hunting and fishing related gear have been the primary funding sources for the management and conservation of wildlife across our nation for 85 years.
On November 29, 2021, The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) filed suit against the U.S. Department of Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the declaration that the Service’s expansion of hunting and fishing opportunities in the National Wildlife Refuge System violates the U.S. Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act. This suit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Missoula, Montana and is one of several recent filings by the CBD in this district to stop or eliminate various hunting, trapping, or fishing related activities throughout the country by weaponizing the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
This most recent filing specifically lists several of the “damages” of the Plaintiff’s member which include but are not limited to the following: risk to Grizzly Bears from legally hunting Black Bear that reduces the member’s ability to see the bears or their tracks and scat during future visits to the Swan River NWR in Montana; reducing member’s ability to see Jaguars on the Leslie Canyon NWR in Arizona; harming the spiritual, personal, and aesthetic interests of a member because hunting reduces her ability to view Ocelots and Jaguarundi at the Laguna Atascosa NWR and these animals may be involved in vehicle collisions with hunter’s vehicles; reducing a member’s ability to photograph Audubon’s Crested Caracara and Wood Stork in the Everglades and St. Marks NWR in Florida because of noise associated with hunting.
On February 4, 2022, the Center for Biological Diversity, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams, and Department of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland jointly requested a stay of proceedings regarding this case until April 8, 2022 under the expectation that a settlement is possible in this time. However, such a settlement will not include any contributions from the hunters, trappers, and anglers that will be affected by the settlement. In addition, hunters, trappers, and anglers likely have no more or less impact on the protection or recovery of the species identified by the Plaintiff’s members than the activities carried out by the Plaintiff’s members.
I am requesting that you officially oppose and investigate these biased negotiations between the Department of Interior, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Center for Biological Diversity as they are not in the best interest of the hunters, trappers, and anglers of our nation nor are they beneficial to integrity and intent of the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
Sincerely,
Literature Cited
U.S. Department of Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau. 2016 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation.
