Making Public Lands Public Initiative Moves in US House 8-10-2010
gengberg August 10th, 2010
Making Public Lands Public Initiative Moves in US House
Washington, DC - The nation’s 32 million hunters, anglers, trappers, recreational shooters and other outdoor enthusiasts on Friday moved closer to gaining increased access to hundreds of thousands of acres of federal land.
An amendment by Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC) Member and former Co-Chair, Rep. Ron Kind, passed overwhelmingly 404-1 and was included in the passage Friday of H.R. 3534, the Consolidated Land, Energy, and Aquatic Resources (CLEAR) Act in the U.S. House of Representatives. It directs up to 1.5 percent or $13.5 million of the annual authorized Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) funding to be used for projects securing recreational public access to U.S. Department of Interior lands through easements, rights-of-way, or fee title acquisitions from willing land sellers.
“This amendment is an important victory for sportsmen and other outdoor enthusiasts by opening access to Federal land that is inaccessible or significantly restricted to the outdoor activities that we cherish,” said Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation President Jeff Crane.
“The inaccessibility of public lands is one reason why people are not involved in hunting and the shooting sports and this amendment helps open public lands to those recreational pursuits,” said Kind.
Similar legislative language to that of the Kind amendment has been added in the U.S. Senate to S.3663, the “Clean Energy Jobs and Oil Company Accountability Act” sponsored by Senate Majority Leader, Sen. Harry Reid, and would also direct up to $13.5 million to the LWCF fund be apportioned for securing recreational public access.
Federal public lands are an important destination for millions American hunters, anglers, trappers, recreational shooters, and other outdoor enthusiasts. Nearly half of all hunters, for example, conduct a portion of their hunting activity on these lands. In addition, lack of access is cited as a primary reason that hunters and anglers stop participating in these traditional sports. A 2004 report to the House Appropriations Committee, stimulated by a CSF report, concluded that more than 35 million acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S Forest Service (USFS) land have inadequate access.
CSF, in cooperation with its allies in the American Wildlife Conservation Partners, a group of over 40 non-governmental organizations representing millions of hunter conservationists, launched the “Making Public Lands Public: Enhancing Hunter & Other Recreational Access to Federal Public Lands” initiative two years ago and subsequently requested that BLM and USFS utilize funds to improve hunter and other recreational access to Federal land and have identified opportunities in its list of funding priorities. Such opportunities have been identified as important projects by the Congress as expressed in the U.S. House Report to the FY 2010 Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.
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