Washington

Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR) applauds the formation of the newly established bipartisan Public Lands Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) has formally announced that Montana Governor Greg Gianforte will be serving as the 2025 Chair of the Governors Sportsmen’s Caucus (GSC), one of three caucuses under the CSF umbrella.

The Center for Sportfishing Policy is calling on anglers, industry stakeholders and coastal communities to stand against Amendment 59, a heavy-handed proposal by NOAA Fisheries that would ban bottom-fishing for 55 species along Florida’s Atlantic coast for three months a year.

NSSF® applauded U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer’s (R-N.D.) introduction of the Fair Access to Banking Act, S. 401, which will end the discriminatory lending practices of major banking institutions.

NSSF® welcomes U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo’s (R-Idaho) S. 364, the Hearing Protection Act, which would remove firearm suppressors from the list of definitions under the 1934 National Firearms Act (NFA), eliminating onerous and duplicitous background checks.

The North American Grasslands Conservation Act has been introduced in the House of Representatives by U.S. Representatives Nancy Mace (R – S.C.), Sharice Davids (D – Kan.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R – Penn.) and Mike Thompson (D – Calif.).

Tuesday, Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR) hosted a critical virtual briefing (recording available here), gathering industry leaders to discuss the impacts of U.S. trade policy on the $1.1 trillion outdoor recreation economy.

Tuesday, Taylor Schmitz, Director of Federal Relations for the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) testified before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife, and Fisheries as the sole representative from the sporting-conservation community on three CSF-priority bills.

The Little Grassy Lake dam and spillway structure on Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge is now over 80 years old. To rehabilitate this structure for the future of southern Illinois and users, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would like to notify the public that it has partnered with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a Dam Safety Modification Study.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would like to notify the public that proposals are being accepted for a concession contract(s), to manage the Blue Heron Marina and Campground and Crab Orchard Lake Campground. A solicitation and information for a site visit can be found on SAM.gov, by searching for NOTICE ID: 140F052430PR0001

The Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies is pleased to see 46 bipartisan members of the U.S. Senate and 142 bipartisan members of the U.S. House of Representatives signed on to Dear Colleague Letters supporting funding for the State & Tribal Wildlife Grants (STWG) program next fiscal year.

Members of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC) and industry partners gathered for a day of fun and fierce competition at the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation’s (CSF) annual bipartisan Congressional Clays Competition, hosted at the premier Prince George’s County Trap and Skeet Center.

The Department of the Interior released its much-anticipated Public Lands Rule, creating a conservation leasing mechanism for Bureau of Land Management (BLM) acres. Pheasants Forever (PF) and Quail Forever (QF) applaud agency leaders for creating a tool to carry out durable restoration and mitigation on America’s 245 million BLM acres, including landscape-level projects for upland birds and other wildlife.

In order to enhance operational efficiency and address the growing demands on public lands, Bureau of Land Management Director Tracy Stone-Manning announced the establishment of two career Deputy Director positions at the BLM Headquarters Office in Washington, D.C by splitting into two the career Deputy Director position.

The Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR) applauds the markup of the Economic Development Reauthorization Act of 2024, which has a historic focus on outdoor recreation through the inclusion of the Rural Outdoor Investment Act (ROI). The legislation passed unanimously out of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and reinforces America’s commitment to economic development, with a new emphasis on outdoor recreation.

Calling it out of step with the spirit of the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) Coalition sharply criticized the decision in the Fiscal Year 2024 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill to rescind $94 million in pre-GAOA funding needed for critical land and water conservation projects across the United States.

House Natural Resources Committee Chair Bruce Westerman (R, AR-04) has introduced his America’s Wildlife Habitat Conservation Act. This bill would authorize $300 million annually for the next five years for state and tribal fish and wildlife agencies to accomplish the goals outlined in wildlife action plans. The bill would also make several positive amendments to the Endangered Species Act.

The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies appreciates Chairman Westerman’s commitment to providing funding to state fish and wildlife agencies for wildlife habitat restoration in the America’s Wildlife Habitat Conservation Act (AWHCA).

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is expanding crop insurance tailored for nursery producers to all counties in all states. Nursery Value Select (NVS) is a pilot program that enables nursery producers to select the dollar amount of coverage that best fits their risk management needs.

Soldiers at the Cold Regions Test Center in Fort Greely, Alaska, where temperatures dipped to 35 degrees below zero last month, tested the Next Generation Squad Weapon (NGSW) XM7 rifle and XM250 automatic rifle in various mission-oriented tasks under conditions one might experience in the Arctic. Testing wrapped up Feb. 9, and results will be made available to Army senior leaders soon.