Groups Launch Hunt-Fish-Vote Wyoming Website

July 24, 2024

New website an educational, voter resource for Wyoming’s hunters and anglers

(Cody, Wyo.)—Today, seven hunting and fishing conservation groups launched the website Hunt-Fish-Vote Wyoming, an educational, voter resource for Wyoming’s hunters and anglers. Supporting groups include Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Wyoming Wildlife Federation, Wyoming Wild Sheep Foundation, American Bear Foundation, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, Muley Fanatic Foundation, and Wyoming Trout Unlimited.

“Wyoming sportspeople are impacted by the outcomes of elections every legislative session,” said Joy Bannon, Executive Director with the Wyoming Wildlife Federation. “WWF believes it is important to have a well-informed populace, and we are excited to partner with other sporting organizations in this educational resource for Wyoming voters.”

The website features downloadable resources, including an informational guide on state and local positions, a candidate questionnaire, and information about Wyoming hunting and fishing community priorities.

“State and local officials make decisions every day that affect public access and habitat,” said Josh Metten, Wyoming field representative for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, who lives in Cody. “TRCP is proud to contribute to Hunt-Fish-Vote Wyoming, which will help Wyoming hunters and anglers educate themselves about elected officials and commit to vote in the 2024 primary and general elections.”

The website also features links to voter resources, such as how to register to vote and important election dates.

“Every candidate has their own perspective on issues important to hunters and anglers,” said Joshua Coursey, President of the Muley Fanatic Foundation. “We urge Wyoming sportspeople to educate themselves and vote in the primary and general elections.”

Wyoming’s primary election takes place on August 20, with the general election occurring on November 5.

Hunt-Fish-Vote Wyoming is an educational voting resource for Wyoming hunters and anglers. This platform will not be used to support, endorse, or oppose any candidate or political party. Candidates’ fitness for office should be judged on a variety of qualifications that go beyond their responses to the questionnaire.

Visit Hunt-Fish-Vote Wyoming to learn more.

The TRCP is your resource for all things conservation. In our weekly Roosevelt Report, you’ll receive the latest news on emerging habitat threats, legislation and proposals on the move, public land and waters access solutions we’re spearheading, and opportunities for hunters and anglers to take action. Sign up now.

Do you have any thoughts on this post?

Click here to cancel reply.

by: Madeleine West

posted in: Press Releases

July 18, 2024

Hunting, Fishing, and Conservation Organizations Applaud BLM’s Decision to Align Big Game Management with the State of Colorado

Final plan creates consistency between federal and state jurisdictions for oil and gas development within high priority big game habitat, sets the table to reduce impacts from renewable energy and recreation development

Today, the Colorado Bureau of Land Management published its Proposed Final Resource Management Plan Amendment for Big Game Habitat Conservation that aligns oil and gas management with State of Colorado big game conservation policies. Colorado BLM manages 8.3 million acres of land for multiple uses, such as oil and gas development, renewable energy development, ranching, and recreation opportunities such as hunting, fishing, camping, rafting, and hiking. A significant portion of these lands – approximately 6.3 million acres– is also high priority habitat for Colorado’s elk, mule deer, pronghorn, and bighorn sheep populations.

“Consistency between federal and state oil and gas regulators is good business, and it’s good policy,” said Madeleine West, director of the Center for Public Lands with the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “The BLM’s programmatic approach to state-wide planning has proved an efficient and effective way to align with state regulation to conserve Colorado’s iconic big game species and other wildlife. The BLM is on the right track with this plan, and we encourage them to similarly consider conservation of big game in their future management decisions beyond oil and gas.”

“As ungulate herds face daunting challenges from an array of uses on Colorado’s public lands, it is vital that BLM take these additional management actions to address oil and gas siting and development and lessen the pace of fragmentation to crucial habitats,” said Suzanne O’Neill, Executive Director of the Colorado Wildlife Federation.

“Providing safeguards for crucial big game habitat by creating continuity and clarity between how the state of Colorado and the BLM manage these areas makes sense on numerous levels,” said Aaron Kindle, director of sporting advocacy at the National Wildlife Federation. “It is a welcome outcome that took years of hard work by sporting conservation partners and the agencies. We look forward to seeing improved outcomes for big game herds in Colorado.”

The State of Colorado has prioritized intact habitat and migration corridor conservation for many years, including through Governor Polis’s Executive Order D 2019 011 “Conserving Colorado’s Big Game Winter Range and Migration Corridors” and through promulgation of new guidelines at the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission in 2020. The ECMC protocols established clearer expectations for development of oil and gas resources in the most sensitive wildlife habitats in Colorado.

The proposed final plan would amend management plans for 12 field offices to set a density limitation for greater than one active oil and gas location per square mile in big game high priority habitat and would require operators to develop and implement mitigation plans to minimize and offset direct, indirect, and cumulative adverse impacts. Through this plan, Colorado BLM is taking an important step to safeguard sensitive habitats critical to the long-term success of big game species, as well as other wildlife that utilize those habitats.

Prior to completion of this planning effort, companies that sought to develop oil and gas resources on federal land in Colorado had to follow federal leasing and permitting processes that could differ from one BLM-managed area to the next and from state permitting requirements administered by the ECMC.

This planning effort is now a model for how the BLM, and other land managers, can efficiently update plans and policies to facilitate responsible management of multiple uses on our public lands that conserve important fish and wildlife resources. The BLM is currently updating the 2012 Western Solar Plan to accommodate new science and technological advances across 11 Western states, including Colorado. Hunter, angler, and conservation organizations have called on the BLM to take a similar approach to ensure development impacts do not occur in the most sensitive big game habitat. The BLM’s proposed final Western Solar Plan revision is expected to be published this summer.

Similarly, the BLM is grappling with increased demand for recreation opportunities on the lands they manage. A 2020 report from Colorado Parks and Wildlife listed poorly-sited recreation infrastructure, such as trails for hiking and biking, as having the potential to fragment important big game habitats if not managed properly. In 2022, the TRCP released an analysis showing that 40% of Colorado’s most sensitive elk habitat is already impacted by recreational trails. Colorado’s Guide to Planning Trails with Wildlife in Mind offers science-based recommendations for advancing recreational trail opportunities while maintaining viable wildlife habitat. The BLM has the opportunity to implement these State recommendations to reduce impacts to big game from new recreation infrastructure. Just last month, the U.S. Forest Service applied many of these management principles across 823,000 acres in the final Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests Plan.

Today’s announcement opens a 30-day protest period prior to the BLM signing a Record of Decision to finalize the plan.

Photo Credit: Larry Lamsa

The TRCP is your resource for all things conservation. In our weekly Roosevelt Report, you’ll receive the latest news on emerging habitat threats, legislation and proposals on the move, public land access solutions we’re spearheading, and opportunities for hunters and anglers to take action. Sign up now.

by: Jen Leahy

posted in: Press Releases

June 28, 2024

BLM Decision Will Maintain Safeguards for 28 Million Acres of Public Lands in Alaska

The agency’s recommendation would conserve valuable habitat for salmon, caribou, moose, and Dall sheep

Today, the Bureau of Land Management moved to retain conservation safeguards on 28 million acres of public lands in Alaska, including large swaths of intact fish and wildlife habitat that offer world-class hunting and fishing opportunities.

“We welcome the BLM’s intent to maintain conservation measures that have stood for decades on these public lands in Alaska,” said Jen Leahy, Alaska senior program manager for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “We urge the BLM to finalize this decision in a timely manner so hunters and anglers don’t have to worry about these incredible public hunting and fishing grounds being privatized and developed.”

The 28 million acres encompassed in the decision includes important winter range for the Western Arctic Caribou Herd, one of Alaska’s largest caribou herds, and renowned hunting and fishing habitat in other areas of the state, including Bristol Bay—home to the world’s most prolific sockeye salmon fishery—and moose country in the Yukon and Kuskokwim watersheds. Alaska’s “D-1” public lands are also adjacent to many celebrated and remote rivers that anglers and hunters enjoy floating.

The TRCP is your no-B.S. resource for all things conservation. In our weekly Roosevelt Report, you’ll receive the latest news on emerging habitat threats, legislation and proposals on the move, public land access solutions we’re spearheading, and opportunities for hunters and anglers to take action. Sign up now.

by: Jen Leahy

posted in: Press Releases

BLM Decision Will Prevent Proposed Ambler Road in Alaska’s Brooks Range

The agency’s record of decision maintains America’s most wild and remote hunting and fishing grounds

Today, the Bureau of Land Management released its Record of Decision that will prevent the proposed Ambler Industrial Road in Alaska’s Brooks Range.

“Today’s decision is a victory for the local residents, Alaska Native Tribes, and the more than 14,000 conservation-minded hunters and anglers from across the country who championed for the enduring, wild qualities of the Brooks Range,” said Jen Leahy, Alaska senior program manager for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “We thank the BLM for recognizing the importance of these public lands to hunters and anglers, and for basing this critical decision on the best available science and robust public engagement.”

The ROD follows the agency’s final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, released April 19, in which the BLM selected the “No Action” alternative indicating the agency’s intent to prevent the proposed industrial corridor.

Known as the Ambler Road, the proposed private industrial corridor has received national opposition. The 211-mile corridor would have partially bisected the home range of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd, one of Alaska’s largest herds.

Caribou from the Western Arctic Herd. Photo Courtesy of Jim Dau.

“The recent decision to deny the proposed Ambler Road permit is an unequivocal win for the declining Western Arctic Caribou Herd that will keep, at least temporarily, its home range intact,” said Jim Dau, retired Western Arctic Caribou Herd biologist with Alaska Department of Fish & Game. “Caribou rarely use their entire range in any one year; however, over the course of decades, they use – and need – their entire range. This is increasingly important in a rapidly warming Arctic. What’s good for caribou is also good for the people who value or depend on them.”

“This decision is a great step toward ensuring that current and future generations have the opportunity to experience this majestic, unbroken landscape,” said Lewis Pagel, owner of Arctic Fishing Adventures in Kotzebue, Alaska. “The Brooks Range truly is a place like no other.”  

The project would have also crossed 11 major rivers and required nearly 3,000 stream crossings, degrading habitat and potentially impeding fish passage for important subsistence and sportfishing species such as sheefish.

Angler with sheefish. Photo courtesy of Greg Halbach.

“Brooks Range rivers will remain remote and wild because of this decision,” said fly fishing guide Greg Halbach of Remote Waters in Anchorage, Alaska. “We needed hunters and anglers from all over the country to speak out against the Ambler Road and they did. Because of this collective effort, I will continue to have the privilege and opportunity to immerse my clients in a wild landscape unlike any other.”   

The proposed Ambler Road prompted strong resistance from the hunting and fishing community. In 2023, more than 40 Alaska-based businesses, leading outdoor brands, and conservation organizations launched Hunters & Anglers for the Brooks Range. The collective—which includes guides, outfitters, and transporters who operate in the Brooks Range—urged the BLM to deny the permit for the private industrial corridor. To date, the coalition has delivered more than 14,000 individual letters to the agency opposing the Ambler Road.

“With this victory comes a renewed sense of commitment from the hunting and fishing community to safeguard America’s most remote hunting and fishing grounds.”
Jen Leahy, Alaska senior program manager for the TRCP

As expected, development interests have wasted no time attacking the BLM’s decision. Ambler Road proponents have reportedly included an amendment in the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act that would rescind the BLM’s decision and force the Department of the Interior to permit the Ambler Road. This effort will be met with strong resistance as conservation-minded hunters and anglers defend the BLM’s decision.

“With this victory comes a renewed sense of commitment from the hunting and fishing community to safeguard America’s most remote hunting and fishing grounds,” said Leahy. “The Brooks Range is a treasured destination for hunters and anglers, and we will stand guard to defend this iconic and wild landscape from emerging and future threats.”

Learn more about Hunters & Anglers for the Brooks Range HERE.

by: Dan Morgan

posted in: Press Releases

June 26, 2024

Hunters and Anglers Cheer House Introduction of the Bipartisan ACE Reauthorization Act

Lawmakers have introduced a bipartisan bill to boost funding and provide crucial enhancements to conservation programs benefiting fish and wildlife.

The America’s Conservation Enhancement (ACE) Reauthorization Act of 2024 was introduced in the House on Friday June 21, 2024. The ACE Reauthorization Act is sponsored by Representatives Wittman (R-Va.), Kiggans (R- Va.), Dingell (D-Mich.), and Thompson (D-Calif.), and would reauthorize multiple programs that benefit hunting and angling including, the National Fish Habitat Partnership, the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, the Chesapeake Bay Program, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. This reauthorization provides technical improvements and administrative streamlining to improve these programs. It also helps address threats like chronic wasting disease.

Earlier this year in a bipartisan vote, the U.S. Senate passed companion legislation, that paved the way for legislation to be introduced in the House.

“The America’s Conservation Enhancement Reauthorization Act will benefit fish and wildlife while enhancing outdoor recreation opportunities for millions of hunters and anglers,” said Becky Humphries, CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, “TRCP applauds Representatives Wittman, Kiggans, Dingell, and Thompson for their leadership on this important bipartisan legislation and we look forward to building on the success of these crucial conservation programs through increased funding levels that will benefit our sporting traditions for years to come.”

The original ACE Act was passed in 2020 and sponsored by Representatives Wittman and Thompson. Many of its authorizations will expire in 2025, necessitating the passage of the ACE Reauthorization Act to ensure these vital conservation programs can continue to operate in good legal standing.

The legislation is endorsed by the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Ducks Unlimited, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, the National Wildlife Federation, American Sportfishing Association, the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and the National Audubon Society.

The TRCP looks forward to working with the House of Representatives to ensure that this essential legislation for hunters and anglers reflects the authorization increases in the Senate version and becomes law.

TRCP works to maintain and strengthen the future of hunting and fishing by uniting and amplifying our partners’ voices in conserving and restoring wildlife populations and their habitat as challenges continue to evolve.

Learn more about TRCP’s commitment to healthy habitat and clean water here.

Photo: James Wicks