Access

Challenge:

Dwindling access to quality hunting and angling opportunities is a trend that slowly is pulling apart the American sporting tradition. Urban sprawl and other factors are making it more difficult for the average sportsman to access hunting land and fishing waters, which has lead to a decline in the number of American hunters and anglers in the field. How can we tackle the access problem and simultaneously encourage better wildlife habitat management?

Strategy:

The TRCP and many of its partner organizations helped develop the "Open Fields" bill, officially titled the "Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program of 2007." This program was successfully included in the final passage of the 2008 Farm Bill and funded at $50 million over the next four years. Open Fields funding has the potential to make millions of additional private lands available for hunting and fishing, by augmenting existing state access programs and encouraging the establishment of new "walk-in" programs. Through these programs, states offer rural landowners small per-acre payments to voluntarily open their acreage, improve habitat and expand huntable land. These walk-in programs have succeeded not only because they expand opportunities for sportsmen, but also because they deal effectively with landowner liability, provide local community benefits and promote better wildlife management.

Action:

Now that Open Fields is law, the TRCP and our partners are working closely with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to make sure it is implemented quickly so states can begin taking advantage of these new resources. We have seen positive signs of progress from the new administration in the first half of 2009. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack spoke to TRCP’s Board of Directors in April where he indicated that Open Fields implementation was on track for “this fall.” In President Obama’s 2010 budget proposal released in May, the Open Fields program received its full funding of $50 million ($16.67 million over the next three years).

Let Congress know that you support the president’s funding for Open Fields and ask your Senators and Representative to encourage the USDA to fulfill their pledge of implementing this important program by this fall. Click here to take action.