The Senate voted this weekend to advance a broad-based package of legislative measures that promotes public hunting and angling access, habitat conservation and strongly funded resource management. Photo by Dusan Smetana.
The U.S. Senate voted this weekend to advance the Sportsmen’s Act of 2012 (S. 3525), a broad-based package of legislative measures that promotes public hunting and angling access, habitat conservation and strongly funded resource management.
The legislation integrates more than 20 bills, including the Making Public Lands Public Access Act, the Permanent Electronic Duck Stamp Act and the Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act. If passed, it also would reauthorize the North American Wetlands Conservation Act.
The TRCP, Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, Ducks Unlimited, The Nature Conservancy, Trout Unlimited and other members of the sportsmen’s community commended the decision.
“In a Congress marked by partisan conflict and divisiveness, the Senate’s support of this sensible and comprehensive package of bills acknowledges the critical role played by responsible natural resources management in the United States,” said TRCP President and CEO Whit Fosburgh.
To describe the bill, authored by Montana Sen. Jon Tester and supported by a bipartisan coalition of senators, as friendly to public hunting, fishing and conservation is an understatement. The act has broad economic and social impacts, improves access, and supports habitat conservation.
"The Sportsmen’s Act will be a boon for fish and game habitat by reauthorizing the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the National Fish Habitat Action Plan,” said Steve Moyer, vice president for government affairs at Trout Unlimited. “Both of these programs are an essential part of our efforts to build sustainable, on-the-ground partnerships that reconnect and restore coldwater fisheries, directly translating to more and better quality fishing opportunities.”
After the elections, we’ll reach out to you with an opportunity to contact your elected officials in the U.S. House and Senate to complete work on the Sportsmen’s Act. In the meantime, the Senate’s leadership deserve a “thank you” from all sportsmen.
Learn more about the Sportsmen's Act of 2012.
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