Press RoomPress ReleaseFor Immediate Release
May 3, 2006
For more information contact:
George Cooper, (202) 508-3421 Hunting, Fishing and Conservation Groups Weigh In On Proposed Land Sales Several of the country’s leading hunting, fishing and conservation organizations delivered a message to key members of Congress today raising objections to a proposal to sell public lands administered by the United States Forest Service (USFS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM). In the letter (click here to view) to Senator Conrad Burns, Chairman of the Senate Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, and the Ranking Member of that subcommittee, Senator Byron Dorgan and to Charles Taylor, Chairman of the House Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee and the Ranking Member of that Subcommittee, Congressman Norman Dicks, the groups specifically points to the likelihood that the proposed “Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act,” as it stands, will lead to the net loss of fish and wildlife habitat. In the letter, the signing groups acknowledge the need to sell or trade tracts that present management problems but reject the notion that replacement lands acquired would necessarily make up for lost habitat. “Fish and wildlife populations across the nation are facing dramatic declines as suitable habitat is converted to other uses,” says the letter, adding, “Hunters and anglers simply will not support any proposal that could further exacerbate this overwhelming problem.” Groups signing the letter include: the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, BASS/ESPN Outdoors, Bear Trust International, Berkley Conservation Institute, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, Federation of Fly Fishers, Houston Safari Club, Izaak Walton League of America, National Rifle Association, North American Grouse Partnership, Quality Deer Management Association, Ruffed Grouse Society, Safari Club International, Texas Wildlife Association, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, and Wildlife Management Institute. *** The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership is a coalition of leading conservation organizations and individual grassroots partners, working together to conserve fish and wildlife and their habitat, increase funding for conservation and management, and expand access to places to hunt and fish. |