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September 18, 2015

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September 17, 2015

The Big Picture on Collaborative Land Management from 10,000 Feet Above Colorado’s South Park

One great benefit of working in fish and wildlife conservation is the opportunity to intimately familiarize myself with the areas where I hunt and fish, especially as I’m fighting to protect them. Last Wednesday I was lucky enough to get a truly unique perspective on our state’s South Park region, as I looked down on this haven for hunters, anglers, and recreationists from a six-passenger aircraft.

Image courtesy of Ecoflight.

All of South Park’s legendary public lands and waters were spread out before me, including the section of the South Platte known as the “Dream Stream” and recognized by Colorado Parks and Wildlife as gold-medal waters. I also spotted the few lesser-known public hunting grounds that I frequent, hoping every season that these areas remain as under-the-radar—excuse the pun—as they are productive in turning out big bulls.

It made me think of “the big picture” that many stakeholders—including county agencies, ranchers, sporting groups, water utilities, environmental organizations, landowners, and extractive industries—as the BLM recently initiated its South Park Master Leasing Plan process. With America being so politicized these days, it’s hard to find consensus on issues dealing with land management in the West, especially when extremists are crying for the seizure and potential sale of our federal public lands. But this group’s level of collaboration has been refreshing and exceptional.

Image courtesy of Ecoflight.

Of course the process hasn’t been without contention. Not everyone agrees on every aspect the plan for every township in South Park, yet everyone at the table seems to share the goal of maintaining an overall way of life in the valley—and it’s not all that different from how we live today. We’re working towards managing the federal public lands of this area in a way that maximizes the benefit to all users. That means protecting irreplaceable fish and wildlife habitat and putting industrialization pressure only on the lands that can handle it.

As we move forward in the BLM planning process, it is absolutely crucial that members of the community, especially hunters and anglers who rely on these public lands, make our voices heard. It may take a few years to finalize these plans, but they will dictate management activities through multiple presidential administrations and waves of bureaucracy over the next 20 years.

For more information, and to get involved, visit the BLM planning page.

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September 16, 2015

Locked Out: Utah’s Book Cliffs

In an increasingly crowded and pay-to-play world, America’s 640 million acres of public lands – including our national forests and Bureau of Land Management lands–have become the nation’s mightiest hunting and fishing strongholds. This is especially true in the West, where according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 72 percent of sportsmen depend on access to public lands for hunting. Without these vast expanses of prairie and sagebrush, foothills and towering peaks, the traditions of hunting and fishing as we have known them for the past century would be lost. Gone also would be a very basic American value: the unique and abundant freedom we’ve known for all of us, rich and poor and in-between, to experience our undeveloped and wild spaces, natural wonders, wildlife and waters, and the assets that have made life and citizenship in our country the envy of the world.

In Part Eight of our series, we stop in at Utah’s Book Cliffs.

Image courtesy of Joel Webster.

Stretching almost 200 miles from Price, Utah, to Palisades, Colorado, the Book Cliffs comprise the longest continuous escarpment in the world. High plateaus of ponderosa pines, firs, and aspen groves, and staggered lines of towering cliffs and isolated canyons, open out onto arid plains. Because the terrain and the vegetation changes so much with altitude, it is near-perfect mule deer and elk country, where summer range and winter range are closely connected.

When American sportsmen began restoring the wildlife lost during the settlement of the West, it was BLM public lands like those in the Book Cliffs that made the experiment the most successful wildlife recovery on earth. Today, there’s a limited draw hunt for trophy elk and mule deer here. Colorado River cutthroat trout, wild bison, and Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep have been restored, and pronghorn numbers are strong. All of these success stories were written almost entirely using sportsmen’s dollars on healthy public lands accessible to all Americans.

In 2012, the Utah legislature passed H.B. 148, “Transfer of Public Lands Act and Related Study,” a demand for 31 million acres of public lands like those in the Book Cliffs to be given to the state. You see, the cliffs are also a rich source of natural gas, coal, oil, helium, and potentially new reserves of oil.

Energy development under federal management has already been extensive enough here to pose real threats to big game and other wildlife resources. Federal management under the principles of multiple-use and sustained yield has forced the BLM to create management plans that at least lessen the impact of development on wildlife.

Image courtesy of Joel Webster.

As reported in a recent Utah study, the transfer of public lands would mean that the state would face huge new expenses for land management—an estimated $280 million per year. Utah has already sold 4.1 million of the 7.5 million acres it was granted at statehood, and millions of acres of the most valuable public lands could still be sold to foreign companies and billionaires, cutting off public access forever. If the state were to retain energy-rich lands like the Book Cliffs, it would need to aggressively develop mineral resources in order to cover the enormous costs associated with the management of its other lands. Energy-producing landscapes like the Book Cliffs would be industrialized at a scale that far exceeds levels under federal management, leaving nothing behind worth accessing.

Utah remains the epicenter of the land seizure movement, and two bills were passed during the 2015 state legislative session that are aimed at undermining America’s public lands heritage. Fortunately, Utah’s fervor for public lands seizure is not matched in most other states, and sportsmen will continue working to keep it that way.

Here are three ways you can support sportsmen’s access on public lands. 

Stay tuned. In the rest of this 10-part series, we’ll continue to cover some of America’s finest hunting and fishing destinations that could be permanently seized from the public if politicians have their way.

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September 15, 2015

Where Do Arizonans Love to Hunt and Fish? We Want to Find Out

Image courtesy of SVM Coalition.

Arizona’s sportsmen and sportswomen will have an opportunity to help conserve their favorite public hunting and fishing destinations by participating in the Sportsmen’s Values Mapping Project, a statewide effort being launched by the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and the Arizona Game and Fish Department, in cooperation with several state sportsmen’s groups.

The department soon will be mailing postcards to a random sample of individuals who have purchased Arizona hunting and fishing licenses, inviting them to participate in the survey and directing them to a website that allows them to draw their favorite areas on a map.

“The department is pleased to present a scientifically-sound method for outdoor enthusiasts to tell us what areas of the state are important to their wildlife-related recreation,” said Loren Chase, human dimensions program manager for Game and Fish. “This is an opportunity for Arizonans to participate in some innovative citizen-science research, so I would encourage anyone who receives a postcard in the mail to take a few minutes to participate.”

That input will be combined and assembled in a geographic information system (GIS), where it will be overlaid with maps of critical habitat, migration routes, land ownership, and other data. The resulting maps will provide important and previously unavailable data to state and federal agencies for the following purposes:

  • Balance other land uses with the needs of fish, wildlife, and sportsmen
  • Identify areas needing stronger conservation efforts, or expansion of hunting and angling opportunities
  • Identify key high-use areas warranting special conservation strategies, because of their value to sportsmen
  • Justify actions and funding requests aimed at conserving highly valued wildlife habitat and hunting and fishing areas
  • Identify areas where public access needs to be maintained or improved

“Access to some of the most valued public hunting and fishing areas in Arizona is at risk because of deteriorating habitat conditions and increased development pressures,” said John Hamill, state field representative for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “We are seeking the help of sportsmen and sportswomen to identify lands that are cherished for their hunting and fishing values, where the conservation and restoration of habitat and the enhancement of public access should be a priority.”

The Sportsmen’s Values Mapping Project is a national initiative that was launched in 2007 by the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. The project was completed in Montana in 2008 and Wyoming in 2011. Arizona is now front and center, with mapping efforts expected to be finished here, and in Idaho, later this year.

The project has also been endorsed by the Arizona Sportsmen for Wildlife Conservation, an alliance of 22 Arizona sportsmen’s groups, as well as the state chapters of the National Wild Turkey Federation, Trout Unlimited, Arizona Elk Society, and Arizona Antelope Foundation. 

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September 14, 2015

Glassing The Hill: September 14 – 18

Starting Tuesday, the Senate will be in session, and the House begins legislative business on Wednesday.

Photo courtesy of Library of Congress.

Congress continues to debate President Obama’s nuclear agreement with Iran, and a scant eight legislative days remain before Congress needs to agree on funding legislation to keep the government from shutting down on October 1.  Controversy involving Planned Parenthood funding continues to delay budget talks and compromise, and neither the House nor the Senate are slated to consider funding legislation this week.  That leaves Congress just three working days in the last week of September to reach a funding agreement.  A short-term continuing resolution seems likely, but the obstacles to such an agreement are still high.  September 30 will also see the expiration of the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

On the Floor:

The Senate will continue consideration of the President’s Iran agreement.

Starting Wednesday, the House will consider three bills: Rep. Black’s (R-TN) H.R. 3134 to prohibit Planned Parenthood from receiving federal funds for a year; Rep. Smith (R-TX)’s H.R. 758 to provide more oversight over attorneys; and Rep. Franks’ bill regarding abortion laws.

Hearings:

*Energy*

House Natural Resource Committee field hearing on energy production and economic growth in the Gulf

Tuesday, September 15, 2015 at 9:00AM located at 400 Royal Street, New Orleans, Louisiana

*Agriculture, Conservation Funding*

House Agriculture Committee hearing on USDA organization and program administration review – Part I & Part II

Tuesday, September 15, 2015 at 1:30PM in Longworth 1300

Wednesday, September 16, 2015 at 10:00AM in Longworth 1300

*Public Lands*

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on the Federal Land Recreation Enhancement Act

Thursday, September 17, 2015 at 10:00AM in Dirksen 366

*EPA Spill*

House Natural Resource Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the EPA’s Animas spill

Thursday, September 17, 2015 at 10:00AM in Rayburn 2154

HOW YOU CAN HELP

From now until January 1, 2025, every donation you make will be matched by a TRCP Board member up to $500,000 to sustain TRCP’s work that promotes wildlife habitat, our sporting traditions, and hunter & angler access. Together, dollar for dollar, stride for stride, we can all step into the arena of conservation.

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