Barbecue, Beer, and Sportsmen: Celebrating Conservation with Secretary Jewell
Jewell discussed the power of hunter and angler voices in Washington and her dedication to public lands access and sage-grouse restoration at annual barbecue on the Potomac
Last night, at a celebration of her final year in office, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell thanked American sportsmen and women who speak up for conservation funding, habitat management, and the protection of public lands access. The event was hosted by the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership at the Potomac Boat Club.
Image courtesy of Kristyn Brady.
After chatting over barbecue and beer with conservation community leaders from across the country, Jewell addressed the crowd and was candid about her remaining goals related to conservation, hunting, fishing, habitat restoration, public lands, and youth and minority engagement.
“We’re going to keep our good momentum going,” said Jewell, who highlighted the landscape-scale conservation effort on behalf of sage grouse and the need to look to the future of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. “Every day is a tricky balance between the here and now—non-renewable resources, fish and wildlife habitat, the livelihoods and heritage of the tribes and ranchers—and what we leave to future generations. People expect us to be in the forever business.”
Jewell also had advice for conservation advocates: “Never stop talking about how much sportsmen and women contribute to the economy. You represent a constituency that is Republican, Democrat, Independent, hunting, fishing, Latino, Caucasian, new generations waiting to get outside, and people like me, who grew up in the outdoors. All these people can help to make progress on the things we care about,” she said.
“We have a great conservation ally in Secretary Jewell, who understands the clout of the outdoor recreation industry and the restorative power of spending time on our nation’s public lands—in solitude or with family and friends,” says Whit Fosburgh, president and CEO of the TRCP. “Throughout her term, she has been a champion for many of the things sportsmen stand for, including making better investments in conservation, improving fish and wildlife habitat, balancing multiple uses of America’s public lands, and securing access for all. We’re anxious to work with her this year and see these priorities through.”
Key to success in conservation: Hunters and anglers like YOU
Annual report highlights 2015 growth and success in service of guaranteeing all Americans quality places to hunt and fish
We just released our 2015 Annual Report detailing the our diverse array of accomplishments benefiting habitat and sportsmen’s access in the last calendar year. It’s all thanks to hunters and anglers like you; thanks to our growing coalition of 46 formal partners, 23 corporate affiliates, and thousands of supporters across the U.S., you’ve helped us affect positive policy changes and conservation investments in service of Theodore Roosevelt’s legacy and our mission to guarantee all Americans quality places to hunt and fish.
“Too often, people mistake action for accomplishment. Nowhere is this more true than in Washington, where how many meetings you attend is often mistaken for actual success,” writes TRCP President and CEO Whit Fosburgh and Board Chairman Weldon Baird in the opening pages of the report. “For the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, 2015 was about accomplishment— achieving real results that will directly benefit fish and wildlife habitat and Americans’ access to those lands and waters.”
Despite ongoing threats from well-funded anti-conservation interests, the benefits of last year’s work will extend to marine fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico, greater sage grouse and other sagebrush species of the West, headwater streams and wetlands across the country, and all Americans who rely on public lands for their hunting and fishing access. The 501(c)(3) organization also confirms its accountability to donors by sharing 2015 financials and accolades from charity-watch organizations, including a third four-star rating from Charity Navigator.
The TRCP’s scouting report on sportsmen’s issues in Congress
The Senate and the House are both in session this week.
Photo courtesy of Library of Congress.
The House NDAA includes a greater sage-grouse provision that is sure to ruffle some feathers. The House Armed Services Committee will hold a mark-up of the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), legislation which helps fund our military, on Wednesday, April 27. The chairman’s version of the bill includes language from “The Greater Sage Grouse Protection and Recovery Act,” which would undermine conservation plans in core habitat areas. Congresswoman Tsongas (D-Mass.) is expected to make a motion to strike the provision to be stripped from the underlying bill. So far, this effort is playing out precisely as it did in 2015.
Aquatic habitat improvements that benefit wildlife and improved access. On Wednesday, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will mark up the Water Resources Development Act, which would address various aspects of water resources administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Sportsmen should be pleased with a possible addition to the bill calling for use of nonstructural, naturally-occurring infrastructure, such as wetlands, in place of sewer and stormwater inlets. Using natural infrastructure would improve water and habitat quality and enhance hunting and fishing opportunities.
This Chopper-Aided Wildlife Study Looks Dramatic and Has Lasting Impacts on Conservation
Our Wyoming field rep gets up close with big game species in an exciting capture-and-collar study
Most people, especially hunters, are intrigued by the idea of wildlife captures and studies. The data is critical, but the logistics are mind-boggling. So is the prospect of being that close to a live big-game animal. I get a lot of questions about the captures happening around Wyoming when I mention that I work on wildlife migration for TRCP —when I clarify that I work on policy, I’m usually met with blank expressions.
Well, prepare for my bar stories to get a whole lot more exciting, because a few weeks ago I was able to help out with the captures to help study mule deer and bighorn sheep migration, right here in my hometown of Dubois, WY. I’d seen photos and videos of the process before, but to be there in person with a helicopter buzzing overhead, and to carry and hold down a live animal, was an intense experience.
There’s no shortage of people willing to help the Wyoming Migration Initiative and Wyoming Game and Fish Department staff with these captures, and joining us over the course of two days were volunteers from the National Bighorn Sheep Center, Muley Fanatic Foundation, a local education program called SOAR, The Nature Conservancy, and many other groups. The folks running the show were actually more concerned with keeping volunteer numbers to a reasonable level than not having enough help. It made me wish we had this nice-to-have problem when asking sportsmen to engage in policy decisions.
One of the younger volunteers expressed concern that the captures seem stressful for the animals—you may be thinking the same thing when you watch the video above. A skilled marksman in a helicopter flies over and fires a net gun to capture each animal, which is then blindfolded and hobbled before being flown in mid-air to a field where a bunch of people are prepared to install a collar and take all kinds of samples including blood, fecal, ultrasounds – a whole lot of poking and prodding to a stunned creature.
The important thing to remember is that the information collected helps us study their diseases, body condition, and movements, so captures are invaluable to making sure our wildlife herds stay healthy. Armed with data, wildlife and land managers can make informed decisions to help reduce disease transmission, improve habitat quality, and conserve areas that mule deer are known—not just assumed—to frequent.
This is actually where my work at the TRCP comes in. Based on the best science and data, we’re able to advocate for the places where habitat protections are needed, like migration corridors and stopover habitats, to ensure healthy wildlife herds.
Image courtesy of Jessi Johnson.
Prior to the use of GPS-collars, biologists had a rough-to-good idea of where herds migrated and identified these areas with only a simple line on a map. With GPS-collars affixed to big game animals, it is now possible to get accurate location and timing data that identifies stopover areas and the full width of the corridor over its entire length, along with being able to model the high-use corridor. Looking at the old routes, compared to the new information, you can see how useful this is for wildlife conservation—less guesswork means more improvements that keep herds healthy.
Left: Data previously available for mule deer migration routes in the Big Sandy area. Right: The data available now that includes the mule deer corridors for the Sublette Herd showing the Red Desert to Hoback high-use corridor (black outlined) and stopover areas (pink polygons).
Joining these captures gave me a new perspective on what it takes to get the data that is so necessary for wildlife conservation. Even though I worked crazy hours as a hunting guide and field biologist in the past, I was impressed by the crew’s stamina in getting all the animals captured and sampled safely, and Dubois was just one stop on their tour. It also inspired me to make sure we are doing everything we can to make sure the science gets translated into good policy, so that the stress these animals endure benefits their future.
Image courtesy of Jessi Johnson.
This is where you come in: We need YOUR help to let decision-makers know that sportsmen want the best wildlife science resulting in strong policy. A few months ago, when the WY Game & Fish Commission was updating their strategy for managing migration corridors, comments and feedback from hundreds of sportsmen really made the difference.
I hope we can count on you and your voice in the future. Policy isn’t as exciting as being out on the hunt or wetting a line, but it’s critical to ensure that our hunting and angling opportunities and wildife health continue to be unmatched throughout the world.
Public Lands, Fish, and Wildlife Get a Jolt from the Senate Energy Bill
Sportsmen have been fighting for years to move these conservation priorities across the finish line
The Senate has just passed a comprehensive energy reform bill that includes key conservation provisions to benefit fish, wildlife, and sportsmen’s access. This is a true bipartisan achievement that highlights our uniquely American conservation values.
“Sportsmen’s groups, including the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and virtually all of our partners, have been working for years to pass comprehensive legislation that enhances access and conserves vital habitat,” says Whit Fosburgh, president and CEO of the TRCP. “This bill succeeds on both measures, and hunters and anglers should applaud its passage as an indication that enthusiasm for conservation is very much alive in Washington.”
Sandy River, Oregon. Image courtesy of BLM.
“The Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015” would permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), a critical program for enhancing public access to the outdoors. It also includes a provision known as “Making Public Lands Public,” which specifies that 1.5 percent of LWCF dollars are to be used to establish and expand recreational access to national public lands, in particular.
“Permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund means we never again have to experience uncertainty for the program,” says Bethany Erb, a Mule Deer Foundation board member. “Over the past 50 years, the LWCF has enhanced public access for hunters and urban families alike, and the ‘Making Public Lands Public’ provision would ensure that improvements for outdoor recreation—a robust driver of spending—are adequately funded.”
This is the first energy reform legislation passed in the upper chamber in nine years—a feat in itself—but hunters and anglers are especially pleased to see that many elements of the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act of 2015 (S.405) have finally found a way forward through an amendment offered by Senators Lisa Murkowksi (R-Alaska) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) It passed 97-0 yesterday.
The amendment permanently reauthorizes the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act, “a critical conservation tool for Western lands,” says Larry Selzer, president and CEO of The Conservation Fund. “We applaud this bipartisan action to advance the permanent authorization of FLTFA, which uses proceeds from strategic federal land sales to protect high priority federal conservation areas that preserve important fish and wildlife habitat, increase recreational opportunities, and protect our nation’s special places.” Prior to its expiration in 2011, FLTFA leveraged strategic federal land sales to fund 39 priority conservation projects, including many that expanded sportsmen’s access to world-class hunting and fishing opportunities.
Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. Image courtesy of Anna-Marie York/USFWS.
The amendment also reauthorizes the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA), a grant program through which each federal dollar invested is matched an average of three times over by non-federal dollars. “These investments have major on-the-ground impacts for the management and conservation of wetlands for waterfowl and other wildlife,” says John Devney, vice president of U.S. policy for Delta Waterfowl. “In the prairie potholes region, for example, NAWCA dollars could mean the difference between the protection of grasslands and wetlands and the disappearance of key breeding habitats in the Duck Factory.”
Recreational anglers would also get a boost from the amendment, which authorizes the National Fish Habitat Conservation Act. The program was created to foster partnerships that improve conditions for fish species and enhance recreational fishing opportunities. “The National Fish Habitat Conservation Act brings together state and federal agencies as well as conservation organizations to better coordinate watershed restoration activities,” says Steve Moyer, vice president for government affairs at Trout Unlimited. “It’s really just a commonsense approach to restoring and protecting fish habitat, which also creates great opportunities for the angling community. We’re thrilled to see it approved by the Senate.”
The energy reform package must now be reconciled with the House bill (H.R. 8), which was passed in December 2015, and sent to the president’s desk before the end of this Congress.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
CONSERVATION WORKS FOR AMERICA
In the last two years, policymakers have committed to significant investments in conservation, infrastructure, and reversing climate change. Hunters and anglers continue to be vocal about the opportunity to create conservation jobs, restore habitat, and boost fish and wildlife populations. Support solutions now.
