Glassing the Hill: November 14 - 18 | Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

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November 14, 2016

Glassing the Hill: November 14 – 18

The TRCP’s scouting report on sportsmen’s issues in Congress

The GOP sweeps D.C. With election results in, Republicans will hold the White House and majority in both chambers beginning next Congress. While Senate Republicans maintained their majority, things will be a little tighter in the 115th Congress, with Republicans holding 51 seats to the Democrats’ 48 seats. The Louisiana runoff is still being decided.

With turnover comes a shift in Congressional party leadership. In the next Congress, Senate Democrats will see a shift in leadership, but majority leadership will remain unchanged after a closed-door vote this week. Democrats postponed their elections until later this month.

Committee chair and ranking member seats in both chambers are also up for grabs. Both parties will make their picks in separate steering committee meetings in December. We’re keeping an eye on committees that deal with conservation funding, energy development on public lands, and more.

Here’s who’s vying for open spots:

Senate Minority Leader: Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is retiring at the end of the 114th Congress, and Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) will likely hold that position after the Senate Democratic Caucus votes on Wednesday.
Senate Minority Whip: Also on Wednesday, Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) is expected to run against Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) in a potentially highly competitive race. The minority whip is the second highest minority ranking.
Senate Appropriations Committee: We suspect Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) will replace ranking member Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) when she retires.
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee: Senator Thomas Carper (D-Del.) is likely to replace ranking member Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee: Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) is expected to succeed Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.).
House Energy and Commerce Committee: Chairmanship will be up for grabs, as Congressman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) reaches his term limit. Reps. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), John Shimkus (R-Ill.), and Joe Barton (R-Texas) are being considered to replace him.
House Appropriations Committee: Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) may replace Chairman Harold Rogers (R-Ky.) when he reaches his term limit at the end of the year.

BLM_AZ_Bob_Wick — Image courtesy of Bob Wick/BLM.

Meanwhile, funding is a big question during lame duck season. As of Wednesday, November 8, Congress is sitting in a lame duck—the period that occurs after an election but before newly-elected representatives begin their terms—and the budget is going to be a critical item on the agenda. The current short-term continuing resolution holds spending at fiscal year 2016 levels, but it ends on Friday, December 9. As of Election Day, the odds are now longer for an omnibus funding agreement for the rest of fiscal year 2017—it seems increasingly likely lawmakers will pass an additional continuing resolution to maintain current funding levels through February or March. This allows President-elect Trump an opportunity to influence funding and policy priorities when he takes office.

Sage grouse conservation is still in the crosshairs. “The National Defense Authorization Act” (NDAA) continues to be negotiated in conference, and still includes Rep. Rob Bishop’s (R-Utah) sage grouse provision that would halt conservation plans for the birds’ habitat on federal lands. The Senate-passed NDAA does not include a similar provision, and derailing any attempts to block the federal conservation plans is one of TRCP’s top policy priorities. The ‘big four’ (Chairmen John McCain and Mac Thornberry and Ranking Members Jack Reed and Adam Smith) are expected to resume negotiations this week.

But the Everglades may still get a much-needed boost. Senate and House public works and infrastructure staff have been working to combine their respective versions of “The Water Resource Protection Act” (WRDA) over the past month, resolving differences and creating a single piece of legislation. Both versions of WRDA included provisions to authorize $900 million in funding for the Central Everglades Planning Project and projects that use naturally-occurring infrastructure, such as marshes and wetlands. Additionally, lawmakers may decide that WRDA is the vehicle to provide emergency relief funds to combat lead-contaminated water in Flint, Michigan, in which case it will become a must-pass bill.

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by: Kristyn Brady

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November 13, 2016

Congress Fails Sportsmen on Many Conservation Priorities in Final Hours

Everglades restoration can begin, but provisions to improve fish habitat, wetlands health, and access to hunting and fishing get left behind again

Today, the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act awaits the president’s signature, the final step needed to authorize $1.9 billion in restoration projects to help reverse longstanding habitat and water quality issues in South Florida, while moving water south. This should be celebrated as a major win for anglers, guides, and other local businesses that rely on healthy fish habitat.

But in almost every other way, lawmakers overpromised and under delivered on the pending legislation important to hunters and anglers in the 114th Congress. Bipartisan support for provisions that would improve fish habitat, wetlands health, and public access across the country as part of a larger energy modernization bill brought the Sportsmen’s Act closer to the finish line than ever before. But it was not enough to finally do right by America’s sportsmen after attempts in three consecutive Congresses.

“For six years, or longer, we’ve needed this policy support for the very infrastructure of conservation and access, which keeps rural America in business during hunting and fishing season,” says Whit Fosburgh, president and CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “We owe a debt of thanks to senators who voted 97-0 to move conservation forward with the energy bill, but sportsmen and women should be angry and frustrated that good things like this can’t get done in the end.”

While major opportunities were lost by failing to authorize the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, National Fish Habitat Conservation Act, and Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act—a critical conservation tool for Western lands—there was also a disappointing last-minute addition to the water projects bill that would weaken protections for salmon and other fish.

“We are deeply disappointed that language was added to the bill that diverts water away from fisheries that are already struggling, puts wild salmon in jeopardy of extinction, and targets other sportfish for eradication,” says Scott Gudes, vice president of government affairs with the American Sportfishing Association. “Senators Barbara Boxer, Maria Cantwell, and all the Northwest U.S. senators, are to be commended for their efforts to defeat this last-minute water grab, which redirects water to agriculture and undercuts environmental protection for fisheries. Unfortunately its passage creates a significant threat to fishing communities, anglers, and the sportfishing industry in the state.”

The TRCP opposed the drought provision airdropped into final negotiations and was supportive of a provision to promote use of natural infrastructure, like wetlands, reefs, and dunes.

In a major defensive victory, language that would have undercut sage grouse conservation was removed from the final conference report of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) signed last week. And a continuing resolution passed in the wee hours of Saturday morning will keep the government funded through April 28, 2016 at decent levels for conservation. But additional threats to protections for sage grouse, headwater streams, and BLM backcountry lands could be yet to come in the new Congress, with the possibility of cuts, riders, and budget reconciliations.

Follow along with the TRCP in 2017, as we work to highlight the relevance of hunters and anglers to their elected officials in Washington and advance conservation in America.

by: Whit Fosburgh

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November 11, 2016

Public Lands Are Where We Can All Heal, Hope, and Harvest

At a critical time for America’s public lands, hunters and anglers—the country’s original conservationists—are asking everyone who enjoys outdoor recreation: Will you go outside with us?

It’s safe to say that, as Americans, we’ve been through a lot in this election cycle. From the 24-7 media circus to the contention between the two candidates, no one would blame you for feeling overstimulated or just plain exhausted.

Sounds like it’s time to go outside.

The outdoors have a true healing effect on the mind and body, and the hunting and fishing sports, especially, have an ability to transport. Whether you’re brought back to your earliest memories of watching the woods wake up at dawn or so lost in listening for the footfall of approaching game that you’ve completely forgotten your worries, the natural world provides us with serenity. Out there, we are part of something bigger than ourselves. It’s where we are challenged, and as we find ourselves capable, we feel validated.

That’s why the TRCP is proud to join a growing coalition of more than 400 groups who, inspired by outdoor retailer REI’s movement to #OptOutside the day after Thanksgiving, are finding unity and purpose in the outdoors.

As we come back together as a nation, the question of where we go to spend time outside is an important one. The abundance of public lands in our country, and the right to access them for recreation, makes the U.S. unique in all the world. All Americans are richer for being able to share in their ownership. And the landscapes that are appealing to hunters, anglers, hikers, bikers, climbers, and American families drive spending and support jobs in adjacent communities. Still, a movement to offload or privatize national public lands continues to find traction in Western states and on Capitol Hill.

This is not just unacceptable, it’s a threat to our national identity. Hunters and anglers who follow our blog know this—it has been a central fight for TRCP and our conservation partners since January 2015, and more than 35,000 sportsmen and women have signed a petition opposing threats to our public lands legacy.

But, to anyone else who heads outside to escape, heal, sweat, bond, or breathe a little deeper, I’d like to say to YOU that we can’t do this alone.

For every benefit that public lands provide, there’s an interest group ready to seize upon the opportunity. Even within our broader outdoor recreation community, there’s admittedly some mistrust between niches—those who ride versus those who run, those who watch wildlife versus those who harvest. With so much at stake, we cannot allow these unspoken hierarchies to divide us—it weakens the base of support that is absolutely critical to America’s public lands legacy.

Speaking for hunters and anglers, I hope that the rest of #OptOutside nation—at more than 1.3 million strong—will unite with us in the outdoors, celebrate the camo AND the climbers that you see in your social feeds, and check politics at the trailhead. If we can’t come together, we may just find ourselves united outside a locked gate.

by: Julia Peebles

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November 10, 2016

In a Divided Nation, This Conservation Program Connects Sportsmen to Critical Access on Private Lands

The story of an important conservation program, one that helps to supply critical public access in states with mostly private land, started right here at the TRCP

While American sportsmen and women are in the midst of an important fight for our national public lands out West and across the country, many hunters and anglers have a completely different access challenge. Leasing or buying land, or knocking on doors to gain permission to cross, hunt, or fish someone else’s private land, are some of the only options in states with very few public acres.

That’s why we’re proud to work on strengthening conservation and access programs, many funded by the Farm Bill, that help level the playing field by bringing public access to private-lands states. In fact, TRCP’s co-founder, the charismatic Jim Range, was one of the creative minds behind a voluntary public access program that continues to change the game.

Once commonly known as “open fields,” the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program (VPA-HIP) was created to expand hunting and fishing opportunities across our nation by encouraging landowners and operators of privately held farms, ranches, and forest lands to not only provide public access, but also to conserve valuable habitat. In the early days of the TRCP, Range saw that the need for access and quality habitat go hand in hand.

Range always wanted to share our great outdoor heritage with others, and he was known for saying that we need to protect the things we love, because nobody else is going to do it. In 2007, he was instrumental in drafting legislation with our conservation partners in the Agriculture and Wildlife Working Group—groups like Pheasants Forever and the Association of the Fish and Wildlife Agencies—to establish VPA-HIP and open new sporting access that would allow our traditions to continue.

Former Senator Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), former Congressman Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.), and Senators Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) sponsored the VPA-HIP legislation and were influential in adding the provision in the 2008 and 2014 farm bills. From 2008 to 2012, the Farm Bill made $50 million in grants available to states and tribes, and the 2014 Farm Bill authorized another $40 million to be granted through 2018.

All told, 29 states have been able to open public access to private lands and waters since the creation of this program. Unfortunately, Range passed away in 2009 after a fight with kidney cancer, and he didn’t get to see many of the successes for sportsmen’s access and fish and wildlife habitat, nor the ripple effects on the outdoor recreation economy, that he helped to make possible.

For instance, in just the first year after VPA-HIP was created, the national outdoor recreation economy grew by $41.7 million and supported over 300 new hunting- and fishing-related jobs. And in 2011, Iowa generated an additional $1.82 in revenue for every dollar invested into the Iowa Habitat and Access Program (IHAP).

This is important to celebrate as a win for sportsmen, landowners, and the rural economy as we look ahead to the 2018 Farm Bill, especially since conservation and access are very much on the line.

Range used to quote former Senator Howard Baker when he told the staff to ration our good ideas. There will be no shortage of ideas about how to make the most of the conservation funding and incentive programs baked into the next Farm Bill, but we think that voluntary public access, the “open fields” of Range’s imagination, is still a very good one.

Help us celebrate the possibilities inherent in the idea that private lands can benefit all hunters, anglers, and wildlife. Urge your lawmakers to support legislation to enhance VPA-HIP in the next Farm Bill.

And learn more about the merits of VPA-HIP and why it has been a keystone effort for the TRCP since the organization’s inception, instilling everything we stand for—access, quality fishing and hunting habitat, and economic productivity. Our three-part blog series can be found here.

If you would like to donate to the Jim Range Conservation Fund, please click here.

by: Steve Kline

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Welcome to the Next Four Years of Conservation in America

After an election night upset, the Trump camp takes up the immediate task of assembling a new administration. Our work for fish and wildlife, as always, continues

Sportsmen and women from across the country offer their congratulations to President-elect Donald Trump and wish him the best of luck as he begins his first term as the president of the United States. Indeed, we tip our camo hats to all of those who threw their names in the ring for elected offices, up and down the ballot and at the local, state, and national level. It is an honorable sacrifice of time and energy, and we thank you all.

But, of course, there is no job quite as tall as the one before President-elect Trump. The business of running the executive branch of the government is an immense task, and after an unprecedented election season, Trump only has about two and a half months before the inaugural kicks off his official presidency. In order to hit the ground running, things have to be well under way: Cabinet secretaries must be nominated, and the process of filling thousands of jobs must be started. To do this, not long after the nominating conventions, both presidential candidates started to assemble their transition teams—the folks, usually organized by cabinet department, who will help a new president enter the White House ready to get to work on day one.

Now, in this time of incredibly high activity, priorities are being determined and the rhetoric of campaign season is being turned into workable policy proposals, so it is imperative that sportsmen-conservationists are communicating clearly and repeatedly to new administration leaders. Over the past several weeks, the TRCP staff has been crafting transition documents that outline all of our policy priorities for the next four years of conservation success, including a 100-day agenda and goals for one year and two years into the new administration. Here are our top three asks.

Quality Places to Hunt and Fish
We’ll be making sure that our next president continues to hear from sportsmen and women that the defense of our national public lands is a line in the sand that cannot be crossed. This is a fundamental priority that both candidates heard from hunters and anglers throughout the course of the long campaign. Along with key partners, we will also work to make sure new public officials understand the importance of full implementation for the conservation plans in core sage grouse habitat across the West, as well as the need to defend those plans on Capitol Hill.

We anticipate that President-elect Trump will seek an ‘all-of-the-above’ energy plan, an idea we think makes good sense, as long as commonsense rules apply for oil and gas development and the production of renewable energy on public lands. Namely, we’ll push for a robust planning process that accounts for impacts to fish and wildlife habitat, as well as recreational access, and identifies places where energy production of all kinds can proceed with little impact to resources or places that might be too special to hunters and anglers to become energy production zones. And, just like oil and gas, renewables should be contributing a reasonable percentage of their profits from production on public lands into a trust fund that pays for mitigation of impacts on habitat and access.

Better Investments in Conservation
One of the very first things that the new administration will have to do is send Congress a budget outlining funding priorities for fiscal year 2018. Insufficient funding continues to be a major barrier to all kinds of conservation goals, like collecting reliable offshore recreational fishing data in order to improve fisheries management or providing technical assistance to our nation’s farmers and landowners who are interested in implementing wildlife habitat and water quality projects on private lands. And, of course, a litany of active management and restoration projects on national public lands has stalled out for want of funding, so it is well time to put the conservation house back in order.

We will make sure the next administration prioritizes conservation in their first budget, and every subsequent budget.

More Champions for Fish, Wildlife, and Sportsmen
Finally, as new folks are considered for leadership roles at the Department of Interior, Department of Agriculture, and key agencies—like the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Marine Fisheries Service, Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and many more—we’ll be helping to make sure that those chairs are filled with bona fide collaborators. This would include practitioners who are committed to the North American model of wildlife conservation and expanding access to quality fish and wildlife habitat, yes, but perhaps also those who are sportsmen and women themselves.

Election Day is the great reset button for American politics and policy making, but TRCP’s priorities, and our defense of the fish and wildlife habitat that America’s hunters and anglers depend on, won’t be subject to any transition.

Help us speak up for the species you love to pursue and the wild places that make our traditions possible—consider making a donation to the TRCP.