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July 11, 2024

Funk’s Senate Testimony Emphasizes How Farm Bill Programs Advance Drought Solutions for Fish and Wildlife 

Appearing before the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Climate, Forestry, and Natural Resources, TRCP director of water resources Alexander Funk encouraged lawmakers to quickly pass a bipartisan Farm Bill to address drought and climate impacts in western states.

On Wednesday June 26, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership was honored by the opportunity to participate in a field hearing focused on the important role of the Farm Bill in advancing drought solutions held by the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Climate, Forestry, and Natural Resources.   

“The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership thanks Senators Bennet and Marshall for convening a timely subcommittee hearing on the important role of the Farm Bill in advancing innovative drought solutions,” said Alexander Funk, TRCP’s director of water resources. “Drought impacts a wide range of fish and wildlife highly valued by hunters and anglers from trout to mule deer. Quickly passing a bipartisan Farm Bill that includes provisions that increase the pace and scale of voluntary, incentive-based drought resilience efforts is critical given the ongoing water-supply challenges facing western watersheds such as the Colorado River and Rio Grande.” 

For many years, TRCP has worked with elected officials and state, Tribal, and federal agencies to support partnerships, policies, and funding that support critical investments in modernizing Western water infrastructure and nature-based solutions that enhance climate resilience and sustain healthy habitat for fish and wildlife. As part of the 2018 Farm Bill, the TRCP was instrumental in securing important victories for the Colorado River, including expanding eligibility for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to include watershed-scale conservation and restoration projects and ensuring drought resilience is a key priority for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. However, despite the promise of this change, there have been significant challenges with implementation. Funk’s testimony focused on the long-time bipartisan support for this work and the need for Congress to quickly pass a bipartisan Farm Bill. This would ensure funding and technical assistance are available to increase the pace and scale of innovative drought adaptation and mitigation efforts benefitting agriculture, fish, and wildlife.   

“The Farm Bill can play a vital role in addressing drought and climate impacts in western states and can do so through a “multi-title” approach, meaning that beyond the Conservation Title, there are opportunities with the Forestry, Research, Rural Development, and other titles to address key water-related challenges,” said Funk. “For example, most Westerners receive their water from forests. Forests are home to our natural water infrastructure – the source watershed streams, wetlands, and meadows that sustain drinking and irrigation water across the West. The Farm Bill presents an opportunity to enhance the conservation and restoration of these headwater forests through efforts such as strengthening the Water Source Protection Program, which allows the USFS to enter into agreements with water users to develop and implement source water plans and actions from fuels management to riparian restoration efforts, and the Watershed Condition Framework which provides for strategic restoration of forest watersheds.” 

Funk also highlighted how the Conservation Title can play a greater role in addressing drought conditions, and that there are several opportunities to support western farmers and ranchers. The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), for example, can help address drought by restoring perennial cover on environmentally sensitive agricultural land, which reduces water loss to evaporation, and increases water infiltration. This same cover provides essential wildlife habitat and improves water quality. Improvements to the CRP in the next Farm Bill are needed to ensure these outcomes can be achieved.  

Stressing the need for increased collaboration, Funk highlighted how, in early 2023, the USDA released a Western Water and Working Lands Framework that outlined the challenges and conservation approaches needed to support western farmers and ranchers, including modernization of irrigation infrastructure, improving water forecasts’ reliability, and restoring streams and wetlands. But, unlike other targeted USDA frameworks, the Western framework still lacks the dedicated resources needed to support implementation and encouraged Congress and USDA to continue working collaboratively to ensure adequate resources and capacity are available to implement these existing measures.  

In closing, Funk emphasized that the TRCP and our hunting and fishing community partners stand ready to work with Congress to craft a Farm Bill for agriculture, fish, and wildlife. 

Watch Funk’s testimony HERE

Learn more about the Farm Bill HERE.

Learn more about TRCP’s commitment to healthy habitat and clean water HERE.


The TRCP is your resource for all things conservation. In our weekly Roosevelt Report, you’ll receive the latest news on emerging habitat threats, legislation and proposals on the move, public land access solutions we’re spearheading, and opportunities for hunters and anglers to take action. Sign up now.

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In The Arena: Erin Block

TRCP’s “In the Arena” series highlights the individual voices of hunters and anglers who, as Theodore Roosevelt so famously said, strive valiantly in the worthy cause of conservation

Erin Block

Hometown: Golden, CO
Occupation: Librarian
Conservation credentials: Erin Block is an established outdoor writer and has published her work in publications such as Gray’s Sporting Journal, Midcurrent, and Field & Stream, alongside her books The View from Coal Creek and By a Thread: A Retrospective on Women and Fly Tying. She also serves as editor-at-large for TROUT magazine, and her first collection of poetry How You Walk Alone in the Dark recently won a Colorado Book Award.

As a Nebraska farm kid showing 4-H steers and dairy goats, Erin Block was raised to understand where food comes from, but it wasn’t until she moved to Colorado that she started hunting grouse, hares, and turkeys on the public lands around her home. A celebrated writer who grapples with the complexities of hunting and surrounding culture, Block offers a unique perspective with talent that grips her readers.

Here is her story.

Block with a high-country Merriam’s in an early season snowstorm.

I grew up in the Midwest, in Nebraska and Iowa, and spent time fishing with my dad. But no one in my immediate family hunted. We lived on a small farm, and I spent my childhood riding horses, raising 4-H steers and dairy goats. After college, I moved to Denver, Colorado, and that’s when I started hiking and backpacking. As a kid, I took it for granted that I knew where some of my food was coming from. As an adult, I started to realize that I wanted to get back to that in some way, but a farm was out of my financial means. So I started foraging mushrooms and then hunting. I started small, working my way up in animal and weapon size each season: first for grouse, then snowshoe hare, jackrabbit, turkey, and mule deer.  

This past October, my husband, Jay Zimmerman, and I took our recurve bows out to hunt snowshoe hare. There was new snow that had fallen overnight and there was no wind. The hare tracks were fresh and it was magical to move through the woods so quietly as a predator. It felt like a lucid dream. 

I am very much a homebody and don’t like traveling. I’m attached to my home waters and hunting grounds and would always choose them over anywhere else: the Front Range and eastern plains of Colorado. 

Conservation is essential for being able to continue to hunt and fish. Good habitat creates better opportunities for hunters and anglers, but also improves the health of the ecosystem and animal populations. Every hunter knows the stomach-sinking-feeling of returning to an area you have had past success in and finding corners of a field mowed, timber cut, water drained, thickets torn up.  

I’m lucky to live in an area with many public lands, but each year, more empty plots are developed, and the weather has become predictably unpredictable. I’ve witnessed severe drought, 1,000-year floods, and wildfires in my area all within a short span of time. Without a doubt the climate is changing and if we can create and maintain good habitat through conservation practices, that will help all animals through the coming years. There are also just a lot more people on the landscape. This isn’t a bad thing, but I think we all need to be mindful that even if we don’t view an activity as consumptive—hiking, for example—we are still impacting the land and its inhabitants, possibly detrimentally so. 

Block chases dusky grouse in the Front Range of Colorado.

It’s important to me to try to have a positive impact on the resources I use and enjoy and also the small area of land where I live. I plant fruit trees, leave brush piles for rabbits, encourage the growth of native plants such as wild raspberries for pollinators, and so on. In less than a decade of hunting turkey, I have noticed a decrease in songbird activity at sunrise. Hunting takes you to places where you notice small changes like that, and makes you want to do something about it. In an interview with Orion Magazine, the poet Ross Gay was asked what he’d most like to be remembered for and his answer always sticks with me: “I am glad to have planted trees.” 

Conservation should matter to us and to the next generation because even if you don’t fish or hunt, the health of our ecosystems directly affects our own well-being, both physically and mentally. And even for non-game species, we should care about their right to exist and their contribution to ecosystems. To quote Aldo Leopold, “keep all the pieces.” 

Photos Courtesy of Erin Block.


The TRCP is your resource for all things conservation. In our weekly Roosevelt Report, you’ll receive the latest news on emerging habitat threats, legislation and proposals on the move, public land access solutions we’re spearheading, and opportunities for hunters and anglers to take action. Sign up now.

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June 28, 2024

BLM Decision Will Prevent Proposed Ambler Road in Alaska’s Brooks Range  

The agency’s record of decision maintains America’s most wild and remote hunting and fishing grounds 

Today, the Bureau of Land Management released its Record of Decision that will prevent the proposed Ambler Industrial Road in Alaska’s Brooks Range.

“Today’s decision is a victory for the local residents, Alaska Native Tribes, and the more than 14,000 conservation-minded hunters and anglers from across the country who championed for the enduring, wild qualities of the Brooks Range,” said Jen Leahy, Alaska senior program manager for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “We thank the BLM for recognizing the importance of these public lands to hunters and anglers, and for basing this critical decision on the best available science and robust public engagement.”

The ROD follows the agency’s final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, released April 19, in which the BLM selected the “No Action” alternative indicating the agency’s intent to prevent the proposed industrial corridor.

Known as the Ambler Road, the proposed private industrial corridor has received national opposition. The 211-mile corridor would have partially bisected the home range of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd, one of Alaska’s largest herds.

Caribou from the Western Arctic Herd. Photo Courtesy of Jim Dau.

“The recent decision to deny the proposed Ambler Road permit is an unequivocal win for the declining Western Arctic Caribou Herd that will keep, at least temporarily, its home range intact,” said Jim Dau, retired Western Arctic Caribou Herd biologist with Alaska Department of Fish & Game. “Caribou rarely use their entire range in any one year; however, over the course of decades, they use – and need – their entire range. This is increasingly important in a rapidly warming Arctic. What’s good for caribou is also good for the people who value or depend on them.”

“This decision is a great step toward ensuring that current and future generations have the opportunity to experience this majestic, unbroken landscape,” said Lewis Pagel, owner of Arctic Fishing Adventures in Kotzebue, Alaska. “The Brooks Range truly is a place like no other.”  

The project would have also crossed 11 major rivers and required nearly 3,000 stream crossings, degrading habitat and potentially impeding fish passage for important subsistence and sportfishing species such as sheefish.

Angler with sheefish. Photo courtesy of Greg Halbach.

“Brooks Range rivers will remain remote and wild because of this decision,” said fly fishing guide Greg Halbach of Remote Waters in Anchorage, Alaska. “We needed hunters and anglers from all over the country to speak out against the Ambler Road and they did. Because of this collective effort, I will continue to have the privilege and opportunity to immerse my clients in a wild landscape unlike any other.”   

The proposed Ambler Road prompted strong resistance from the hunting and fishing community. In 2023, more than 40 Alaska-based businesses, leading outdoor brands, and conservation organizations launched Hunters & Anglers for the Brooks Range. The collective—which includes guides, outfitters, and transporters who operate in the Brooks Range—urged the BLM to deny the permit for the private industrial corridor. To date, the coalition has delivered more than 14,000 individual letters to the agency opposing the Ambler Road.

“With this victory comes a renewed sense of commitment from the hunting and fishing community to safeguard America’s most remote hunting and fishing grounds.” 

Jen Leahy, Alaska senior program manager for the TRCP

As expected, development interests have wasted no time attacking the BLM’s decision. Ambler Road proponents have reportedly included an amendment in the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act that would rescind the BLM’s decision and force the Department of the Interior to permit the Ambler Road. This effort will be met with strong resistance as conservation-minded hunters and anglers defend the BLM’s decision.

“With this victory comes a renewed sense of commitment from the hunting and fishing community to safeguard America’s most remote hunting and fishing grounds,” said Leahy. “The Brooks Range is a treasured destination for hunters and anglers, and we will stand guard to defend this iconic and wild landscape from emerging and future threats.”

Learn more about Hunters & Anglers for the Brooks Range HERE.


The TRCP is your no-B.S. resource for all things conservation. In our weekly Roosevelt Report, you’ll receive the latest news on emerging habitat threats, legislation and proposals on the move, public land access solutions we’re spearheading, and opportunities for hunters and anglers to take action. Sign up now.

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June 26, 2024

Hunters and Anglers Cheer House Introduction of the Bipartisan ACE Reauthorization Act  

Lawmakers have introduced a bipartisan bill to boost funding and provide crucial enhancements to conservation programs benefiting fish and wildlife.

The America’s Conservation Enhancement (ACE) Reauthorization Act of 2024 was introduced in the House on Friday June 21, 2024. The ACE Reauthorization Act is sponsored by Representatives Wittman (R-Va.), Kiggans (R- Va.), Dingell (D-Mich.), and Thompson (D-Calif.), and would reauthorize multiple programs that benefit hunting and angling including, the National Fish Habitat Partnership, the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, the Chesapeake Bay Program, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. This reauthorization provides technical improvements and administrative streamlining to improve these programs. It also helps address threats like chronic wasting disease

Earlier this year in a bipartisan vote, the U.S. Senate passed companion legislation, that paved the way for legislation to be introduced in the House.  

“The America’s Conservation Enhancement Reauthorization Act will benefit fish and wildlife while enhancing outdoor recreation opportunities for millions of hunters and anglers,” said Becky Humphries, CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, “TRCP applauds Representatives Wittman, Kiggans, Dingell, and Thompson for their leadership on this important bipartisan legislation and we look forward to building on the success of these crucial conservation programs through increased funding levels that will benefit our sporting traditions for years to come.” 

The original ACE Act was passed in 2020 and sponsored by Representatives Wittman and Thompson. Many of its authorizations will expire in 2025, necessitating the passage of the ACE Reauthorization Act to ensure these vital conservation programs can continue to operate in good legal standing.  

The legislation is endorsed by the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Ducks Unlimited, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, the National Wildlife Federation, American Sportfishing Association, the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and the National Audubon Society. 

The TRCP looks forward to working with the House of Representatives to ensure that this essential legislation for hunters and anglers reflects the authorization increases in the Senate version and becomes law.  

TRCP works to maintain and strengthen the future of hunting and fishing by uniting and amplifying our partners’ voices in conserving and restoring wildlife populations and their habitat as challenges continue to evolve.   

Learn more about TRCP’s commitment to healthy habitat and clean water here. 

Photo: James Wicks

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May 24, 2024

Legislation Update: Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024 

House Committee advances Farm Bill with benefits for habitat and access.

After a busy few weeks of Farm Bill proposals, House Ag Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson released a discussion draft on May 17th and formally introduced his bill on May 21st. Titled the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024, Chairman Thompson’s bill represents several years of work. The Chairman and his staff, as well as Ranking Member David Scott (D-Ga.) and the rest of the Ag Committee Members, have traveled the country hearing from stakeholders, reviewed and discussed thousands of individual and coalition priorities, considered dozens of marker bills, and held several formal Committee hearings. On Thursday, May 23rd, the Committee debated this bill, proposed amendments, and ultimately advanced it to the House floor. Given the importance of the Farm Bill to hunters and anglers, and the difficulty of the task, we are excited to have a bill to review and formal committee action toward passing it. 

Before we summarize some key provisions of Chairman Thompson’s bill, there are a few important points to remember: 

Farm Bills must be bipartisan to become law. With Democrats controlling the Senate and a Republican majority in the House, bipartisanship will be essential. The details of this bill were chosen by Chairman Thompson and his staff, and although there are clearly bipartisan priorities reflected in it, it will take considerable support from outside the Chairman’s party for this bill to pass. Major sticking points include changes within the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, limitations to the Secretary of Agriculture’s authority within the Commodity Credit Corporation, and how Inflation Reduction Act conservation funding would be incorporated.  

Negotiations will continue.  Work on this Farm Bill began as soon as, or even before, the 2018 bill was signed. Although five years seems likely plenty of time to resolve differences, there is a lot of negotiation to go. The May 23rd markup was a big step, but further debate will happen as the bill moves forward to the House floor. Beyond that, Senate Ag Chairwoman Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Ranking Member Boozman (R-Ark.) are working on their own bill in the Senate. Taken together, this means that any individual provision in Chairman Thompson’s bill has a long way to go before it becomes law, and many are likely to change.  

Time’s getting short. We are in an election year, and a presidential election year at that. While this will motivate some Members of Congress to show efficacy in getting a Farm Bill done, party conferences and campaigning also compress the legislative calendar. Floor time is already becoming difficult to find, especially for large and complex bills. The months of May and June will be critical if we’re going to get a bill done.  

Farm Bill programs have a huge impact on hunters and anglers. Engaging in this bill is crucial, as policy and funding changes in this Farm Bill will impact fish and wildlife habitat and hunting and fishing access for the next five years and beyond. You can find explanations about how Farm Bill programs support hunters and anglers here. 

Keeping these dynamics in mind, let’s dig in. What exactly is in this bill? Below, we run through a few of the key elements of the proposal from Chairman Thompson. Remember here that Farm Bills cover topics as varied as nutrition support, agricultural research, trade, risk reduction, livestock disease, and more, so a comprehensive analysis of the entire bill (over 950 pages) is beyond the scope of the TRCP. We focus below on a few of the pieces we believe would have the biggest impact on habitat and access for hunters and anglers. 

The Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024 would: 

Reallocate Inflation Reduction Act funding for conservation programs into the Farm Bill Conservation baseline. This piece of the bill alone would be a huge win for hunters and anglers, and it has both bipartisan and bicameral support. It is also urgent, with the amount of funding available decreasing with time. There is still considerable disagreement about how this should be done, including to what extent climate mitigation remains a focus of these funds and which programs receive the bulk of the funding, but we remain hopeful that these disagreements will be resolved, and we can see the first meaningful increase to the Conservation Title in years. 

Increase funding for the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program to $150 million and provide program continuity. The Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Improvement Program is the only federal program designed to incentivize landowners to allow public hunting and fishing. The TRCP and our partners have been leading the charge to reauthorize and plus-up VPA-HIP, as was proposed in the Voluntary Public Access Improvement Act, and we are thrilled to see that Chairman Thompson’s proposal does just that. This proposal provides for the continuity of VPA-HIP, which means that in future Farm Bills we would begin in a much stronger negotiating position thanks to the program having mandatory, dedicated funding. 

Make multiple changes to the Conservation Reserve Program. The Chairman’s bill appears to include changes proposed in several CRP marker bills, including the CRP Improvement Act. On the positive side, these changes would increase rental payment rates on marginal cropland, restore cost-share for mid-contract management activities, increase incentive payments, and increase payment limitations. These taken together are significant improvements. On the negative side, this bill would reduce rental rates for CRP reenrollments, allow early cancellation of contracts, and remove some of the wildlife focus of Grassland CRP, which could be detrimental to initiatives like Working Lands for Wildlife or the Migratory Big Game Initiative.  

Support voluntary conservation easement programs. Conservation easements provide the most durable habitat protection of any Farm Bill program, and landowner demand for them has long exceeded funding by a huge margin. Chairman Thompson’s bill makes multiple positive changes to easement programs, including increased funding across the board, creating a new Forest Conservation Easement Program with mandatory funding, improving management opportunities on existing wetland easements, and increasing cost-share for Agricultural Land Easements. One drawback of this bill is the removal of Buy-Protect-Sell authority, which would hinder the ability of some of our partners to permanently protect habitat. 

Encourage a focus on wildlife migration corridors. This bill includes several sections relevant to western wildlife (including big game) migration corridor enhancement, including allowing the Secretary of Agriculture to “support the development, restoration, and maintenance of habitat connectivity and wildlife corridors” in all USDA conservation programs. It would also add language specifically including the “restoration and enhancement of wildlife habitat connectivity and wildlife migration corridors” as a priority resource concern under the Regional Conservation Partnership Program and add rangeland research, including virtual fencing, as a High Priority Research and Extension Area. These priorities reflect the intent of the Habitat Connectivity on Working Lands Act that the TRCP and partners worked with Congressman Vasquez (D-N.M.) and Congressman Zinke (R-Mont.) to develop. As noted above, shifting the focus of Grassland CRP away from corridors would run counter to these goals, and the bill would not codify the USDA’s authority leverage benefits of different programs to support farmers, ranchers, and wildlife as proposed in the Habitat Connectivity on Working Lands Act. 

There are many other pieces of this bill we will be following, and there is a long way to go before we see its impact on the ground. The TRCP thanks both House and Senate Ag Committee leadership for their work toward a bipartisan Farm Bill that supports habitat and access. 

Learn more about Farm Bill conservation programs here

Top photo by Nicholas Putz


You can help. Conservation is, and should be, a shared priority regardless of party affiliation or ideology. Congress needs to hear that this is important to you. Take action here.

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