Bill would modernize and increase transparency around public access to federal waters
This week, the House Natural Resources Committee chaired by Congressman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) with ranking member Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) held a markup on several bills which could ultimately be included in an end-of-Congress package advancing public lands, outdoor recreation, wildlife conservation, forestry, and fisheries conservation legislation.
Among those bills passed by the committee was the MAPWaters Act, led by Representatives Moore (R-Utah) and Dingell (D-Mich.) and Senators Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and King (I-Maine). The MAPWaters Act would direct federal agencies to digitize and make readily available fishing access and recreational use information on federal waterways.
“TRCP thanks chairman Westerman and ranking member Grijalva for advancing this bipartisan, common-sense bill that would expand access opportunities for anglers, hunters, and outdoor recreationists nationwide,” said Joel Pedersen, president and CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “The hunting and fishing community stands ready to help advance the MAPWaters Act and countless other bills that could become law through a public lands and waters package this Congress.”
For more than 20 years, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership has been at the forefront of conservation, working diligently on behalf of America’s hunters and anglers to ensure America’s legacy of habitat management and access is protected and advanced. Learn more about TRCP’s efforts to enhance access to public lands and waters HERE.
Wyoming Land Board Votes to Move $100 Million Sale of Iconic Kelly Parcel to Grand Teton National Park Forward
Wyoming sportspeople thank Governor Gordon, Auditor Racines, and Treasurer Meier for supporting school children and iconic big game migrations.
(Cheyenne Wyoming) — Wyomingites are celebrating a crucial step forward in conserving the outstanding wildlife values of the Kelly Parcel with the State Board of Land Commissioners approval of a $100 million sale to Grand Teton National Park. The sale, which will generate a windfall for public education, was authorized by the Wyoming legislature during the 2024 legislative session pending the Governor’s favorable review of the Rock Springs Resource Management Plan (RS RMP). It has broad support from citizens across the state including a coalition of nine hunting and angling organizations.
“The Kelly parcel contains the longest known pronghorn migration route in the world, numerous elk migrations, winter range for bighorn sheep and moose, and native cutthroat trout habitat,” said Josh Metten, Wyoming field manager for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “Selling this parcel to Grand Teton is a win for Wyoming school children, and for its outstanding wildlife resources including the ability to hunt and fish on the parcel in perpetuity.”
The 640-acre parcel, located adjacent to Grand Teton National Park, is managed by the Office of State Lands and Investments to optimize revenues for public education. The sale of the Kelly Parcel is estimated to generate over a billion dollars in compound interest revenue in the future, according to a recent analysis by the Treasurer’s office.
“Wyomingites have spoken loud and clear that they want the Kelly parcel preserved for future generations,” said Metten. “The TRCP and our coalition of Wyoming Sportspeople are grateful to Governor Gordon, Auditor Racines, and Treasurer Meier for endorsing the desire of local stakeholders to meet the financial needs of our students while conserving this iconic parcel.”
The Governor’s final authorization of the sale will come after the Record of Decision is released for the Rock Springs RMP, which is expected by the end of the year. Supporters are invited to thank the Governor, Auditor, and Treasurer at the following email addresses:
Learn more about TRCPs Wyoming migration work here.
Photo Credit: Josh Metten
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.
The Mississippi’s Massive Catfish, Tasty Drums & Bountiful Crabs: Video Compilation
See what happened when TRCP brought a group of talented river anglers with prominent online followings to check off a multitude of fishing wish-list items
TRCP recently hosted several well-known, river-savvy angling influencers on a two-day fishing and crabbing excursion on the Mississippi River, to talk about the importance of restoring the functionality of the river, throughout the basin from the Gulf of Mexico to Minnesota. The video-makers got an up-close look at freshwater and sediment diversions to see firsthand how effective they are at improving productivity and rebuilding land being lost to subsidence, rising seas, and battering from hurricanes.
Particularly near the river’s confluence with Neptune Pass, the group got into a bevy of black drum, sheepshead, catfish, redfish, speckled trout, and blue crabs. Chris Macaluso, TRCP’s director of marine fisheries, said that he was impressed by how everyone who attended was already aware of how important a naturally flowing river is for the best angling opportunities.
“Buras, Louisiana, in the fall can be one of the most incredible places in the world to fish because the Mississippi River and its passes and connected marshes are teeming with fresh and saltwater fish, ducks, alligators, crabs, and shrimp,” Macaluso said. “For some, it was their first chance to fish in the river where it meets the Gulf of Mexico and catch redfish and giant catfish with massive ocean-going ships passing by and migrating ducks landing all around. While they hadn’t seen the river at that scale and talked about connecting that much water and sediment into coastal wetlands, all had a story about some of their home waters and how much better the fishing is in rivers that continue to interact with floodplains and support wetland habitats.”
Check out the resulting videos below.
Cole & Jay
Cole and Jay Harken, based in Arkansas, are a husband/wife duo with a passion for wildlife, nature, and fishing in particular who post weekly outdoor content that focuses on freshwater angling as well as interesting wildlife encounters and traditional Southern sporting endeavors like frog gigging.
Marsh Man Masson
Todd Masson is and outdoor writer and lifelong fisherman who travels Louisiana’s Gulf Coast and beyond seeking speckled trout, redfish, flounder, bass, and other sportfish and panfish. His videos offer techniques and locations to help other anglers mimic his success and introduce viewers to local guides. With a mind for conservation, Masson also has been featured in several collaborations with TRCP.
Outside the Levees
This YouTube channel, hosted by Jared Serignè, features hunting and fishing adventures in South Louisiana “outside the levees” of the Mississippi River. The channel offers many videos focusing on targeting invasive species and cultural traditions like shrimping, crabbing, and alligator hunting, with an emphasis on the catch-and-cook mentality.
River Certified
Based in Iowa, Spencer Bauer’s posts on River Certified are mostly about fishing for giant catfish, bass, walleyes, and other Midwestern fish, from kayak, boat, and shore. He also offers angling tips and tricks, and posts on camping and general outdoor fun, with a new video posted every Monday and Thursday afternoon. While in Louisiana with TRCP, Bauer made a number of videos because of all the action he found, including some on landing monster blue catfish.
TRCP is working to improve Louisiana’s coastal wetlands and fish habitat, and enhance recreational fishing opportunities, by restoring more natural flows from the Mississippi River. Click the video below to learn more.
TRCP Opposes the Blanket Sale or Transfer of Federal Land to States
Recent efforts from states to transfer federal lands mean risks for hunter and angler access & wildlife habitat management
This past August, leading Utah officials petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Utah’s case that argues for the transfer of Bureau of Land Management acres to state ownership. The action was recently backed by amicus briefs filed by Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming.
While the Utah filing is limited to “unappropriated lands” managed by the Bureau of Land Management, their brief clearly justifies and rationalizes the transfer or sale of all federal public lands. If the U.S. Supreme Court decides to take up this case, it is very possible that their decision would set a precedent that makes all 640 million acres of federal public lands, including National Parks, vulnerable to transfer to state ownership.
“This is a lose-lose situation for states and all Americans for which these lands are held in the public trust,” said Joel Webster, chief conservation officer for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “There have been several efforts over the past four decades to sell or transfer federal lands. None have been successful, and all have been unpopular. States simply do not have the resources to manage the vast acres that make up federal lands.”
Currently, lands managed in trust by states in the West, including Utah, are legislatively mandated to generate revenue to support trust land beneficiaries, such as public schools. This means that most state lands are managed for maximum profit, often benefiting private interests. Public access is also not guaranteed on state trust lands. Hunters and anglers in Montana successfully opened their state trust lands after decades of restricted access, whereas state trust lands in Colorado are open to the public only if the acres are actively enrolled in an access lease. Long-term conservation of these lands to benefit public access and enjoyment, as well as managing fish and wildlife populations, is not secure.
Utah’s latest proposal is not new and evokes memories of similar proposals from the early 2010s. These proposals received massive pushback from hunters and anglers, outdoor recreationalists, outdoor businesses, and conservationists. In response to long-term opposition, bipartisan lawmakers recently introduced proactive legislation that would require congressional approval for the sale or transfer of most federal lands. The main arguments against land transfer proposals remain unchanged.
If granted ownership of federal lands within their borders, states would be wildly underfunded and understaffed to manage them. They would also lack any clear mandate for what that management should look like as the lands would no longer be governed by federal multiple-use laws. Without the resources or mandate to manage world-class hunting and fishing destinations for wildlife or recreational access, these important areas could be sold to the highest bidder.
Local and state economies could also take a serious hit if federal lands were transferred to the states. Counties across the West receive millions of dollars in federal revenue based on the amount of federal public land within their borders through programs such as Payments in Lieu of Taxes and laws like the Mineral Leasing Act and the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act. Thousands of BLM, National Forest, and National Park Service jobs would be eliminated in rural communities, and public land-driven outdoor recreation tourism would cease.
New financial burdens would extend into fighting fire and post-fire mitigation, a battle that seemingly intensifies every year in the West. The 2024 wildfire season in Wyoming alone has burned well over half a million acres, draining the state’s $39 million wildfire suppression account. That figure is on top of tens of millions of dollars spent by federal firefighting efforts. These burn areas are now prone to the spread of invasive weeds, requiring millions of dollars in mitigation efforts. Transferring federal lands to states would put the cost of wildland fire fighting and post-fire mitigation on the backs of limited state budgets.
There are many complex challenges to managing millions of acres of federal public lands for multiple uses. However, the blunt instrument of sale or transfer will not solve the problems states have with federal agencies. This brash action will in fact only exasperate states’ present management and budgetary issues. Collaboration, as it has been for decades, is the way toward successful and lasting resource development, wildlife habitat management, and public access.
“TRCP recognizes that there is tension over how some federal public lands are managed, but the sale or transfer of public lands is not the answer,” concluded Webster. “We believe that the best way for people to address these challenges is by rolling up their sleeves and finding common ground. TRCP is committed to being a part of that dialogue, and we encourage others to take a similar approach.”
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.
Mississippi River Diversion Builds Land, Enhances Fishing Opportunities
Southern Louisiana’sNeptune Pass, which formed naturally during higher river flows since 2018, provides a real-world example of the benefits of sediment diversions for a healthy delta
Neptune Pass didn’t even exist six years ago.
Today, the newest connection between the Mississippi River and its fish and wildlife-generating marshes moves enough water by volume into Breton Sound that it dwarfs all but about 15 other rivers in the world—and it’s a living laboratory for how a healthy, properly functioning Mississippi River is supposed to work.
Located about 70 river miles south of New Orleans and directly across from the world-renowned fishing destination of Buras, La., Neptune Pass was previously a narrow cut, known as a crevasse, in the Mississippi River’s east bank back in 2018, barely wide enough to pass a 24-foot bay boat through. A series of annual floods, especially a record-setting inundation in 2019, forced the river to find and exploit weaknesses in its banks along its lower east bank – an area where the river isn’t hemmed in by flood protection levees and so dozens of other cuts and crevasses exist.
Aerial view of Neptune Pass (center left) flowing off the Mississippi (top). Credit: Restore the Mississippi River Delta
What was a relative trickle of about 5,000 cubic feet per second in 2018 became a major pass by 2023, capturing nearly 120,000 cubic feet of water per second, or more than 15 percent of the total volume of the Mississippi during spring flooding. Almost immediately after its widening, Neptune Pass began delivering enough suspended sediment from river water to begin shallowing and filling in bays and open ponds along its path and at its mouth in Quarantine Bay.
A Natural Process
The Mississippi River was simply replicating the same processes at Neptune Pass that it had employed hundreds, if not thousands, of times over the last several millennia. It utilized a weakness in its bank as an easier way to move its abundant water and sediment toward the Gulf of Mexico. If not for that natural process, most of Louisiana and a large part of Mississippi wouldn’t exist. Preventing that natural process by blocking the river’s connection to its delta with levees is the primary reason more than 2,000 square miles of Louisiana’s delta has already sunk and eroded into the Gulf.
Increased Flows Mean More Fish
The TRCP recently hosted several river-savvy anglers on a two-day fishing and crabbing excursion in the Mississippi River, largely focused on the junction with Neptune Pass. Our goal was to talk about the importance of restoring the functionality of the river, in terms of water and sediment diversions, and see firsthand how effective they are at improving productivity and rebuilding land being lost to rising seas and storms. Regaining more historic flow patterns can occur naturally, as seen at Neptune Pass, or man-made, as TRCP and partners have worked for years to achieve with the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion. This project is designed to breathe life back into the Barataria Basin by reconnecting the Mississippi River to the marshes, bayous, and islands it originally built, but through a gate on the river that can be regulated to optimize sediment and water flows.
If not for the sediment delivered by the Mississippi River, most of Louisiana and a large part of Mississippi wouldn’t exist.
Ducks Unlimited and state and federal agencies have worked with local fishing and duck hunting guide Capt. Ryan Lambert to build terraces in Quarantine Bay and adjacent Bay Denesse. The linear earthen berms act as speed bumps, slowing the water coming from the pass and allowing the sediment to more quickly deposit and form mud and sand flats. As the water shallows, vegetation takes root and marsh emerges, forming perfect habitat for migrating waterfowl and other birds, shrimp and crabs, and a host of sought-after sportfish and gamefish like redfish, black drum and largemouth bass.
The rapid widening and deepening of Neptune Pass quickly became a concern for the Army Corps of Engineers, who worried the changes in river currents would lead to sandbars forming in the main navigation channel of the Mississippi River and even steer ocean-going ships off course. There was talk of efforts to try and completely close Neptune in 2022 – a move that angling, hunting, and conservation groups, including the TRCP, roundly opposed.
After weighing all options and taking into consideration the remarkable habitat-creating capacity of Neptune Pass, the Corps has recommended stabilizing the pass with rocks to try and prevent it from growing larger while still allowing water and sediment to flow through into Quarantine Bay. The land-building capacity would be further enhanced by more terraces, building upon the groundwork laid by Lambert and Ducks Unlimited.
Balancing the needs of navigation, flood control, and the incredibly productive, but dwindling, coastal wetlands in the Mississippi River Delta is something wildlife and fisheries advocates have been demanding from the Corps for decades. Neptune Pass gives hope those pleas are being heard and appreciated.
Aerial Neptune Pass image credit: Restore the Mississippi River Delta; all other images credit Chris Macaluso, TRCP
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.
