Farm-Bill-7N8A5468-1
Do you have any thoughts on this post?
How the 119th Congress Can Deliver for Hunters and Anglers
How lawmakers can build on recent conservation successes and deliver big wins for the hunting and fishing community
The 118th Congress was productive for hunters, anglers, and the TRCP community. Alongside our partners, we celebrated the passage of the EXPLORE Act, America’s Conservation Enhancement Act, and the Water Resources Development Act which all contained important provisions for habitat conservation and access, but there is still work to be done.
The 119th Congress officially began on January 3, 2025. Amid the uncertainty of navigating a presidential transition, new leadership in the Senate, and fresh faces sitting atop numerous committees, Congress has the potential to deliver big wins for fish and wildlife, habitat conservation, and hunting, fishing, and recreational access.
Below are a few ways the 119th Congress can advance conservation and access:
Pass a Farm Bill
Yet another Farm Bill expiration deadline came and went in late 2024 without a new bill being signed. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is still operating on the 2018 Farm Bill, leaving big opportunities on the table to expand support for voluntary access and habitat conservation programs on private lands. As Agriculture Committees return to work with new leadership, the TRCP will be pushing for a Farm Bill that supports wildlife, habitat, and hunters and anglers across the country.
Among the most impactful things that this Congress can do to bolster conservation and access is to invest Inflation Reduction Act funds into the Farm Bill baseline, making them permanent. Failure to do so would wipe out billions of dollars that go directly to farmers and ranchers through these popular, voluntary programs. The good news is there was bipartisan support last Congress among leadership of Agriculture Committees to roll these funds into the Farm Bill baseline.
Any new Farm Bill should also include a reauthorization and expanded funding for the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program, the only federal tool aimed at increasing hunting and fishing access on private lands. Additionally, Congress should use Farm Bill proposals from the 118th Congress to conserve big game migratory habitat on private lands and improve forest health and fish and wildlife habitat in headwater environments.
Unlock More Access Opportunities for Hunters and Anglers
Hunters, anglers, and outdoor recreationists had plenty to cheer about in the 118th Congress with the passage of the EXPLORE Act, a first of its kind recreation-focused legislative package. However, Congress still has work to do in the 119th to unlock more access opportunities on federal waterways and oceans.
Here are a few ways Congress can do this:
Pass the MAPWaters Act. The MAPWaters Act would require federal land management agencies to digitize water and fishing access and recreational use information on federal waterways and make those resources available to the public. The bill passed both the House and Senate last Congress on sweeping bipartisan margins, but minor differences in the two bills meant that the bill ultimately failed to cross the finish line in the 118th Congress.
Pass the MAPOceans Act. Like the MAPWaters Act, the MAPOceans Act would require NOAA to create a publicly accessible database that outlines fishing restrictions and closures, boating restrictions and closures, and allowable methods of take in federal waters.
Reauthorize the National Parks and Public Lands Legacy Restoration Fund. Established by the Great American Outdoors Act, the National Parks and Public Lands Legacy Restoration Fund is set to expire. This fund provides federal land management agencies with resources to address the backlog of deferred maintenance projects. Congress should act to reauthorize this important source of funding to restore and expand access opportunities on public lands.
Given the demonstrated, broad support, the 119th Congress should move quickly to send these common-sense bills to the President’s desk.
Streamline Permitting for Restoration Projects
Despite a compromise deal emerging from the Senate, the 118th Congress ultimately failed to pass a comprehensive permitting reform legislative package. Permitting reform talks have largely focused on expediting environmental review for energy and transmission projects, but Congress must also address the issue of overly cumbersome and excessive delays on approving ecosystem restoration and other environmentally beneficial projects. Currently, these projects go through the same approval process as other development and infrastructure projects, which creates unnecessary hurdles and complicates on-the-ground habitat restoration work. These projects help support recreational access and sustain the $1.1 trillion annual outdoor economy.
TRCP worked with our partners to develop common-sense recommendations to cut through the “green tape” that delays conservation and restoration projects. By developing a categorical exclusion specific to the Department of Interior for restoration actions and simplifying, and scaling, mitigation as a component of permitting, Congress can help get more conservation and restoration work on the ground and reduce the amount of money spent on environmental analysis without diminishing protections under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or other bedrock environmental statutes.
Conserve Big Game Migration Corridors
The Wildlife Movement Through Partnerships Act, introduced in the 118th Congress, would formally authorize existing federal programs initiated by the Department of the Interior during the Trump Administration through Secretarial Order 3362, signed by then-Secretary Ryan Zinke, to conserve big game migration corridors through voluntary financial and technical assistance to states, Tribes, and private landowners.
These programs have been supported and expanded by the Biden Administration but remain discretionary, meaning that they rely on federal agencies setting aside funding each year to continue implementing these programs. Congressional action to formalize these discretionary programs would guarantee that the work persists regardless of administration changes. This is important because the annual budgets of state and Tribal wildlife agencies are unable to meet the full demand for resource management. The financial and technical assistance from these federal programs would help to bridge that funding gap.
The Wildlife Movement Through Partnerships Act gained momentum in the 118th Congress having hearings in both the House and Senate which presents a strong jumping off point for swift consideration in the 119th Congress. Passing this bill would represent the culmination of nearly a decade of work by the hunting and fishing community while building upon the success of existing big game habitat conservation efforts.
Support Wildlife Habitat Connectivity and Public Access in the Highway Bill
Congress passed a comprehensive surface transportation and infrastructure bill, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), in 2021. The IIJA included numerous conservation investments championed by TRCP and our partners including generational investments in wildlife crossing infrastructure, fish passage, public land access, and natural infrastructure solutions. Many of these programs funded under the IIJA are set to expire in fiscal year 2026, handing the 119th Congress an opportunity to build on the success of these programs that benefit fish and wildlife habitat, reduce costs, create jobs, and enhance public safety.
For example, the IIJA allocated $350 million to the Wildlife Crossing Pilot Program, a first-of-its-kind grant program to construct wildlife-friendly roadway infrastructure to reduce wildlife vehicle collisions and improve habitat connectivity for big game and other wildlife. IIJA has also provided investments in aquatic connectivity, which have addressed barriers to fish passage and improved aquatic habitat and have similarly spurred innovation and collaboration across numerous federal and state agencies and other partners and should be prioritized in a surface transportation bill.
Simply put, the Wildlife Crossings Pilot is successful partnership-based program that leverages expertise and funds across numerous federal and state departments and Congress should seek to permanently authorize this program and allocate additional funds to better meet demand.
The 119th Congress should also seek to enhance access opportunities for hunters, anglers, and recreationists through a surface transportation bill. Despite a surface transportation reauthorization bill being colloquially called a “Highway Bill,” there’s an opportunity to improve access to remote, rural public lands through partnerships with counties. Congress could establish a pilot program to make grants available to counties to digitize records and make information publicly available on the location and status of county-maintained roads.
Develop Tax Policy Updates that Fund Conservation
Republican leadership in the House and Senate are widely expected to prioritize a broad tax reform package in 2025. This provides an opportunity for the 119th Congress to close tax loopholes that divert funds away from conservation.
The rise of online marketplaces that facilitate direct-to-consumer sales from overseas manufacturers has created a growing loophole that is undermining the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. The federal excise tax on hunting and fishing equipment established under Pittman-Robertson and Dingell-Johnson is not being collected on foreign-made fishing tackle and archery equipment sold direct from overseas to U.S. consumers, and online marketplaces are not currently responsible for collecting the excise tax on archery and fishing tackle imports. Any comprehensive legislative package on tax policy must close this loophole that accounts for an estimated annual loss of $17 million dollars that would otherwise go to fund state fish and wildlife management agencies.
Conservation is, and should be, a shared priority regardless of party affiliation or ideology. Congress needs to hear that conservation is important to you. For more information, and to take action in support of critical conservation priorities in the year ahead, visit the TRCP Action Center.
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.
Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership Announces Four New Board Members
Experts in conservation, finance, and community building join the leadership team
(Washington D.C.)—The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership is pleased to announce the appointment of four new directors to its leadership team. George Cooper, Nick Seidenberg, Ashley Smith, and Bob Ziehmer join the 27-member board that oversees TRCP.
“TRCP is fortunate to welcome these four individuals as new members of our Board of Directors,” said Alston Watt, TRCP board chair. “Their wide range of expertise will help us build upon our organizational strengths and help conserve hunting, fishing, and the wild places we cherish for future generations.”
Bios for the incoming board members can be found below. To read more about TRCP’s full Board of Directors and leadership team, click HERE.
“We are thrilled to welcome these industry leaders and dedicated conservation advocates to the TRCP family,” said Joel Pedersen, president and CEO of the TRCP. “Our Board of Directors plays a pivotal role in guiding our organization and empowers us to continue uniting and amplifying our partners’ voices to advance America’s legacy of conservation, habitat, and access. With the addition of George, Nick, Ashley, and Bob to the Board, TRCP is well positioned to achieve our mission of guaranteeing all Americans quality places to hunt and fish.”
George Cooper
George Cooper is a Partner at Forbes Tate Partners leading the firm’s natural resources and outdoor recreation government affairs practice, representing nonprofits, corporations, and trade associations on policy related to natural resource conservation, public lands, marine fisheries, agricultural land, tax, trade, and appropriations issues. George leverages his extensive network in DC to connect clients with the right people on Capitol Hill and in pertinent federal agencies and guide them in delivering messages and creating conversations that produce meaningful results.
Prior to joining FTP, George served as President and CEO of TRCP. Throughout his nearly eight years at TRCP, both as CEO and as vice president for policy and communications, he helped create a new strategic advocacy niche in Washington for the nation’s 40 million hunters and anglers. George’s political experience is rooted in Washington, DC political media. Before joining TRCP, he worked for CNN serving as Senior Producer for prominent public affairs shows like “Evans and Novak,” “Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer,” and “Reliable Sources.” George also served as a Senior Producer on the White House and Capitol Hill beats. An alumnus of Denison University, Mr. Cooper earned a bachelor’s in history. He and his wife and their two children live in Chevy Chase, Maryland
Nick Seidenberg
Nicholas Seidenberg is a Managing Director at Eastdil Secured, a privately held real estate investment banking firm headquartered in New York. Nick co-leads Eastdil Secured’s Debt Capital Markets division and serves as a member of the nine-person Executive Committee.
Growing up in Minnesota, Nick developed a deep appreciation for the outdoors. From autumn weekends in duck blinds with his father and brother to summers spent fishing on Minnesota’s lakes, these early experiences instilled in him a lifelong love for nature and quality time in nature with loved ones.
Nick and his wife, Casey, have been married for 29 years and reside in Washington, D.C. They have three children whom Nick enjoys taking on hunting and fishing trips to Minnesota, Montana and Rhode Island, continuing a family tradition of bonding through the outdoors.
In addition to his professional achievements, Nick has been actively involved in nonprofit work in Washington, D.C. Most recently, he served on the board of Children’s National Medical Center. Nick earned a B.S. in Applied Economics from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from NYU’s Stern School of Business.
Ashley Smith
Attorney Ashley Smith is a bi-lingual thought leader, group cohesion expert, writer, and national public speaker. Ashley co-founded The Minority Outdoor Alliance with the mission of uniting communities for the enjoyment and conservation of our natural resources. Ashley is also the founder of NOS Global, LLC, which helps organizations uncover how to benefit from an ever-changing world through data-driven strategic planning and organizational cohesion programs.
Ashley has had the honor of giving speeches, facilitating workshops, and hosting large outdoor recreational and educational events for a number of state agencies, conservation organizations, and corporations across the nation.
Ashley completed her undergraduate education at the University of Georgia with degrees in journalism and Spanish. After college, Ashley completed her law degree at Georgia State University College of Law.
Ashley seeks the outdoors as a place to renew and rejuvenate. Ashley likes to meditate, pray, and exercise outdoors. She also enjoys archery, biking, hiking, and fishing. Ashley believes that there is so much more that unites us as human beings than divides us and believes that being outdoors is the perfect setting for memory making, tradition keeping, and connecting with others. Ashley and her husband have a young daughter and son.
Bob Ziehmer
Bob Ziehmer currently serves as the Senior Director of Conservation for Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s where he is responsible for providing direction to advance priorities of protecting wildlife and habitat, connecting new audiences to the outdoors, and advocating for sportsmen’s rights and the outdoors. Bob serves as a liaison with state and federal agencies and over sixty national non-governmental groups to encourage advancement of projects, policy, and regulations advancing conservation and protecting our outdoor heritage.
Prior to joining Bass Pro Shops, Bob served over 25 years (6 ½ years as Director) with the Missouri Department of Conservation, where his work included: ensuring Missouri remained a national leader in forest, fish and wildlife research, management, and education; and served as a member of the Governor’s Cabinet, among others.
Bob has an unwavering passion for hunting, angling, and other outdoor adventures. His father’s commitment to spending time afield with him instilled the importance of conservation and our individual responsibilities to manage fish and wildlife for future generations, which he has passed along to his children.
Bob is a professional member of the Boone & Crockett Club. He currently serves as a national board member of: Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation; Council to Advance Hunting and the Shooting Sports; and National Deer Association.
Four members also concluded their time with the TRCP Board of Directors in December: James A. Baker IV, who served as TRCP board chair from 2021 – 2023; Bill Demmer, who helped establish the Bill and Linda Demmer Chief Conservation Officer position; Tod Sedgewick; and Aileen Lee. Their dedication to the TRCP mission and efforts to help advance America’s legacy of conservation, habitat, and access are to be applauded.
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.
In the Arena: Jillian Tisdale
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.
Jillian Tisdale
Hometown: Born in Gainesville, Fla.; seven-year resident of the Florida Keys
Occupation: Operations manager at Seven Mile Fly Shop
Conservation credentials: Tisdale is the Florida Keys outreach & engagement coordinator at Captains For Clean Water
A Florida native, Tisdale’s chief sporting passion lies with pursuing tarpon for the physical and mental challenge. She’s also known as an expert rigger and knot-tier who fishes for snook, bonefish, and other flats fish, and has hunted for turkeys and whitetail deer when she’s had the opportunity to spend time in the woods. Outside her regular job managing a fly shop in Marathon, where she is tightly embedded in the Florida Keys fly fishing community, Tisdale is an angler member of the Florida Keys Fishing Guides Association and Lower Keys Fishing Guides Association and focuses her energy on local conservation. She handles outreach throughout the Keys for TRCP partner organization Captains For Clean Water, helping address the need for Everglades restoration. She strives to restore and protect South Florida’s aquatic ecosystems to ensure that everyone can benefit from them.
Here is her story.
I grew up fishing occasionally with my father, for redfish in the Big Bend of Florida and bass in the lakes surrounding my hometown in north Florida. I began offshore fishing in the Gulf of Mexico when I was 18. When I was in my early twenties, my father was diagnosed with stage four small cell lung cancer. He passed away after a very short, harrowing battle.
This was a very sudden and difficult loss for me, as he was my biggest supporter and the person that I looked to for advice at every transition in my life. It was then that, thankfully, I was introduced to sight fishing and hunting, and I fully immersed myself in the outdoors. It was the outlet that I desperately needed to get through that time of my life and I clung to it. There was absolutely no looking back.
I’ve since been very blessed to hunt and fish in some of the most incredible places with some of the best outdoorsmen in the country. I remember hunting in north Alabama one morning. I had hiked through a bunch of flooded timbers to get to my tree stand well before sunrise. I watched the woods awaken with the sun, but the water below me was dead calm, reflecting every single thing above it so that I couldn’t even make out a horizon until a big buck came in chasing a doe, creating ripples in the water as far as I could see. I’d never felt so enveloped and vulnerable at the same time.
Also very memorable was catching my first tarpon on a fly. I’d spent a whole lot of time in the Everglades, conventional fishing and fly fishing, for redfish, tarpon, snook… zigging and zagging through mangrove tunnels and across massive open bays. After a couple of days targeting big, rolling tarpon deep in the Everglades, getting bite after bite and breaking every single one off, I finally got one to stick. I managed to clear the line without wrapping it around a hand or foot and learned very quickly exactly what I wanted to dedicate my time to for the foreseeable future.
Large tarpon are my favorite fish to target, so a trip to Gabon (on the west coast of Africa) is at the top of my bucket list. That being said, I live in one of the most diverse fisheries in the world, and it also happens to be home to plenty of big tarpon. I feel very fortunate to have the Everglades, Florida Bay, and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary at my fingertips, which together are home to the largest seagrass meadow in the world. While it is one of the most challenging places in the world to fly fish for bonefish, permit, and tarpon due to angler pressure and habitat loss, it is certainly the most rewarding for me and many other people. Plus, the tarpon migration down here is second to none.
“The intense love that I have developed for the Everglades… exists only because many people before me used their voice to advance Everglades restoration.”
Conservation is the only reason my passion for the outdoors is possible and will be the only reason I am able to continue fishing. The intense love that I have developed for the Everglades and the extraordinary fish that live there exists only because many people before me used their voice to advance Everglades restoration and defend those fish. As the saying goes, everything flows downstream – and with respect to the Everglades, that stream actually starts north of Lake Okeechobee, in the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes. The Everglades are home to hundreds of different fish and wildlife species (including alligators AND crocodiles) and it is the centerpiece of the largest hydrologic restoration project in the United States – the Comprehensive Everglades Reservation Plan (CERP) – which aims to restore historical flows from Lake O and send more clean water south through the “River of Grass,” to Florida Bay.
The state of Florida is suffering from a million paper cuts: overpopulation, nutrient runoff, red tides, the list is long. But I feel that Everglades restoration is one of the most important solutions to our water quality issues in South Florida. Currently, there is a power struggle over the operation of Lake Okeechobee. Special interests want to keep lake levels high to use the water at their discretion, resulting in high-volume discharges to the east and west, and cutting the Everglades system off from the clean freshwater that it needs to balance out high-salinity issues that cause massive seagrass die-offs and algae blooms. Returning the adequate flow of clean water south, the way it historically flowed, is paramount to preserve the habitats and ecosystems to east, west, and south that enable our fish and wildlife to flourish.
Utilization of natural resources for recreation and my livelihood bears with it an inherent responsibility – my responsibility to protect it. In my opinion, there is nothing more important than the water quality of the Everglades, Florida Bay, and Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. People come from all over the world to see the natural wonders surrounding the state of Florida. It is our responsibility to protect them, and that includes educating visitors and residents alike about the issues we are facing as well as the science-based solutions that are in place, so that everyone can use their voice to advocate for those solutions.
The next generation of hunters and anglers have already proven to be even more educated and adamant about conservation than myself and prior generations. I admire their passion, and hope that they continue to fight with the tenacity they have today to protect the wild places that are left for the generations that follow us.
TRCP Announces New Development and Conservation Leadership
Key positions filled to strengthen conservation and development programs
Today, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership announces changes to leadership positions that will help the organization achieve its mission to guarantee all Americans quality places to hunt and fish.
Al Clark joins TRCP as the organization’s chief development officer, bringing over 21 years of development and conservation experience to the organization. In his most recent role as national director of development of the National Wild Turkey Federation, Clark advanced the nonprofit’s fundraising activities and major gift development. His professional background includes development leadership roles at Ducks Unlimited as well as in higher education at Furman University and Wofford College.
At TRCP, Clark will lead a talented team of development managers for growth in philanthropic and foundation giving, build corporate partner relationships, and oversee the organization’s hallmark annual event, the Capital Conservation Awards Dinner.
TRCP is also proud to announce the promotion of tenured staff to two senior leadership positions in the conservation program.
Joel Webster will serve as the Bill and Linda Demmer Chief Conservation Officer. In this role, he will work with TRCP’s policy team, external partners, and decision makers to further conservation and access priorities for private lands, public lands, marine fisheries, and water.
Webster has helped advance TRCP’s conservation portfolio since 2007 and is a member of the federal Hunting and Wildlife Conservation Council, where he advises the secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture on habitat and access policy. He also serves as the vice chair of American Wildlife Conservation Partners, a coalition of 50 leading hunting and wildlife conservation organizations.
Madeleine West will lead as vice president of western conservation. First joining TRCP in 2019, West will work to advance a wide range of federal and state policies, including those focused on wildlife migration and winter range conservation, forest management, backcountry area conservation, energy policy, special places conservation, and expanded public access.
“I am pleased to announce these additions to TRCP’s leadership team. Al, Joel, and Madeleine each bring a strong passion for conservation and the TRCP mission and are proven leaders in our conservation community,” said Joel Pedersen, TRCP president and CEO. “I look forward to working with them as TRCP continues to build on our past successes. They will provide excellent stewardship to TRCP’s partners and community of hunters and anglers as we continue to advance America’s legacy of conservation, habitat, and access.”
Learn more about TRCP’s leadership 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.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
TRCP has partnered with Afuera Coffee Co. to further our commitment to conservation. $4 from each bag is donated to the TRCP, to help continue our efforts of safeguarding critical habitats, productive hunting grounds, and favorite fishing holes for future generations.
Learn More
You have Successfully Subscribed!
