Unfinished Business: The Lame Duck To-Do List for Hunters and Anglers

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by: Zach Bodhane

posted in: Highlights

November 6, 2026

Bipartisan bills are within reach in the lame duck session, and each would deliver for fish, wildlife and the places we hunt and fish.

When lawmakers return to Washington this month, they will have only a few weeks to finish the business of the 119^th Congress and a long list of expiring programs and unfinished bills will compete for floor time.

Several of those bills matter to hunters and anglers. TRCP encourages Congress to pass the Fix Our Forests Act, the America the Beautiful Act, and a Farm Bill reauthorization before the session ends. Together, they address three needs every sportsman and sportswoman will recognize: maintaining public access, restoring healthy forests, and supporting voluntary conservation on working lands. Each bill does far more, but here’s what each mean for hunters and anglers:

Fix Our Forests Act

Overgrown forests and severe wildfires threaten wildlife habitat, watersheds, communities, and the places hunters and anglers rely on. When a large fire burns too hot, it can strip elk summer range, choke trout streams with sediment, and close access for years.

Among its provisions, the Fix Our Forests Act would improve forest health, reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire and accelerate restoration and hazardous fuels reduction, helping sustain resilient wildlife populations and safeguard access to hunting and fishing.

The House passed the bill 279-141 in January 2025, and the Senate Agriculture Committee advanced its bipartisan version 18-5 that October. It has been waiting for a Senate floor vote since then. We cannot let another fire season pass without Congressional action on forest health.

America the Beautiful Act

In 2020, the Great American Outdoors Act established the Legacy Restoration Fund to address deferred maintenance on federal lands. It has improved roads, trails, campgrounds, boat ramps, and fishing access sites that hunters and anglers depend on. That funding expired in 2025.

The America the Beautiful Act would reauthorize the fund, continuing work that maintains the access hunters and anglers rely on, from the forest road you drive to deer camp to the boat launch on your favorite reservoir. Committees in both chambers of Congress advanced reauthorization bills in June.

The Farm Bill

About 60 percent of land in the U.S. is privately owned, and much of our best hunting and fishing depends on healthy working lands and partnerships with private landowners.

TRCP’s focus is the Farm Bill’s conservation title. Its programs improve soil health and water quality, restore grasslands, and maintain the habitats that support fish and wildlife. These programs include the Conservation Reserve Program, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, the Forest Conservation Easement Program, the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, Regional Conservation Partnership Program, and the Conservation Stewardship Program. They help ranchers improve grazing and water for wildlife and help farmers keep marginal ground in grass for upland birds and waterfowl. . The Farm Bill also provides the largest source of funding for state walk-in access programs through the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program.

Congress has not passed a full five-year Farm Bill since 2018. The House passed its bill in April with support from both parties. The Senate Agriculture Committee advanced its version in September on a party-line vote, and any Farm Bill will need support from both parties to clear the full Senate. Conservation programs have long drawn backing from both sides of the aisle, and they offer common ground to build on. TRCP urges Congress to finish a bipartisan Farm Bill that strengthens these voluntary programs, including the Conservation Reserve Program. CRP is the only major conservation program that has not received significant updates or new investment since 2018. Another short-term extension would leave these programs in limbo.

Why now

Bills that don’t pass by the end of the year expire with this Congress, and their sponsors must start over in January. These three have broad bipartisan support and years of work behind them. In our nation’s 250th year, Congress can reaffirm its commitment to America’s outdoor heritage by finishing them before the 119th Congress ends.

“Hunters and anglers don’t measure progress by election cycles. They measure it by the places they hunt and fish, the access that gets them there and the habitat that keeps fish and wildlife on the landscape,” said Joel Webster, TRCP’s chief conservation officer. “These bills have bipartisan support because they deliver on all three, and they have years of work behind them. With only a few weeks left in this Congress, we encourage lawmakers to see that work through.”

TRCP and our partners will keep making the case for these bills to lawmakers in both parties and keep hunters and anglers informed as they move through the lame duck.

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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by: Dan Morgan

posted in: Highlights

November 2, 2026

Mark Rehbein joins the TRCP as Vice President of Development

Rehbein is a conservation fundraiser with more than a decade of experience building philanthropic support for fish and wildlife habitat.

The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) is pleased to announce the hiring of Mark Rehbein as Vice President of Development, bringing more than a decade of conservation fundraising and nonprofit leadership experience to the organization. As the nation’s most impactful conservation coalition, TRCP will draw on his expertise to expand philanthropic support and build lasting relationships with the donors and partners who make its work on behalf of hunters and anglers possible.

Prior to joining TRCP, Rehbein spent more than 12 years at Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, where he served as director of development and helped drive the organization’s growth. During his tenure, he expanded fundraising programs and cultivated partnerships that supported fisheries research, habitat conservation and advocacy throughout the southeastern United States, the Bahamas, Belize and Mexico.

A lifelong outdoorsman, Rehbein caught his first fish at age 3 and developed an early love of fishing that eventually grew to include hunting. His early professional experiences took him from Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula to Capitol Hill before his passion for the outdoors ultimately led him to a career in conservation.

“Mark understands that every conservation success for hunters and anglers starts with people who believe in the work enough to invest in it,” said Liz Ogilvie, TRCP’s chief communications and operations officer. “He has spent his career turning a shared love of hunting and fishing into real gains for fish, wildlife, habitat, and access, and he knows firsthand what it takes to carry our sporting traditions forward. As TRCP heads into its 25th anniversary year, Mark will help us build lasting support for the next generation of hunters and anglers.”

Rehbein graduated from Elon University and later earned an MBA from Florida International University. He lives in South Florida with his wife and son and enjoys hunting, fishing and exploring public lands and waters with family and friends.

With this addition, TRCP is well positioned to grow the support needed to guarantee all Americans quality places to hunt and fish.

Learn more about TRCP’s leadership HERE. 

by: Liz Rose

posted in: Highlights

October 16, 2026

TRCP Supports Colorado Amendment 83: Right to Hunt & Fish

Amendment 83 recognizes the essential value of hunting, fishing, and keeping wildlife management grounded in science.

Hunting and fishing are longstanding traditional practices that connect people to our landscapes, provide healthy and sustainable food sources for families, and are deeply woven into the social and cultural fabric of Colorado. For generations, hunters and anglers have helped fund wildlife management, habitat restoration, public access, species recovery, rural economic prosperity, and outdoor recreation opportunities, which benefit all Coloradans.

These traditions carry values that matter. Time in the field fosters patience, humility, gratitude, and respect for wildlife and the places that sustain it, and hunting and fishing remain one of the most direct ways Coloradans pass those values from one generation to the next. Hunting and fishing take us to some of the most beautiful places in the state, and provide a welcome respite from the day-to-day stressors for so many Coloradans. Our kids and grandkids deserve to have the option to enjoy these unique ways of connecting to the outdoors and each other.

Hunting and fishing also play an essential role in how Colorado manages its wildlife. Regulated hunting is one of the most important tools wildlife managers have to keep species in balance with available habitat, limit the spread of disease and invasive species, and reduce conflicts with human populations and agriculture operations. The conservation ethic built into our national system of hunting and fishing is bolstered further through financial investment; license fees and excise taxes hunters and anglers pay are a major source of funding for species and habitat conservation programs.

“Hunting, fishing, and wildlife conservation are a major part of who we are as Coloradans, and hunters and anglers have long been partners in conserving the state’s fish and wildlife,” said Liz Rose, TRCP’s Colorado field representative. “Amendment 83 recognizes that role and helps ensure hunters and anglers continue to contribute to the conservation and management of wildlife in Colorado, through on-the-ground work and through the dollars they contribute.”

Amendment 83 recognizes the value that hunting and fishing provide to Colorado’s citizenry and wildlife populations, and will preserve the authority of Colorado Parks and Wildlife to responsibly manage fish and wildlife based on science, safety, or to preserve the future of hunting and fishing. 

Learn more about Colorado Amendment 83 HERE.

TRCP also supports Proposition 137. Prop 137 would redirect existing state sales tax on certain sporting goods and equipment to fund existing, but under-funded, state grant programs that reduce wildfire risk and enhance watershed health using science-backed tools, in addition to funding other conservation and recreation priorities. TRCP supports this proposition because multi-benefit stream and wetland restoration projects, like the Soda Creek complex, could be supported by increased state funding in the future if Prop 137 passes in November. For more information, go here and here.

Top photo: 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 and waters access solutions we’re spearheading, and opportunities for hunters and anglers to take action. Sign up now.

by: Dan Morgan

posted in: Highlights

October 2, 2026

TRCP Welcomes Opening of Wildlife Crossings Grants

Approximately $80 million is now available for projects that keep elk, mule deer, and pronghorn migrations intact, reconnect trout streams and make roads safer for drivers.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced on Sept. 30 that applications are being accepted for the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program. The notice will award approximately $80 million in FY26 funding through cost-reimbursable grants, with no minimum or maximum award size, and DOT may also award unspent funds from previous years. Both construction and non-construction projects are eligible, though DOT may give priority to construction. Proposals are due Nov. 16, 2026.

To help reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions and improve habitat connectivity, $350 million in federal funding became available in 2022 through the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program. These funds support research and construction of wildlife crossing infrastructure, such as overpasses, underpasses and fencing that help funnel wildlife across roads safely. Several states, including Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Montana, Oregon, Virginia and North Carolina, have developed their own funding sources to leverage these federal dollars.

“Wildlife crossings are one of the clearest examples of a project that makes roads safer for families and keeps big game herds on the move,” said Madeleine West, TRCP’s vice president of Western conservation. “TRCP has worked alongside states, Tribes and partners for years to advance crossings because they deliver for everyone, from commuters and rural communities to the hunters and anglers who depend on healthy herds and connected streams. We’re encouraged to see this new round of funding open and look forward to the projects it will put on the ground.”

Iconic species such as elk, deer and pronghorn require intact habitat to complete their daily movements and seasonal migrations between summer and winter ranges. As weather patterns change and development grows, highways that cut through those routes pose a greater risk, and each collision is a safety hazard for drivers and a lost animal for the herd. Since Department of the Interior Secretarial Order 3362 in 2018, research and mapping has demonstrated exactly where and how herds travel and has helped states, Tribes, federal agencies and private landowners determine where crossing infrastructure will do the most good. Paired with fencing, crossings can sharply reduce wildlife vehicle collisions: Idaho’s new Cervidae Peak overpass outside Boise is expected to cut reduce collisions by 80 percent. For anglers, the program also fixes undersized culverts that block trout and other fish from upstream spawning and cold-water habitat. Keeping these connections intact helps ensure future generations can enjoy these game species, as well as a multitude of other non-game species.

These federal investments are heavily leveraged by new state-based funding in many states across the country and broadly supported by bi-partisan lawmakers at all levels of government because they make roadways safer for motorists and wildlife alike. This year is the final round of funding under the Wildlife Crossing Pilot Program, and TRCP and partners are working to reauthorize, and ultimately make permanent, this federal program in the next surface transportation reauthorization bill.

Learn more about the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program here, and find the full notice of funding opportunity HERE

Read more about TRCP’s work on wildlife corridors and bipartisan support for big game migration.

Top photo by Colorado Department of Transportation.

by: Dan Morgan

posted in: Highlights

September 29, 2026

Jessica Turner Named President and CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

Turner brings nearly two decades of leadership experience to the most impactful coalition of conservation organizations in the country.

The board of directors of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) is pleased to announce the appointment of Jessica Turner as President and CEO. A lifelong outdoorswoman, Turner is a proven leader in legislative strategy, conservation policy, and organizational growth with nearly two decades of experience. She will begin the role on November 9, 2026.

“Jessica is a proven coalition builder and an inspiring leader, with a deep knowledge of conservation policy, a real respect for our hunting and fishing heritage, and well-earned standing within the conservation community,” said Matt Cook, interim CEO and chair of the TRCP Board of Directors. “On behalf of the board, I am thrilled to welcome Jess Turner as the next president and CEO of TRCP. She’s spent her career building bipartisan support for America’s legacy of conservation, habitat and access, and making the business case for why it matters. We couldn’t be more excited to have her on the team.”

Most recently, Turner served as the President of the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR), where she led the coalition that helped secure passage of the Great American Outdoors Act and the EXPLORE Act, delivering lasting funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund and modernizing outdoor recreation access and infrastructure on public lands.

Her background spans the Department of the Interior, Capitol Hill and the Outdoor Industry Association, where she helped secure formal government recognition of outdoor recreation as one of the nation’s leading economic sectors. Across nearly two decades in Washington, Turner has built a reputation as a steady, bipartisan hand who gets conservation wins across the finish line.

Turner sits on the boards of the Foundation for America’s Public Lands, Outward Bound USA and the Grand Canyon Conservancy. Her leadership has been recognized with Outside’s 30 Under 30 and The Hill’s Top Lobbyist award, and she holds a master’s and bachelor’s degree in American Government from Georgetown University.

“I’ve worked alongside TRCP for years, and I’ve always respected both its reputation, mission, and the results it delivers for hunters, anglers and partners alike,” said Turner. “As TRCP approaches its 25th anniversary, I’m ready to help lead the next chapter, carrying forward Theodore Roosevelt’s conservation legacy and continuing to shape the future of this work. I’m excited to be working alongside TRCP’s excellent staff, dedicated board and partners, and to build on the relationships across this community that have always made this work possible. This work only gets done together.”

TRCP continues to rise to the challenge originally set forth by its founder, Jim Range—to unite and amplify partners’ voices to advance America’s legacy of conservation, habitat, and access. Since its inception 25 years ago, TRCP has become the most impactful coalition of conservation organizations in the country, representing over 90 partner nonprofit and corporate organizations.

About Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

Founded in 2002, the TRCP is the largest coalition of conservation organizations in the country, uniting and amplifying the voices of sportsmen and women by convening hunting and fishing groups, conservation organizations, and outdoor businesses to a common purpose. Learn more at trcp.org.

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 and waters access solutions we’re spearheading, and opportunities for hunters and anglers to take action. Sign up now.

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