Below is a news release from the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation.
Last week, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) and nearly 30 of the nation’s leading sporting-conservation groups, including the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt and Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue urging the allocation of at least $55 million to enhance access for sportsmen and women.
Specifically, the letter calls for the allocation of at least $55 million for Fiscal Year 2021 Great American Outdoors Act funding to be provided to the “recreational access” programs within the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife (USFWS), the National Park Service (NPS), and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS).
In August, the Great American Outdoors Act was signed into law which provides $9.5 billion in funding to restore the infrastructure on our nation’s treasured public lands including the BLM, USFWS, NPS, and USFS, which support more than 25 million hunting days and nearly 45 million fishing days annually.
Currently, there are nearly 10 million acres of federally managed public land that sportsmen and women are currently unable to legally access. However, this problem can be addressed, in part, by providing sufficient funding to the “recreational access” programs within the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture.
(Photo source: U.S. Forest Service)