Continuing a long tradition of opening access and protecting hunting, fishing and trapping on wildlife refuges, the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation has joined the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, National Rifle Association and Safari Club International to intervene in and dismiss a lawsuit brought by an extreme environmental group suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over expansions to the National Wildlife Refuge system.
“Access and opportunity are keystones to the continuation of our hunting heritage, and the refuge system is paramount in providing the public those lands to participate in outdoor activities,” said Evan Heusinkveld, president and CEO of Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation. “The Sportsmen’s Alliance has always worked to expand hunting and fishing on refuges, and now we stand strong with our partners to protect those expansions.”
In November, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) filed suit over the Trump Administration’s 2020 expansion of hunting and fishing opportunities on 2.2 million acres, which created 900 distinctly new hunting and fishing opportunities, within the refuge system. The litigious group alleges that hunting on refuges threatens endangered species due to hunters trampling critical habitat, through lead poisoning as a result of spent ammunition and because grizzly bears could be mistakenly shot by hunters believing them to be black bears or in self-defense.
“A few short months ago, the Biden Administration was touting the largest expansion of hunting and fishing in history on these lands and now they’re negotiating with animal-rights activists over similar hunting opportunities. Any settlement in this case would undeniably cost sportsmen access and opportunities,” said Heusinkveld. “Worse, taxpayers would likely be saddled with the lawyer’s fees of these extremists!”
Given the language of the 1997 National Wildlife Refuge Improvement Act, landmark legislation drafted and pushed through Congress by the Sportsmen’s Alliance, which ensured that hunting, fishing and trapping would occur on any refuge where it is compatible, and the successful legal defense of that legislation, the CBD lawsuit seemed a longshot. The historic law has opened millions of acres to hunting as every Presidential administration since has touted expansion of opportunities within the system.
“The Sportsmen’s Alliance wrote the 1997 refuge improvement act and has defended the expansion of those activities in court since,” said Heusinkveld. “We’ll continue to protect those public lands now and in the future.”
About the Sportsmen’s Alliance: The Sportsmen’s Alliance protects and defends America’s wildlife conservation programs and the pursuits – hunting, fishing and trapping – that generate the money to pay for them. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation is responsible for public education, legal defense and research. Its mission is accomplished through several distinct programs coordinated to provide the most complete defense capability possible. Stay connected to Sportsmen’s Alliance: Online, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.