Calls Needed to Senators and Representatives ASAP!
Take Action! Your calls will make a difference. Call your Congressman and both U.S. Senators. Call both their local district office and their Washington, D.C. office. Tell them American hunters want the protections in the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act. Tell them that sportsmen and women want to see a vote on these important priorities this year! Contact information for your Congressman and your U.S. Senator can be found in the Sportsmen’s Alliance Legislative Action Center.
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As Congress wraps up business in 2016, a package of top sportsmen’s issues remains unfinished. Sportsmen and their advocates in Congress have spent months developing the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act, which would be the most important new law protecting hunting and shooting in nearly 20 years. The Sportsman’s Package was expected to be included in the Energy Policy Modernization Act, and to be voted on before the end of session on December 9. However, at the last minute some members of Congress now want to drop the Sportsmen’s Package and deal with it in the future.
With today’s politics, it would be a big mistake to push this important legislation into an uncertain future when we have the chance to pass it now. Passing the Bipartisan Sportsman’s Act this year will deliver important protections immediately instead of taking the chance that Congress will handle it next year. That is why you must call your Senator and U.S Representative (Congressman) right away and tell them that American sportsmen want a vote on the Bipartisan Sportsman’s Act!
Included are some of the top priority concerns for sportsmen:
“Open Until Closed” – Ensure Hunting on Federal Land: For decades, anti-hunting organizations have used the courts to block the opening of public lands that could, and should be, open to hunting. Language in the Sportsmen’s Act would mandate that federal public Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service Lands be open to hunting unless federal wildlife managers find cause to close them. The language will protect hunting and increase hunting access on millions of acres of public land, similar to protections on wildlife refuge lands that were enacted in 1997.
Remove Gray Wolves from the Endangered Species List: Despite greatly exceeding population targets for delisting, anti-hunting groups successfully persuaded a federal judge to keep wolves protected. Without management, wolves will continue to decimate deer, elk, moose and other game populations, as well as continue to kill hunting dogs.
Preventing the EPA from Regulating Lead in Ammunition: Ammunition for hunting is already regulated at the state level, and by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service where appropriate. This language will prevent radical environmental groups and anti-hunting groups from using the courts to ban lead components in ammunition.
Allowing the Import of Legally Harvest Polar Bear Trophies: This provision would allow polar bear trophies, from animals that were taken prior to their listing on the Endangered Species List, to be brought back into the United States. These legally taken bear trophies have been banned from import to the U.S. for eight years.
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.