Protecting access to public lands has long been a part of our work, from driving the 1997 Refuge Improvement Act, which opened tens of millions of acres for hunters, to spearheading the Open Until Closed policy in 2019, which ensured federal public lands are open for sportsmen use, unless specifically closed for scientific reasons. These policies and more are great examples of the work we do, often with little fanfare, that pay significant dividends years down the road.
Land management is often a tricky, parochial issue, but one that sportsmen cannot abandon. Over the past decade, the federal government has tried numerous times to expand their authority over hunting/fishing rules and regulations impacting sportsmen. Nowhere has seen this effort more closely than those in Alaska where the federal government has tried repeatedly to dictate which hunting and management practices they find acceptable. In most cases, federal land managers defer to the state wildlife agencies to set hunting seasons, bag limits and methods. But that changed during the Obama administration, where a new focus on federalization began to emerge. This approach has since been adopted by the Biden administration, whose efforts to ban lead ammunition and fishing tackle on federal lands take this effort one step further.
We have, and will continue to, engage when these attacks present themselves.
Our Public Lands Work
National Wildlife Refuge System
- Sportsmen’s Alliance Files Amicus Brief in U.S. Supreme Court
- Rules Changes Restore Rights of Alaska, Citizens and Native Communities
- Sportsmen’s Alliance Sue to Protect Hunters on Vermont’s Conte Refuge
- The Sportsmen’s Alliance Involvement in the 1997 Refuge Improvement Act and More
- Sportsmen Win Major Courtroom Battle Over Hunting on Public Lands
- Obama Admin Flouts Law (Again) to Benefit Anti-Hunting Pals
Lead Ammo & Tackle Bans
- Refuge “Expansion” Comes with a Catch
- Sportsmen’s Alliance Files Comments on Refuge Lead-Ban Rule
- Biden Admin Negotiating with Animal Extremists Over Public Land Hunting
- Sportsmen’s Alliance Granted Intervenor Status in Canaan Valley Refuge Case
- Sportsmen’s Alliance Testifies Before Congress Concerning Lead Bans
- U.S. Senator Introduces Bill to Ban Lead Ammo on Public Lands
Trapping Issues
- California Bans All Recreational Trapping
- New Mexico Bans Trapping on Public Lands in Sham Process
- Wisconsin Senator Wants to Ban Hunting, Trapping on Public Lands
- Kentucky Legislator Targets Trapping
- Sportsmen’s Alliance Victorious in Maine Lynx Trapping Case!
- Montana Voters to Decide Trapping Ban Initiative
- Congressional Committee to Hear Bill Banning Trapping on Refuges
Sunday Hunting
- Sunday Hunting for Game Birds Signed into Delaware Law
- VICTORY! Sunday Hunting Bill Signed in Virginia
- Sunday Hunting Bills on the Move Across the Country!
- Connecticut Sunday Hunting Hearing
- Maine Committee to Consider Sunday Hunting
- South Carolina Meeting on Sunday Hunting on Public Land
- VICTORY! Pennsylvania Governor Signs Sunday Hunting Bill
Bear Management
- Judge Rules New Jersey Hunt Will Continue!
- N.J. Governor Rescinds Bear Hunting Ban
- North Carolina Cancels Bear Hunts on Management Units
- VICTORY! Montana Governor Signs Bill Opening Bear Hunting with Hounds
- Sportsmen’s Alliance Expert Testifies in New Jersey Bear Trial
- Washington’s Spring Bear Season Cancelled
- Sportsmen’s Alliance Successfully Defends Bear Hunting in Maine at Ballot Box
