The Sportsmen’s Alliance and our Foundation exist to protect and advance hunting, fishing, trapping and recreational shooting in the face of an ever-growing threat. Increasing urbanization has created epicenters of ignorance when it comes to wildlife management. These high population areas control the political discourse and application of policy in nearly every state, which has left the rural lifestyle and sportsmen’s heritage on the outside looking in. Disconnected from wildlife and the ramifications of bad policy, urban voters are susceptible to the emotional rhetoric and falsehoods of the animal-rights movement.
With sympathetic, urban legislators willing to introduce anti-sportsman bills and shepherd them through statehouses nationwide, the animal-rights movement can chip away at management and the outdoor heritage at will. Likewise, partisanship and single-party super majorities in state legislatures has made it nearly impossible to work legislatively in many states, especially on the East and West coasts.
That’s where the Sportsmen’s Alliance enters on behalf of outdoorsmen. We know this world. We know the political landscape and where we need to pay attention, which politicians, committees and legislatures to pressure. We know how to protect you from ballot issues that manipulate public perception and we know our way around a court room, where we have secured rulings that have pushed back the anti-hunting machine and secured legal standing and precedent to safeguard against future battles.
How We Advocate & Educate
ADVOCATE IN ALL
50 STATE LEGISLATURES
By far the most popular attack on our heritage comes in state legislatures. The Sportsmen’s Alliance monitors thousands of bills every session in all 50 states. We lobby on behalf of legislation that promotes and protects our passions and against those bills that over regulate, economically cripple or otherwise destroy hunting, fishing, trapping, shooting and the scientific management of wildlife. To receive free alerts and take appropriate action when legislation hits your state, sign up below!
ADVOCATE IN
STATE & FEDERAL COURT
The animal-rights movement has increasingly turned to the courts to stop hunting, access to public lands and to stymie the scientific management of wildlife in the states and at the federal level. The Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation engages these legal challenges and fights them head on, while also using the courts to enforce the rule of law, to protect you and your passions. To specifically support our efforts in the courts, you can donate to the Sportsmen’s Legal Defense Fund.
ADVOCATE AT
THE BALLOT BOX
State wildlife management is particularly vulnerable to ballot-box attacks. Urban areas are susceptible to emotional animal-rights messaging, and sportsmen are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to funding a ballot campaign. Our genesis as an advocacy organization traces back to a 1977 ballot initiative in Ohio that would have banned trapping. We repelled that attack and have continued to protect states from the insidious abuse of the ballot box by the animal-rights movement.
CONDUCT RESEARCH CRITICAL TO INDUSTRY & PUBLIC
Keeping political leaders, the hunting and firearms industry, and the general public informed of the facts is paramount to protecting our heritage. Whether it’s polling data to defeat an anti-hunting ballot initiative or an economic impact study, we engage in the research necessary to protect sportsmen and successful wildlife management nationwide. View our most recent research reports.
EDUCATE DECISIONMAKERS & TOMORROW’S VOTERS
We educate all sectors of the public and industry on everything from current trends and wildlife management decisions to recruitment and retention of sportsmen. We’ve expanded our reach into schools to educate young Americans on Conservation Science and how the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation works, and why it is critical to the future of wildlife and wild places.