EXPANDING ACCESS AND PROMOTING AMERICA’S HUNTING HERITAGE: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to expand access to America’s public lands and waterways, foster and recruit the next generation of hunters, and promote robust and healthy wild game populations. The Order directs the Secretary of the Interior to expand hunting opportunities in select federal lands that would not put objects of historic and scientific interest at risk.
The Order directs the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of War, and the Secretary of Commerce to propose changes to polices that prevent access of public lands for recreation, infrastructure repair, and wildlife management, as well as to encourage volunteers to manage wildlife populations and invasive species, allow the use assistive technology on access trails and hunting locations for people with disabilities, and allow the use of traditional lead ammo and tackle.
The Order directs the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of War, and the Secretary of Commerce to unlock checkerboarded and landlocked parcels through voluntary access easements, land exchanges, and cooperative agreements that respect private property rights. The Order directs the Secretary of Agriculture to review and reform high-demand Forest Service-administered river access lotteries to prioritize United States citizens and prior applicants who haven’t previously received access via lottery, and to prohibit automatic computer entries.
The Order directs the Secretary of the Interior to streamline regulations for authorizing seasonal migratory game bird hunting and to encourage States to promote and expand Sunday hunting on State and Federal lands. The Order directs the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to identify, clarify, and prioritize opportunities and incentives to cultivate the hunting tradition in young Americans and veterans using existing…