WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Agriculture aims to have the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) enrolled to its fully authorized acreage by 2012, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Ducks Unlimited, which has a history of working with landowners to put WRP projects on their land, including more than 250,000 acres in the lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley, is looking forward to working with the USDA and landowners to reach this goal.

"This could be great news for farmers and duck hunters," said Dan Wrinn, director of public policy for Ducks Unlimited. "Ducks Unlimited partnering with farmers and the USDA to put more habitat on the ground, while providing benefits to landowners, is always a win-win situation."

Current enrollment in the program stands at approximately 2.2 million acres – reaching the final goal will mean having more than 3 million acres enrolled.

For the full story, please go to ducks.org – Jay Cassell

MISSOULA, Mont.—Elk and other wildlife in the nation’s breadbasket will benefit from $31,343 in new grants from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. The grants will help fund conservation and education initiatives in Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma.

Grant amounts are based on RMEF fundraisers held in the respective states.

“Elk Foundation volunteers drove the 2008 banquets, auctions and other fundraising events that made these grants possible. This is where their work begins to transform into on-the-ground conservation benefits, and it’s part of the payday for our supporters who are passionate about giving something back to the outdoors,” said David Allen, Elk Foundation president and CEO.

RMEF grants will help fund the following projects, listed by state:

Kansas—Received RMEF 2009 grants totaling $15,250. Projects include reducing depredation on private land by managing about 200 forage plots covering 750 acres for elk and other wildlife at Fort Riley military reservation in Riley County; enhancing riparian habitat by treating noxious weeds and planting cottonwood, willow and native shrubs on 777 acres at Cimarron National Grasslands in Morton County; and sponsoring Becoming an Outdoors-Woman workshops statewide, Big Brothers Big Sisters Pass It On Outdoor Mentors programs statewide, and Ninnescah Valley Archery Club youth education programs in Pratt County. RMEF partners include the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks and other conservation groups.

Nebraska—Received RMEF 2009 grants totaling $8,075. Projects include developing methodology for aerial elk surveys in the western panhandle of Nebraska including Dawes and Box Butte counties; and funding two scholarships for wildlife conservation students at Chadron State College. RMEF partners include the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

Oklahoma—Received RMEF 2009 grants totaling $8,018. Projects include creating forage openings for elk, rejuvenating water impoundments and maintaining firebreaks at Spavinaw Wildlife Management Area in Delaware and Mayes counties; and enhancing forage for elk and other wildlife by prescribe burning 8,195 acres at Pushmataha Wildlife Management Area in Pushmataha County. RMEF partners include the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and other conservation groups.

Since 1984 in these three states, the Elk Foundation and its partners have completed 155 conservation and education projects with a value of more than $9.8 million.

For more on the RMEF, please go to RMEF.org -- Jay Cassell

(Washington, DC) – Together with a diverse coalition of chefs, restaurateurs, commercial fishermen, anglers, hunters, lodge owners, outfitters, guides and Alaska Native leaders, Trout Unlimited is holding a variety of events in Washington, D.C., this week to mark October as Alaska Wild Salmon Month and to shine a spotlight on the risks to Alaska’s Bristol Bay wild salmon.

Bristol Bay produces the world’s largest sockeye salmon run, but this prolific fishery faces a major threat from the proposed Pebble mine, a controversial project that would be North America’s largest open-pit gold and copper mine, located in the headwaters of Bristol Bay, Alaska.


As part of Alaska Wild Salmon Month, a number of prominent D.C.-area restaurants are featuring Bristol Bay wild salmon on their menus throughout October, including Equinox, owned by culinary leader, Chef Todd Gray. Rated among the top restaurants in Washington, D.C., Equinox won the 2008 Restaurant Association Award for Best Fine Dining.

“Bristol Bay sockeye salmon is truly superb. With wild salmon runs increasingly rare the world over, this outstanding fish deserves full-scale protection from proposed mining in Bristol Bay, one of the largest and most productive salmon spawning areas left on the planet. I’m honored to promote awareness of this wild salmon and the threat it faces,” Gray said.

Wild sockeye salmon from Bristol Bay, Alaska, are one of the tastiest, most plentiful and yet threatened fish on the planet. Tens of millions of ruby-red sockeye salmon return from the Pacific Ocean to their natal rivers in the wilds of Southwest Alaska each summer, to the same place where mining companies are planning to build a giant open-pit gold and copper mine.

Trout Unlimited, the nation’s oldest and largest organization dedicated to conserving, protecting and restoring North America’s coldwater fisheries and their watersheds, is committed to stopping the Pebble mine.

Throughout this week, from Oct. 19-23, Trout Unlimited is hosting several Bristol Bay wild salmon events in Washington, D.C. These include meetings on Capitol Hill with a delegation of concerned Alaskans, a Bristol Bay wild salmon reception at the historic Stewart R. Mott House, and a screening of the award-winning documentary about Bristol Bay, Red Gold, followed by a panel discussion with Alaska Natives, policy makers and others at National Geographic.

For more on the Bristol Bay situation, please go to tu.org -- Jay Cassell

Washington, DC - Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus House Co-Chair, Rep. Dan Boren introduced H.R. 3749, the Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act, late Wednesday in conjunction with the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation 20th Anniversary Banquet.

H.R. 3749 would direct the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to utilize the "multi-use" mandates in their agencies' respective land management plans to promote sportsmen's access to forest and public lands, enhancing the ability of Federal land managers to provide, promote, and plan for recreational uses that balance the needs and interests of all outdoor enthusiasts.

"I introduced this legislation to preserve the heritage of hunting, fishing and shooting on our Federal public lands. Numerous reports in recent years have demonstrated what sportsmen already know; access to public lands is being closed or constrained due to increased development along boundary lines," said Rep. Boren.

CSC House Co-Chair Rep. Paul Ryan and Vice-Chairs Rep. Mike Ross and Rep. Jeff Miller signed on as original co-sponsors of H.R. 3749. The bill currently has 39 co-sponsors, all members of the Caucus.

CSC Senate Member, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, along with co-sponsors CSC Co-Chairs, Sen. Mike Crapo and Sen. Ben Nelson introduced companion legislation in the United States Senate.

"The entire leadership of the CSC worked alongside the Foundation and many of our partners in crafting and introducing this legislation to coincide with the celebration of the CSC/CSF 20th Anniversary celebration," said CSF President Jeff Crane. "This bill is confirmation of the effectiveness of the Caucus and Foundation in producing legislation advantageous to the nation's hunters and anglers."

The legislation maintains that an "open until closed" approach is best. This would require that lands which are currently open to hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting remain open unless reasonable closures are determined to be necessary after proper notification to the public and to Congress has been made.

Specifically, the bill requires that all Federal public land planners evaluate the effects that management initiatives have on outdoors activities, and provide a clear analysis of how proposed actions would affect these traditional users of federal public lands.

The bill would provide federal land managers with the authority to designate specific areas for recreational shooting.

For more details, please go to www.sportsmenslink.org -- Jay Cassell

The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership recently took an aggressive step forward in holding the federal government accountable for management commitments it made on a southwestern Wyoming energy project by filing a legal brief in a suit against the Department of the Interior. The sportsmen’s group asserts that the Bureau of Land Management has mishandled adaptive management on the Pinedale Anticline natural gas development project. The TRCP initially filed its lawsuit because the BLM formally adopted and then abandoned adaptive management plans intended to protect a host of species.



At issue in the TRCP suit are commitments made by the BLM to sustain the region’s natural resources through an “adaptive environmental management” process in its authorization in 2000 and a supplemental authorization in 2008 for the Pinedale Anticline project area, which encompasses approximately 200,000 acres of the Green River Basin in Sublette County, Wyo. The project authorized development in a region that supports substantial numbers of sage-grouse and contains crucial winter range for one of the state’s largest mule deer populations. The latter has declined by 30 percent in the project area since development began. These species and other game in the region offer some of Wyoming’s best hunting and fishing opportunities; hunting seasons and recreational use have been reduced due to the impacts from development.



“This lawsuit upholds the interests of sportsmen in Wyoming and across the country,” said Dr. Rollin Sparrowe, a former federal biologist and lifelong hunter who lives near the project site. “Development in the Pinedale Anticline has proceeded without checks that the adaptive management process was intended to provide. Big-game and upland bird populations are suffering, and hunting opportunities are declining. The TRCP supports responsible public-lands energy development that is pursued in accordance with federal law and ensures citizens’ continued ability to access our shared lands and natural resources. Our inaction in Pinedale would allow the ongoing mismanagement of Western lands and the elimination of America’s dearly held outdoor traditions."

For the complete story, please go to trcp.org -- Jay Cassell

(Columbus) – Two bills introduced by Senator Lisa Murkowski (R- AK) and U.S. Representative Dan Boren (D- OK) will protect recreational hunting, fishing and shooting on land administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service.

Backed by the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA), HR 3749 and the Senate legislation are companion bills collectively known as the Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act. They will prevent situations from emerging where public land is closed arbitrarily for hunting, fishing and shooting, mandating that such closures be done through a reasonable and transparent process.

Specifically, both bills would ensure that:

Federal public land managers with the U.S. Forest Service and BLM provide for the use of and access to public lands for hunting, fishing and shooting,
An “open until closed” policy is established for the lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service and the BLM unless public and Congressional notification is given,
Land managers are urged to lease land for shooting ranges by having the lessee offer suitable assurances to remediate leased lands at the termination of the lease, thus remedying concerns expressed in the past by the BLM over damage to land used for shooting,
Skilled volunteers be used on federal public lands not open to hunting when wildlife management requires the culling of animal populations,
Congress receives an annual report detailing any closures of land to fishing, hunting, or shooting and the reasons for the closures.
“Both bills will guarantee that access for America’s sportsmen to prime public land won’t arbitrarily be denied,” states USSA President and CEO, Bud Pidgeon. “The USSA wholeheartedly supports these bills and urges sportsmen everywhere to contact you members of Congress and urge them to sign on.”

Cosponsors of the Senate legislation are Senators Mike Crapo (R- ID) and Ben Nelson (D- NE).

Cosponsors of HR 3749 are Representatives Marsha Blackburn (R- TN), Kevin Brady (R- TX), Ginny Brown-Waite (R- FL), Paul C. Broun (R- GA), Dan Burton (R- IN), Bill Cassidy (R- LA), Kathleen Dahlkemper (D- PA), John D. Dingell (D- MI), Brad Ellsworth (D- IN), Ron Kind (D- WI), Larry Kissell (D- NC), John Kline (R- MN), Donald Manzullo (R- IL), Thaddeus G. McCotter (R- MI), Jeff Miller (R- FL), Thomas Perriello (D- VA), Ciro D. Rodriguez (D- TX), Mike Rogers (R- AL), Mike Ross (D- AR), Paul Ryan (R- WI), James F. Sensenbrenner Jr. (R- WI), Heath Shuler (D- NC), Bill Shuster (R- PA), Michael K. Simpson (R- ID) and Zach Wamp (R- TN).

Other organizations supporting both bills include the National Rifle Association, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, American Sportfishing Association, and Safari Club International. -- Jay Cassell

At its second annual Capital Conservation Honors, held September 30 near the group’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership recognized the achievements of some of the sportsmen-conservation world’s brightest stars and launched a fundraising effort honoring the legacy of former TRCP chairman and co-founder Jim Range. The two-year campaign for the TRCP Jim Range Conservation Fund begins with $150,000 in contributions already in hand and has a fundraising goal of $2 million.


The gala event featured a keynote address by Douglas Brinkley, professor of history at Rice University and best-selling author of The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America. Congressman John D. Dingell of Michigan was awarded the TRCP’s Sportsman’s Champion Award for his leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives on legislation to protect our nation’s waters and wetlands and to provide funding for fish and wildlife adaptation strategies in climate change legislation. Johnny Morris, founder of Bass Pro Shops and a lifelong conservationist who has donated more than $70 million to conservation and education groups, was presented with the TRCP’s Lifetime Conservation Achievement Award. Lead sponsors of the Sept. 30 event included Bass Pro Shops, Beretta, Frontiers Travel and Orvis.


“The TRCP’s Capital Conservation Honors recognizes the best of the past, present and future of conservation in America,” said George Cooper, TRCP president and CEO. “Reflecting on the lives of giants such as Theodore Roosevelt, John Dingell, Johnny Morris and Jim Range showcases the great achievements that sportsmen have made in the name of conservation – yet also lights a path forward by illustrating how much remains to be done to assure the future of our shared natural resources and our great sporting traditions.”


For the full story, go to trcp. org - Jay Cassell