A plan by the Biden administration’s Department of the Interior (DOI) to close more than a million acres of public land in Utah to recreational shooting is facing opposition from the NRA and other sportsman/conservation groups.
The management plan, drafted by the DOI’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM), closes 1.3 million acres of Bears Ears National Monument (BENM) in southeast Utah to recreational shooting and also severely restricts hunting opportunities.
On November 1, the NRA, along with nine other conservation organizations, filed a protest with the BLM over the final management plan, which opponents say violates federal law.
“This management plan is in clear violation of the law,” said Randy Kozuch, NRA-ILA executive director. “Time and again, we see the Biden-Harris administration restrict access to federal lands to gun owners, hunters, and recreational shooters. The NRA is proud to stand with other members of the sportsmen’s community to protest this egregious action.”
The sportsmen’s groups filing the protest argue that the BENM plan violates the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management and Recreation Act passed by Congress in 2019. That law declared it national policy that the BLM and U.S. Forest Service must consider hunting, fishing and recreational shooting (HFRS) opportunities as part of federal land, resource and travel management plans. It also declared it national policy that these agencies conserve and enhance the management of wild-game species and their habitat, including through hunting and fishing, in concert with state fish and game laws.
Additionally, the law requires recreational shooting closures to apply to the “smallest area for the least amount of time that is required for public safety, administration and compliance with applicable law.” According to the organizations filing the protest, the new Bears Ears management plan is in direct violation of that law, prompting them to submit a comment letter back in June pointing out the proposed plan’s illegality.
“Although the agency acknowledged our comment letter in the final Management Plan, we cannot agree with the BLM that ‘consistent with the Dingell Act, the Proposed Plan would designate as closed to dispersed recreational shooting the smallest area for the least amount of time that is required for public safety, administration, and compliance with applicable law,’” the protest stated. “There is nothing in the final rule to suggest that the BLM carefully considered alternatives, as required under the Dingell Act, and thus it appears the agency decided to take the most politically expedient route instead of what is required by law.”
When it comes to hunting, the plan does give the administration some cover to claim it isn’t anti-hunting by technically allowing hunting on BENM. However, the new management plan severely limits vehicle access in remote areas of the monument, putting them out of reach for many older and less mobile hunters who depend on off-road vehicles to reach their hunting areas.
Sportsmen’s groups oppose the shooting closure not only because of the loss of opportunity but also because of the potential loss of revenue for conservation efforts. Since many wildlife conservation initiatives across America are funded through excise taxes on the purchases of guns, ammo and related sporting equipment, fewer purchases of those products will decrease the funds available for such initiatives.
The 10 sportsmen’s groups filing the protest comprise the Hunting and Shooting Sports Roundtable, which represents millions of Americans from across the United States, including many who depend on federal lands for recreational shooting and hunting. Created by the Federal Lands Hunting, Fishing and Shooting Sports Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in 1999, the member groups have been engaged in federal land management planning processes for a quarter century.
Along with the NRA, other member organizations include the Archery Trade Association, Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, Boone and Crockett Club, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, Dallas Safari Club, Delta Waterfowl, National Shooting Sports Foundation, National Wild Turkey Federation and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
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