Fish and Wildlife Service proposed its largest hunting and fishing expansion, benefiting everyone

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, under Director Brian Nesvik, recently made history. The agency’s new proposal would result in the most sweeping expansion of hunting and sport fishing access in the history of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The proposed expansions would open over 95 percent of the entire National Wildlife Refuge System (more than 92 million acres) to hunters and anglers. The proposal identifies over 1,450 new opportunities spanning 32 states, opening and expanding access to public lands for anglers and hunters across the country, including 14 refuges and hatcheries where hunting and fishing will be opened for the first time.

Even more, the proposal slashes more than 500 outdated or redundant regulations, clearing the bureaucratic underbrush that makes it harder for hunters and anglers to know where they can go and what they can do.

The proposal better aligns federal rules with state wildlife management frameworks by implementing Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s order “Expanding Hunting and Fishing Access, Removing Unnecessary Barriers, and Ensuring Consistency Across Department of the Interior Lands and Waters.” This will help put decision-making back where it belongs: with the states that understand their unique landscapes, species, and communities best.

The proposal is not just a win for individual hunters. It is a win for sustainable-use conservation, science-backed wildlife management, rural economies, and the Americans who enjoy and depend on our public lands.

According to the Fish and Wildlife Service’s most recent survey, nearly 40 million Americans fish, and over 14 million hunt. These millions of Americans are part of the robust outdoor recreation industry that drove over $394 billion in economic activity in 2022 — more than $144 billion of which is attributable to hunting and fishing alone. Rural communities near refuges will see economic activity rise as hunting and fishing increase.

That figure rarely receives adequate attention in the news cycle or in policy debates. Hunting and fishing support jobs in retail, hospitality, transportation, land management, and more. When access expands, that economic activity expands with it.

But hunters’ economic impact does not end there. Excise taxes and licensing fees paid by hunters and anglers fund the habitat restoration, land acquisition, and wildlife research that sustains every species on our landscapes. Species from mallards and white-tailed deer to songbirds and other non-game wildlife all benefit from the lands and management infrastructure that sportsmen and women fund. Expanded access means greater license fees, additional dollars flowing to that work, as well as more Americans with a stake in the stewardship of these lands.

The best stewards of America’s public lands have always been the people most connected to them. As the administration works to Make America Beautiful Again, increasing hunting and fishing access will advance this goal by strengthening the funding mechanisms used to manage and protect our public lands.

The comment period for this proposed rule recently opened on May 27 and only runs through June 26. Hunters, anglers and anyone who cares about America’s public lands should make their voices heard.

This is the kind of achievable, common-sense, conservation-minded policy that does not come along often. It deserves broad, vocal support as a crucial step to preserve wildlife and the outdoor heritage that has defined American life for generations.

W. Laird Hamberlin is the CEO of Safari Club International.

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Anglers

Brian Nesvik

Doug Burgum

Hunters

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