August 11, 2016

 

Your Trusted Source for Federal and State Policy Updates and News Concerning Our Sportsmen's Heritage
ON CAPITOL HILL

In response to decades of criticism over not examining how the nation's public marine fisheries resources are divided among fishing stakeholders, NOAA Fisheries released a Fisheries Allocation Review Policy that describes potential criteria for reviewing fisheries allocations. The recreational fishing and boating community expressed appreciation for this long-awaited recognition of the need to have an allocation policy, but also concern about the lack of firm commitments and timelines for initiating allocation reviews...

IN THE STATES

Alaska: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Issues Alaska Predator Management Rule
On August 5, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) finalized regulations that will severely restrict the State of Alaska's ability to manage wildlife on National Wildlife Refuges in the state, justifying the concerns expressed by the sportsmen's community and state fish and wildlife agencies over the past several months. Entitled Non-Subsistence Take of Wildlife, and Public Participation and Closure Procedures, on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska, the rule represents a threat to our nation's unrivaled system of state-based fish and wildlife conservation and stands in direct conflict with Alaska's constitutional mandate to carry out management of game and non-game fish and wildlife under the principles of sustained yield...

California: Commission to Consider Anti-Sportfishing Measure
At their August 24-25 meeting, the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) will consider a proposal to drastically reduce the population of largemouth, smallmouth, and striped bass in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and its tributaries...

CSF Staff Attends NCSL Annual Summit
On August 8-11 Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation (CSF) staff hosted a booth at the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Annual Summit in Chicago, IL. Every year state legislators, legislative staff, policy professionals, and government officials from across the country attend NCSL to participate in educational workshops and policy discussions. CSF staff used the opportunity to interact with conference attendees and promote the National Assembly of Sportsmen's Caucuses (NASC)...

Wisconsin: Train Track Trespassing Laws Block Access to Public Lands
Bills in both the Wisconsin house and senate that would give sportsmen an exemption to laws prohibiting the crossing of railroad tracks by pedestrians, failed to pass during the 2016 legislative session. Under current Wisconsin law, no person may enter or remain on railroad tracks and tracks cannot be crossed unless at a designated crossing. According to a recent article in SWNews4U.com, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources have identified more than 120 spots along the Mississippi River where shore access requires crossing tracks, with equally as many DNR properties in the state bisected by tracks. A department memo stated that the enforcement of the current crossing law "might well be the largest loss of public access to public waters in the history of the state."...

CSF NEWS

This week, representatives from organizations within the American Wildlife Conservation Partners (AWCP), a collaboration of 45 of the nation's leading conservation organizations including the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, will meet at Blue Mountain Lake in the Adirondacks, New York, to discuss priorities for wildlife conservation...

Brad Rowse Fellow Internship Program - Fall 2016
CSF is currently accepting applications for the Fall 2016 Brad Rowse Fellow Internship Program. Brad Rowse Fellows at the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation (CSF) will have the opportunity to learn the importance of the policy process related to hunting, angling, recreational shooting, trapping, and other conservation issues impacting sportsmen and women. This is a paid internship with a stipend of up to $1000 a month, and academic credit is strongly supported...

Next week, CSF Fisheries Program Director Chris Horton and Northwest States Manager Zach Widner will join Yamaha, the Kenai River Sportfishing Association and other members of the recreational fishing community for the 2016 Classic Roundtable, which offers the opportunity for important discussions surrounding the impacts of federal fisheries management on recreational fisheries with Alaska's Congressional delegation. Both Senator Murkowski and Senator Sullivan will help lead this year's roundtable, where the focus of the discussion will be on alternative management ideas for the recreational fishing community and what changes may be needed to the Magnuson-Stevens Act to better manage the recreational sector...

Without researching further, please rate your level of knowledge on the American System of Conservation Funding.(Click here to learn more about the American System of Conservation Funding)

    

        

Working with Congress, governors and state legislatures to protect and advance hunting, angling, recreational shooting and trapping.

 

For more information on the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation go to www.SportsmensLink.org or contact Sara Leonard at 202.543.6850 x 11 or email [email protected].

 

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