2010 

Policy Recommendations 
k 
 

Theodore Roosevelt  
Conservation Partnership 

www.trcp.org
 Table of Contents

Introduction 3

Department of Agriculture

Farm Service Agency Programs 4

Natural Resources Conservation Service Programs 6
U.S. Forest Service Programs 7

Department of Commerce

Marine Recreational Fisheries Conservation 9

Environmental Protection Agency

Wetlands and Clean Water Protections 12

Department of the Interior

Energy Development on Public Lands 13

Hard-rock Mining Reform 15

Department of Transportation

Transportation Legislation 16

Internal Revenue Service

Tax Incentives for Conservation Easements 17

Interagency

Climate Change 18

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 Introduction

Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and
grassroots partners working together to preserve the traditions of hunting and fishing. By
building consensus among our individual and organizational partners, we work to advance policy
solutions on natural resource management issues of common concern. Please visit our Web site
at www.trcp.org to learn more about the TRCP’s mission, partners and staff.

The following document contains short- and long-term suggestions for each of our seven major
policy initiatives. We look forward to our continued collaboration with the Obama
administration to expeditiously address immediate problems of great concern to the nation’s
sportsmen-conservationists.

While resolving and transcending immediate concerns to our natural resources and outdoor
heritage, the TRCP also remains poised to seize opportunities to explore new ideas that can
benefit fish, wildlife and their habitats and ensure a brighter future for the American outdoor way
of life.

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 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Farm Service Agency Programs

Conservation Reserve Program

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) remains our nation’s largest and most successful
private lands conservation program. Farmers and ranchers are making a major difference in
restoring and enhancing their lands through the CRP, which has resulted in the conservation of
millions of acres of wetland, grassland, and forest habitats – benefiting both fish and wildlife
species and sportsmen. Due to economic factors, however, enrollment in the CRP has declined in
recent years as millions of acres have been withdrawn from the program due to contract
expirations, limited opportunities to enroll new lands, and competition from other land uses.

Short-term Action
• Urge the Obama administration to make a strong and competitive CRP a priority. Steps
should be taken to ensure continued enrollment opportunities, including regularly-
scheduled (at least once per year) general sign-up periods, continuous sign-up
opportunities, and additional sign-ups for the Conservation Reserve Enhancement
Program (CREP).

Long-term Actions
• Modernize the payment structure for the CRP to compete with the many land-use
challenges faced by landowners. We support establishment of an annual CRP rental-rate
review and adjustment process to ensure these rates are competitive and accurately reflect
local rates.
• Promote the addition of carbon offset payments to conventional CRP contract payments
to make the CRP a more financially attractive option for farmers.

“Open Fields” Funding and Implementation

The Voluntary Access and Habitat Incentive Program, or “Open Fields,” was authorized by
Congress for the first time in the 2008 Farm Bill. This program provides states $50 million in
federal money to enhance or create voluntary hunter-access programs on private lands.
Landowners can voluntarily enroll their lands in one of these state-access programs and receive a
financial incentive in exchange for opening it to the public for hunting, fishing and other outdoor
recreation.
Short-term Action
• Urge full support by the Obama administration to implement Open Fields immediately.

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 Long-term Action
• Promote full funding of the program over four years in the administration’s budget
requests as well as appropriate apportionment of those funds from the Commodity Credit
Corporation.

Farmed Wetlands Enhancements

The Farmable Wetlands Program allows landowners and operators to enroll small wetlands and
adjacent buffers in the continuous signup of the CRP. This program provides financial incentives
to landowners and agricultural producers for up to 15 years, while helping to improve water
quality, sustain and enhance wetland functions and values, and enhance wildlife habitat. We are
concerned, however, that demands for alternative land uses will force agricultural producers to
begin farming these important wetlands once again and that many of the values they have
provided will be lost.

Short-term Action
• Urge the administration to expand the use of this program to protect important wetlands
and adjacent buffers throughout the United States, particularly in the Prairie Pothole
Region, Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley and the Playa Lakes Region of the Southwest.

Long-term Action
• Recommend that the administration provide willing landowners with the option to
conserve and enhance these important wetlands and adjacent buffers through a program
with permanent (perpetual) or at least long-term (30-year contracts or easements)
safeguards.

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 Natural Resources Conservation Service Programs
Native Prairie Protections

One of the great ecological disasters of modern times is unfolding as an ethanol-fuelled gold rush
engulfs the Great Plains, jeopardizing what little remains of North America’s most endangered
ecosystem, our native prairies. Once covering about 1 billion acres, the last few millions of acres
of native prairie are being plowed to produce corn, soybeans, wheat and other agricultural crops.
As a result, native grassland birds and other wildlife that depend on these prairie habitats are
declining faster than any other groups of wildlife in North America. Sportsmen-conservationists
are concerned that little is being done by the federal government to conserve these remaining
native prairies and the wildlife populations they support.

Short-term Action
• Recommend that the Obama administration establish financial incentives and
enhancement payments within the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), the
Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program
(WHIP) to encourage farmers, ranchers and other agricultural producers to conserve and
enhance native prairies.

Long-term Action
• Urge the administration to work with Congress to modify and expand the Grassland
Reserve Program with a primary focus of encouraging private landowners to conserve
and enhance native prairies.

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 U.S. Forest Service Programs
Aspen Management

Aspen forests are considered second only to riparian and wetland areas in their contribution to
biological diversity. The habitats provided by aspen are important to many species of game and
non-game forest wildlife. Aspen forests help sustain sport hunting traditions by providing critical
habitats for game wildlife in the eastern and western United States. Sportsmen-conservationists
are concerned that aspen stands in our national forests are unhealthy due to a lack of active
management.

Short-term Actions
• Recommend that the Obama administration direct the U.S. Forest Service to develop
aspen management plans for each national forest that would provide active management.
• Urge the administration to establish a task force of public and private partners that would
identify and prioritize aspen forests located on lands administered by the U.S. Forest
Service that require immediate treatment based on their value as important habitats for
wildlife and sport hunting.

Long-term Action
• Recommend that the administration request adequate funding in the annual budget
recommendation to Congress that would provide for the implementation of the aspen
management plans completed by each national forest.

National Forest Roadless Area Management

Our nation’s public lands encompass almost 193 million acres of national forests, including
approximately 58.5 million acres of “inventoried roadless areas.” Defined as areas within
national forests and grasslands that encompass more than 5,000 contiguous acres without roads
(see www.trcp.org/issues/roadless.html), roadless areas provide important range for elk, bighorn
sheep, and mule deer, plus clean water for wild trout, salmon and other desirable fish species.

Currently, our national forests contain more than 386,000 miles of classified roads. While
ensuring access to existing roads is important, building new roads could impair vital habitat for
fish and wildlife. Roads can result in reduced cover for big game, often resulting in shorter
hunting seasons and decreased hunter opportunity. Too many roads also can diminish the quality
of fish spawning habitat, curtailing opportunities for anglers.

Sportsmen, fish and wildlife have benefited from the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, a federal
public lands management policy that provides multiple-use guidelines for roadless area
management with an eye toward conserving the valuable qualities of these areas. This “roadless
rule” was adopted following more than 600 public meetings and 1.7 million citizen comments
nationally, with more than 95 percent of comments advocating roadless area conservation. Yet
despite strong support from wide-ranging interests, including sportsmen, the future of the

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national roadless rule remains unsettled, largely due to ongoing litigation that is likely to
conclude in late 2010.

Overall, the roadless rule has been a balanced and successful conservation policy, with only
seven miles of roads built since its implementation eight years ago. The administration can
assure that the public will continue to enjoy the backcountry characteristics of these irreplaceable
roadless forests for generations to come.

Short-term Actions
• Work to implement the renewal, for one year, of Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack’s
May 2009 “Roadless Directive,” which requires secretarial-level review of road
construction and forest management projects in roadless areas.
• Encourage the administration to uphold and defend the Roadless Area Conservation Rule
in court – specifically, to overturn the U.S. 10th District Court decision in the 10th Circuit
Court of Appeals.
• Ensure that Colorado’s 4.4 million acres of roadless areas are administered at a level that
is equivalent with the management strength afforded by the national roadless rule.

Long-term Action
• Support and actively promote congressional legislation that codifies the conservation of
national forest roadless areas. Such legislation should specify restrictions on, prohibitions
of and allowances for road building, timber cutting and other commercial development
within roadless area boundaries.

Forest Service Planning Regulations

The U.S. Forest Service is developing new regulations to govern the revision, amendment and
development of national forest and grassland management plans under the National Forest
Management Act of 1976. These regulations will significantly influence fish and wildlife
populations, habitat restoration and management, watershed management, road building and
timber management – and affect fish and wildlife population sustainability and future
opportunities for sportsmen to enjoy hunting and angling in and around public lands
administered by the U.S. Forest Service.

These planning regulations must be developed in a way that assures productive fish and wildlife
habitat and high-quality outdoor experiences for hunters and anglers.

Short-term Action
• Ensure development of a Forest Service planning rule that sustains significant hunting
and fishing opportunity, fish and wildlife population sustainability, conservation and
restoration of key fish and wildlife habitat, species adaptation to the effects of climate
change, and retention of roadless area values.

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 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Marine Recreational Fisheries Conservation

Recreational fishing is deeply engrained in America’s traditions and cultural heritage. It is a
pastime passed down through generations. Not only one of the most popular outdoor recreational
activities in the country, it is also a significant contributor to local economies and conservation
efforts nationwide. Recreational saltwater fishing drives an enormous economic engine, and
contributions of the more than 14 million saltwater anglers to the national, regional and local
economies cannot be denied. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, anglers’ annual
contributions include the following:

• More than $16 billion in total angler expenditures

• More than $34 billion in total economic activity
• Nearly 360,000 full- or part-time jobs
• More than $13.5 billion in income
• More than $3.4 billion and $5.4 billion in federal and state tax revenues, respectively

If fishing were ranked as a corporation, it would be listed No. 47 on the 2007 Fortune 500 List of
America’s largest companies based on total sales.

Today, a smarter approach to marine fishery management is critical – one that accurately and
appropriately factors in impacts of recreational fishing. Recreational fishermen have embraced
the necessary measures to sustain diverse and abundant fish populations. We stand ready to work
with the Department of Commerce to find and implement those measures that solve the various
problems confronting our marine fisheries management system.

Short-term Actions
• Enhance the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine
Recreational Information Program (MRIP). The purpose of the registry is to obtain better
data about who is fishing and what is being caught so that policy makers can increase
their understanding of saltwater fishing’s relationship to fisheries conservation.
• The MRIP must address the timeliness of data collection and analysis for managing
marine recreational fishing. The analysis of recreational fishing data often takes place
after the fishing season has ended. Fishery managers need the tools and opportunity to
make in-season adjustments necessary to helping recreational anglers stay within their
annual catch limits. The TRCP intends to convene a blue-ribbon panel of scientists and
fisheries management experts to assist in designing the enhancement of MRIP. Its charge
would be to develop an enhanced system to augment MRIP that would provide more
timely and accurate data to support implementation of new conservation accountability
measures of the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

Long-term Actions
• Support recreational angling access to America’s waters. A long-standing policy of the
federal government allows public access to public lands and waters for recreational

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 purposes consistent with sound conservation. This policy is reflected in the principles of
our wildlife refuges, national forests, national parks and wilderness areas and should be
promoted throughout the country. Traditional fisheries management practices align with
these principles in that recreational anglers are subject to the regulation of season,
number and size limits to ensure conservation of fish populations.
• Support funding for fish and wildlife adaptation to climate change. America’s anglers are
likely to be among the first to experience the impacts of climate change. Their fishing
opportunities in those places where they have enjoyed past successes and great memories
are likely to be altered. How we address the challenges of climate change now will
dictate the angling opportunities for future generations. Securing funding for fisheries
managers to help fish adapt to climate change will be critical. The proper tools and
resources will enable fish and wildlife management agencies to take steps to monitor fish
and wildlife resources and mitigate the effects of climate change.
• Create an open public participation process for the designation of no-take areas, establish
a clear management objective for the closure, and use sound scientific research. Marine
protected areas (MPAs) – “no take” and other types – can function positively as a
management tool by safeguarding spawning areas, helping restore populations with little
connectivity to stocks in nearby unprotected areas, and conserving critical habitat that
may be damaged by certain fishing methods. The majority of fish stocks in need of
protection, however, are too mobile to benefit more from permanent no-take areas than
from traditional management techniques. Executive Order 13474 was issued in Sept. 26,
2008, to ensure this approach was used for the implementation of any no fishing zones
under federal authority.
• Instead of relying on MPAs to serve as an umbrella for protection for our marine
resources, the TRCP recommends policies that focus on developing appropriate catch
levels, both for commercial and recreational fisherman, to maintain sustainable stock
levels. Further development of individual fishing quotas (IFQs) and the development of a
buyout program of economically marginalized commercial fishing fleets should take
precedence over the creation of an institutionalized MPA system. IFQs combined with a
reduction in the overall impact from commercial fishing will have a greater long-term
impact on fish stock populations than complete closures of selected portions of the
marine environment to fishing of any type.
• The TRCP and our partners recognize the need for both renewable and nonrenewable
domestic energy production. Yet we believe strongly that energy development and
transmission can and must be conducted responsibly to conserve the nation’s fish and
wildlife legacy for the benefit of all Americans. To this end, we maintain that energy
legislation must ensure fish and wildlife sustainability.
• The TRCP has compiled recommendations concerning federal management of energy
development to conserve fish populations on public waters known as the CAST
principles – guiding principles that must be followed for energy development that takes
place on the outer Continental Shelf.

The CAST Principles:

Conservation
Conservation concerns must top all others be a top priority. A network of conservation areas –

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places simply too valuable to drill – must be established before offshore energy leasing and
development proceed. Those places crucial to the vitality of fish populations, recreational anglers
and coastal economies should be placed off-limits to leasing. Concurrently, the Minerals
Management Service, the agency responsible for overseeing offshore development, must adopt
and adhere to a new standard operating procedure that strives to balance the concerns of all
ocean users.

Allocation
Allocations of the royalties paid to the federal government by industry for offshore energy
development must be used in ways that benefit fish and wildlife resources, including expanded
marine research and fisheries management initiatives, via state and federal programs.

Science
Science-based, adaptive management strategies that respond continually to emerging information
should be required for all offshore energy development projects. These strategies should begin
with species inventory, include population monitoring and analysis, and carry through to the
mitigation phase. Where gaps in data exist, they must not be used to justify development. Rather,
they must serve to highlight areas where additional study is immediately necessary.

Transparency
Transparency must characterize the management of all public trust resources. Not only does this
mean that the decisions affecting our shared aquatic species must be made in a manner that
allows public oversight, it also means that public comment must be addressed and integrated
during the decision-making process.

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 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Wetlands and Clean Water Protections

The United States loses roughly 80,000 acres of natural wetlands every year. To make matters
worse, recent Supreme Court decisions (SWANCC, 2001; Rapanos, 2006) have weakened the
federal protections for our nation’s wetlands and waters as provided by the Clean Water Act.
These decisions removed protections for isolated wetlands and intermittent and ephemeral
streams, respectively. In fact, the EPA estimates that approximately 20 million acres of wetlands
and streams are no longer protected as a result. Moreover, joint guidance issued by the EPA and
Corps of Engineers in 2007 did little to resolve confusion over which waters are protected and
which are not.

These wetlands and streams have a tremendous impact on the lives of all Americans and offer
numerous societal benefits. In addition to providing essential habitat to numerous plant, fish and
wildlife species that benefit sportsmen, wetlands also perform critical flood control functions,
recharge groundwater, filter pollutants from drinking water sources and help control erosion.

Short-term Action
• Support legislative action to directly remedy the confusion created by the courts. We
have supported similar legislation in past Congresses that seek to clearly define “waters
of the United States” and restore those federal protections that have been lost. We urge
the administration to work with Congress to pass clean water legislation that will
accomplish this and sign it into law in 2010.

Long-term Action
• Urge the Obama administration to direct the EPA and Corps of Engineers to revisit the
guidance issued in 2007 for reviewing permit applications and assessing what waters are
jurisdictional under Clean Water Act protections. We support regulations that most
strictly adhere to the original intent of the Clean Water Act and ones that provide the
greatest amount of protections for our nation’s wetlands, rivers, lakes and streams.

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 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Energy Development on Public Lands

Energy development on public lands has become one of the most controversial subjects facing
federal land managers today. With the new push to harness the sun, wind and other forms of
renewable energy the necessity of balancing production of domestic energy with the needs of
fish and wildlife – and fulfilling the government’s promise that our public lands will continue to
support traditional sporting activities – will be even more critical. Sustaining fish, wildlife and
sporting resources during energy development activities poses a great challenge. The first step
toward its resolution is revision of the current paradigm that gives energy development priority
over all other public-lands values and uses and a recommitment to a true multiple-use approach
to managing these lands. The TRCP FACTS for Fish and Wildlife provides the foundation for
changes and reforms that could facilitate balanced and responsible energy development while
conserving our fish, wildlife, and sporting resources – and integrating renewable energy
development in our national energy policy.

Short-term Actions
We will urge the administration to immediately begin to fix a broken process and redirect
us toward multiple use of the public’s lands:
• Revise the federal mineral leasing process to better address conservation of fish and
wildlife in important and crucial wildlife habitats (e.g., big-game crucial winter
ranges and migration corridors, wetlands/floodplains and core areas for prairie
grouse). These areas should be identified and managed in coordination with state
wildlife management agencies.
• Revise the practice of granting relief from wildlife protection measures for energy
development activities (i.e., waivers, modifications and exceptions) and update BLM
policy concerning how and when such relief may be afforded. The BLM also must
ensure and document coordination with state wildlife management agencies when
evaluating requests for relief and require public notice of such deliberations.
• Establish a process for formal input from sportsmen into policy, plans and projects
that is more effective than current processes in place under NEPA or FLPMA, as well
as less intimidating to the public.
• Develop an “energy roadmap” for where, when and what type of energy development
(including renewable energy) will take place on public lands. This approach should
include objectives or goals regarding the extent of energy development in any given
area so that entire landscapes are not consumed by some form of development. It also
should facilitate identification of a landscape-level strategy for fish and wildlife in
which habitats can be identified and managed to sustain populations and sporting
resources at current or improved levels.
• Consistent with other programmatic evaluations recently completed for wind energy,
oil shale and tar sands, assess oil and gas development potential on public lands
throughout the West and prioritize energy production potential to avoid conflicts with

13
 fish and wildlife resource values. Develop a matrix and interim policy that allows for
development to continue in certain areas but conserves sensitive areas.
• Establish a process for immediate review and implementation of federal land-use
plans and major energy projects to ensure compliance with the spirit and intent of
Executive Order 13443 (Facilitation of Hunting Heritage and Wildlife Conservation).
• Initiate rule-making proceedings for sage grouse and other prairie grouse as requested
by the TRCP, North American Grouse Partnership and The Wildlife Society in their
petition for rule-making, dated June 27, 2008, and pending before the Department of
the Interior. The rule is critical to the long-term survival of sage grouse and to
minimizing the risk of litigation concerning its status as threatened or endangered.
• Establish an interagency agreement between the BLM and state fish and wildlife
agencies establishing, clarifying and strengthening the coordination and collaboration
among agencies during review of energy development plans and projects.
• Prohibit the practice of using or transferring funding intended for fish and wildlife
management (or other renewable resource management) to energy programs and/or
activities.
• Establish a mitigation trust fund to provide financial support and stability to the
management of fish and wildlife resources affected by energy development. Funding
could be derived from fees, royalties, rents or voluntary contributions to support
agencies, local actions and other activities that directly mitigate losses or degradation
of fish, wildlife and sporting resources from energy development.

Long-term Actions
• Congress must re-examine policies used to develop domestic energy resources, many
of which are outdated, inadequately address the current state of need and fail to
address renewable energy development, including interpretations the 2005 Energy
Policy Act and related laws as a mandate to promote energy development at the
expense of other public resources. The balance articulated in the Federal Land Policy
and Management Act can be restored to public lands. Restoration of the “multiple-
use, sustained yield” mandate must come from the top down. It must begin in
Washington and be conveyed to all state directors within the BLM, who then must be
tasked with ensuring their local field offices carry out the mission as Congress
originally envisioned.

• The TRCP advocates legislative action to recommit public-lands agencies to manage

lands for multiple use, ensuring the sustainability of abundant and diverse fish and
wildlife populations and recreational opportunities. A fish and wildlife sustainability
act or provision in law would signal a commitment to the American public that our
conservation heritage will not be sacrificed.

The TRCP advocates responsible energy development but believes a better way exists to manage
energy resources on public lands. Conflicts with wildlife and our fishing and hunting heritage
can be minimized. But this new approach must start in Washington, and it must start now.

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 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Hard-rock Mining Reform

The 1872 Mining Law, which governs hard-rock mining (gold, copper, silver, etc.) on America's
public lands, was signed into law more than a century ago. While the economies, cultures, and
politics of the West have changed since 1872, the mining law has not. More than 270 million
acres of federal land are open to hard-rock mining under the law. Because the law has never been
meaningfully reformed, many of America's most treasured public lands are at risk, including
important wildlife habitat and hunting areas, valuable fisheries, popular recreation sites, vital
municipal water supplies and sensitive roadless areas.

Since 1872, certain modifications have been made to the law. But these basic doctrines remain
public law:

• Public lands are available for private mineral claims;

• Miners on public lands are entitled to exclude the public from their claims;
• Mining takes precedence over all other uses on public lands including hunting and
fishing;
• The public receives no payment for this private use of the lands or the value of the
minerals removed; and
• Miners can eventually own both the minerals and the land for a nominal fee.

Short-term Actions
• Build Senate cosponsors for S. 796, The Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act.
• Persuade Senate decision makers to facilitate and schedule passage of S. 796 in the
Energy and Natural Resources Committee in 2010.

Long-term Action
• Persuade Congress to pass meaningful 1872 mining law reform legislation that would
end mining’s priority status on public lands, thus balancing mining with other public-
land uses such as hunting, fishing, timber harvest and water quality; recover a
reasonable royalty on minerals taken from public lands, similar to royalties that oil,
gas, coal and timber interests already pay; establish an abandoned mine cleanup fund,
with a portion of those funds dedicated to fish and wildlife habitat restoration to
address impacts of past mining; and prohibit patenting or sale of public lands, keeping
public lands in public hands for all Americans to use and enjoy.

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 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Transportation Legislation
Not usually thought of as a vehicle for conservation, the legislation commonly called the
“Highway Bill” can have immediate and lasting benefits for America’s fish and wildlife
populations. When forging the 2005 Highway Bill, our leaders had the foresight to include an
unprecedented $2 billion in projects that benefited American sportsmen by benefiting our fish
and wildlife. Critter-friendly culverts, invasive species control, refuge roads, trails and highway
construction mitigation all received much-needed funding boosts. An even greater opportunity
exists this year, as a new bill stands poised to advance.

Short-term Actions
• Publicly affirm the need to include significant funding for fish and wildlife conservation
in the next Highway Bill while communicating to Congress that expanded fish passage,
wetlands protection, water quality improvement and wildlife collision reduction measures
are to be considered matters of urgent national priority.
• Challenge Congress to identify regional roadside conservation efforts that merit an
increased national investment, empowering struggling local economies and infrastructure
alike.

Long-term Action
• Spur and support congressional efforts to pass a new Highway Bill in 2010.

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 INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
Tax Incentives for Conservation Easements
Conservation easements allow landowners to receive fair compensation for development rights
without having to sell their farms and ranches. Easements also are valued by the sportsmen’s
community because many encourage access for hunters and anglers. In the 2008 Farm Bill,
Congress extended provisions in the tax code that widened the availability of conservation
easements, making them attractive to a far broader swath of the public. But these incentives last
only through the end of 2009. If they are not made permanent soon, a powerful tool for
protecting the landscapes on which we hunt and fish may be lost forever.

Short-term Action
• Advocate making the enhanced tax incentive for conservation easement donations
permanent via recommendations in the coming year’s budget proposal.

Long-term Action
• Support legislation making the enhanced tax incentive permanent.

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 INTERAGENCY
Climate Change
America’s anglers and hunters enjoy a profusion of outdoor pursuits, including tarpon fishing in
the Florida Keys, stalking elk in the Rocky Mountains, hunting waterfowl in the hardwood
bottoms of Louisiana, fishing for eastern brook trout in the Appalachians, and chasing pheasants
in the Great Plains.

The country’s diverse habitats and conservation actions by hunters, anglers and conservationists
of the last century have delivered abundant and widely distributed populations of fish and game.
Global climate change threatens to disrupt generations of plant and animal evolution and the
abundance and well-being of animals and their habitats. Gradually increasing worldwide
temperatures will result in changes in amounts and patterns of precipitation, frequency and
intensity of weather events; distribution and duration of drought; levels of snowpack and when
they melt; runoff and flooding patterns; and the timing of animal and plant life-cycles. These
factors alone and combined can affect plant growth, structure and distribution, as well as species’
abilities to reproduce and survive.

As shown in Seasons’ End, the geographic ranges of fish, wildlife and their habitats are shifting.
Species like moose, elk, mule deer and pronghorn will have to adapt to changes in forage and
alter their migration patterns. Changing water quality and quantity will affect aquatic ecosystems
and fisheries. Wetland losses in the Prairie Pothole Region will severely reduce waterfowl
productivity in North America’s duck-breeding “factory.” Invasive species, parasites and
disease-causing organisms may flourish in warmer temperatures, profoundly affecting the habitat
and survival of upland game birds. Combined with increasing human populations and the impact
human demands have on the environment, these natural-world changes threaten to take an
unprecedented toll on America’s landscapes.

Sportsmen likely will be the first to experience the repercussions of climate change as declining
populations of game species result in shortened seasons and fewer hunting permits. If fishing or
hunting exists in the lifetime of our children and theirs, it may take on an entirely new face. How
we address the challenges of global climate change now will dictate whether future generations
will continue to enjoy our time-honored sporting traditions.

Sportsmen-conservationists believe that wildlife management agencies must monitor species

now to detect and adapt to changes in abundance and distribution as a result of climate change.
They also believe that these government agencies must work to mitigate the effects of such
change by protecting crucial habitat and adapting management programs that conserve fish and
wildlife populations.

Consequently, congressionally mandated State Wildlife Action Plans, implementation of which

currently are funded by State Wildlife Grants, are being revised to serve as the fundamental set
of strategies to help fish and wildlife adapt to and survive climate change.

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Short-term Action
• Urge the Obama administration to increase the annual appropriation to the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service for the State Wildlife Grants Program to fund the full
implementation of congressionally mandated State Wildlife Action Plans that address
the challenge of climate change.

Long-term Actions
• Urge Congress to pass climate-change legislation that generates substantial new
dedicated funding for a natural resources adaptation program;
• Advocate for a new Natural Resources Adaptation Fund to include substantial
dedicated funding for state and tribal fish and wildlife agencies and federal
environmental and land-management agencies to help fish and wildlife adapt to
climate.
• Advocate for new dedicated funding for state and tribal fish and wildlife agencies
through the existing Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Account of the Pittman-
Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act, the Coastal Management Act of 1972, state and
tribal wildlife grants and the Land and Water Conservation Fund of 1965.

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