The bill will protect fishing, hunting, trapping, recreational shooting and wildlife management practices on more than 400 million acres of public land across America managed by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. The measure mandates that these public lands are open until closed for angling, hunting and shooting while enabling the agencies to make specific closures or restrictions determined to be necessary and supported by sound facts and evidence. The bill is patterned after the 1997 National Wildlife Refuge Improvement Act which made fishing and hunting “priority public uses” on federal wildlife refuge system lands and has helped protect fishing and hunting there from anti-fishing/anti-hunting zealots.

The new Senate bill also fixes loopholes created by lawsuits by anti-hunting organizations that have hampered hunting, fishing and wildlife conservation. For example, under the bill, the Forest Service can keep its public lands open for hunting and fishing even if nearby state and private lands are also open. Previously, a court had ruled that federal public lands might have to be closed if other nearby lands hosted hunters. Similarly, fish and wildlife conservation and management will remain primary purposes on BLM, Forest and Wildlife Refuge lands reversing court rulings from San Francisco. Restrictions in the 1964 Wilderness Act on motorized access, logging and other commodity uses are expressly not affected by the bill and remain in place.

Bill Horn, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Director of Federal Affairs welcomed the introduction:

“USSA deeply appreciates today’s action by Senators Murkowski and Manchin. We have been working for over a decade in support of this kind of legislation and as threats mount to fishing, hunting and shooting on public lands, the need for this bill grows. We look forward to working with the Senators and their colleagues to get this landmark measure enacted this year and ensure protection in law of our cherished angling and hunting heritage.”

American Sportfishing Association added its support:

“Recreation is the single largest economic output of national forests and grasslands, with 46.5 million anglers spending over $1.2 billion annually to enjoy recreational fishing on USFS lands,” said Gordon Robertson, Vice President of the ASA. “It is astounding that with such high demand, access is still a barrier for millions of anglers. This legislation directs the USFS and BLM managers to not only promote recreational fishing and hunting access, but to further take advantage of one of the biggest economic drivers for the agencies and the rural communities near their lands.”

The National Rifle Association offered its strong support:

“Protecting the traditions of hunting and shooting on our public lands has long been a NRA priority and the Murkowski/Manchin bill does just that. The leadership for sportsmen and sportswomen demonstrated by the two Senators will not be forgotten by us and our members,” said Susan Recce, NRA Director of Conservation.

Safari Club International also hailed the bill:

“By introducing legislation that will protect America’s hunting, shooting, and fishing community for generations to come, Senators Murkowski and Manchin have taken a much needed bi-partisan step forward. Too frequently, the hunting community is dealt lip-service, but Senator Murkowski and Senator Manchin have brought to the Senate serious legislation that will protect hunting for a generation. The companion legislation introduced in the House of Representatives is equally important to the future of hunting. On behalf of SCI and all of our partners, we would like for all members of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus to co-sponsor the ‘sportsmen endorsed’ legislation,” said President of SCI, Kevin Anderson.

Jeff Crane, President of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation added:

“The Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus has been working with the sportsmen’s community on this Act to allow Federal land planners to evaluate the impacts that management activities have on hunting, fishing and recreational shooting, and to provide a clear analysis of how proposed actions would impact access to Federal lands.”

The new Senate Bill is a companion to legislation passed by the House Natural Resources Committee 29-14. That bill, H.R. 2834, is currently awaiting a vote before the full U.S. House of Representatives.

Contacts:

USSA: Mike Faw, Director of Communications: mfaw@ussportsmen.org

ASA: Gordon Robertson, Vice President: GRobertson@asafishing.org

CSF: Frank Miniter, CSF Communcations Director: frank@sportsmenslink.org

NRA: Susan Recce, NRA Director of Conservation: srecce@nrahq.org

SCI: Nelson Freeman, media@safariclub.org

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), through its quest to become a mainstream organization, has again resorted to “backdoor” tactics by partnering with—or possibly forcing its agenda on—the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Those HSUS efforts to infiltrate USDA regulations were recently exposed on the floor of U.S. Capital with testimony by Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kansas).

Moran noted in his Nov. 2, 2011 comments that he discovered U.S. Department of Agriculture memos authorizing the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to hold a forum—at taxpayer expense—on animal rights and agriculture. In fact, another memorandum noted that a prior meeting with HSUS and USDA staffers was held to “set the agenda” for the upcoming forum. Moran noted in his Senate testimony that USDA met with HSUS despite it being an animal rights organization and “no friend to rural America, farmers or ranchers.”

“HSUS spends their dollars lobbying against rural America and farmers and ranchers,” stated Sen. Moran. “Tax documents show that HSUS spends less than one percent of its budget on animal shelters.”

In a March 2011 HSUS news release, the group applauded the U.S. Department of Agriculture for launching a new database to increase public access to information regarding research facilities and other entities regulated under the Animal Welfare Act. The new database came about, however, as a result of a lawsuit settlement agreement between USDA and the HSUS about access to animal research records under the Freedom of Information Act.

The HSUS had sued the USDA, and many taxpayer dollars were spent defending against the HSUS suit that was filed in 2005. Details are at http://www.humanesociety.org/news/press_releases/2011/03/usda_animal_care_records_database_032911.html. Was this an HSUS effort to gain more control over the U.S. Department of Agriculture?

Many other HSUS actions showcase their efforts to attack and infiltrate the agriculture industry.

Another September 2011 HSUS news release reveals that other groups are joining the HSUS in their costly and bitter ballet initiatives directed at farms, ranches and agriculture.

“In Ohio, in 2010, The HSUS—and many of our traditional allies such as Farm Sanctuary, Mercy For Animals, the Toledo Area Humane Society, the Ohio Environmental Stewardship Alliance, and others—waged a campaign to place a measure on the statewide ballot to phase out a variety of the most inhumane factory farming practices,” reports HSUS’s Wayne Pacelle in a blog about Ohio and farming.

The HSUS has also focused their agriculture “sights” on Nebraska.

A Sept. 14, 2011 blog by HSUS’s Wayne Pacelle decried Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman as “ill-informed and patently dishonest.” This was because the Governor held a series of meetings with ranchers and farm groups across the state to tell them that HSUS was attempting to force its way into the state and is definitely no friend to farming or the agriculture industry.

HSUS also boasted it had “…hammered out agreements in California, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, and Ohio on farm animal welfare….” Of course those agreements were often the results of lawsuits or threats of costly ballot initiatives by HSUS.

In May 2011, another HSUS release noted the group’s pleasure when Florida’s “lawmakers chose not to enact agribusiness’ proposal to criminalize taking photographs or videos of farm animals.” Seems HSUS videos being taken by “planted” HSUS employees at farms have appeared on television shows as documentaries or in national news programs as actual news. Yet, according to HSUS in an April 14, 2011 release, “undercover investigations of the meat industry have a long and important history in the United States.”

“All sportsmen and American’s should be concerned that the nation’s largest animal rights group has become advisors and partners to the agriculture industry,” warns Bud Pidgeon, U.S. Sportsmen Alliance president and CEO. “This group’s recent pushes to pass animal rights legislation that affects farms nationwide should be a warning of what to expect in the future—and that these recent actions by HSUS are very suspect.”

To view Senator Moran’s exposure of HSUS and its ties to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, visit You Tube at http://youtu.be/nodVyu0vIRk. Details on an HSUS undercover raid can be found at http://www.humanesociety.org/news/press_releases/2011/06/telly_award_smithfield_video_060911.html.

Missoula, Mont. – The Montana Shooting Sports Association announced today that it endorses Congressman Ron Paul for the Republican nomination for President. Citing continuing high poll numbers in spite of a media blackout, MSSA says that Ron Paul is the only candidate who offers a chance to save our Nation as a country of free people.

MSSA President Gary Marbut commented, “Paul receives more contributions from people in the military than all other candidates combined, probably because of his views on foreign policy. He is the only candidate with serious plans to significantly cut the profligate federal spending that is bankrupting our country. Most other candidates only make noises about scaling back planned increases in federal spending. Ron Paul sees the Constitution as a guiding principle, not as an irrelevant relic or a pesky barrier to be circumvented. Finally, Ron Paul has been a consistent and actual supporter of the right to bear arms throughout his entire political career, with no waffling, no compromise and no apology.”

MSSA is the primary political advocate for gun owners in Montana. MSSA has gotten 58 pro-gun and pro-hunting bills through the Montana legislature in the past 25 years, litigates pro-gun issues, and provides expertise to Montana about firearm safety, firearm education, shooting ranges, and other topics.

The media has not done a good job of informing the public that Congressman Paul came within a few votes of winning the Iowa Republican caucus straw poll, far ahead of the third-place finisher, and actually won the California Republican caucus straw poll. Many other high points of the Paul campaign have been ignored by the media, often deliberately. For example, a recent straw poll among registered voters in Oklahoma yielded these results: Ron Paul – 46%; Herman Cain – 25%; Newt Gingrich – 17%; Mitt Romney – 6%; and Rick Perry – 3% (others less).

“Many people in America realize that Dr. Paul offers actual hope for America,” Marbut continued, “and not just a warmed over version of the status quo approved by the Washington political establishment. That may be what moves the national media to see Dr. Paul as a threat, resulting in a virtual news blackout about his successful campaign.”

“American voters are realizing,” Marbut concluded, “that the first question in the Republican primary is not which candidate can beat Obama, but which candidate is capable of essential departure from the status quo necessary to save the Nation. They have figured out that Dr. Paul is the only candidate who can do both.”

Ron Paul has an A+ rating with Gun Owners of America. About Ron Paul, GOA says, “Guts. That is the one word which describes Rep. Ron Paul of Texas best. Perhaps the most consistent vote in the Congress, he can be expected to oppose any unconstitutional expansion of government, no matter how politically difficult that vote might be. Paul has been a powerful advocate for the Second Amendment and has sponsored legislation to repeal most gun laws dating back to 1968 — as well as, legislation to get the U.S. out of the anti-gun United Nations.”

For those who don’t already have set up or have knowledge on how to contact members of the Natural Resource Committee and/or your congressional representatives, Big Game Forever has made it easy for you. Please read the press release below and follow their simple instructions on how to send a free notice to Congress.

From Big Game Forever:

Take action today!

Folks,

Many of you have asked “How Can I help?”

Congress needs our support. Our elected representatives in Congress care about wolves and the Endangered Species Act. I was in Congress on Monday for a hearing on the Endangered Species Act. The problems presented by unregulated wolves and endless litigation were repeatedly raised in the hearing. I met with many offices for Senators and Representatives who are working to fix these problems.

Here is how we need your help today!

(1) Go to the website http://biggameforever.org/takeaction and send an email. It’s fast, it’s easy and it’s free. Simply click “take action” and follow the instructions. It should take about 30 seconds to send an email to all of your elected representatives, the White House, Department of Interior and US Fish and Wildlife Service. Big Game Forever makes it easy to make a difference.

(2) Ask your friends to join the fight with Big Game Forever. Send an email asking your friends to do 3 simple things:
(a) send an email to Congress using our automated system at http://biggameforever.org/takeaction;
(b) sign the petition on our website at http://biggameforever.org; and
(c) take 5 minutes and watch the video at http://biggameforever.org which shows why the future of wildlife is at risk. 23,000 people have seen this video already.

Yesterday’s over 6,000 emails were sent to Congress by supporters of Big Game Forever in response to the Big Game Forever “Action Alert”.

Here is how we are different. Some anti-hunting groups have attempted to create the illusion of collective action by sending emails on behalf of their members. Every message sent to Congress from Big Game Forever was sent by actual voter who “took action” using the tools at http://biggameforever.org/takeaction. Hunters care about the future of our outdoor heritage. These collective action show that real Americans are willing to join the fight. Thanks to everyone who has responded so quickly to this call to action.

The vast majority of those who have signed the online petition still haven’t sent their email to Congress. Take a minute and join the fight by sending your email by visiting http://biggameforever.org/takeaction. Together, we can protect wild things and wild places for future generations.

Those whose careers are built on the creation and dissemination of ideas– the intellectuals– have played a role in many societies out of all proportion to their numbers. Whether that role has, on net balance, made those around them better off or worse off is one of the key questions of our times.

For many of us, a continuous battle wages on to reeducate the indoctrinated wildlife managers who have been enslaved by the intellectuals. In doing so, we must gain a better understanding of who it is we are battling against and why they say and do the things they do.

In the article I described above and in a more recent article, I spoke of a definite “divide” that exists between the hunter/field person and the wildlife managers. This divide, which prohibits the honest dissemination of wildlife management information, is at least partially attributed to the elitist separation of the intellectual from the “common man”.

As Sowell describes, the intellectuals “create and disseminate” ideas. Ideas are not scientific equations substantiated with hard data. They are ideas. Ideas about wildlife management seems to have taken a strong rooting in wildlife management while hard and proven science takes a back seat. Hunters in the field see the truth of what is taking place in the field and it does not necessarily match the ideas of the intellectuals who are responsible for the indoctrination of the biologists. The divide widens.

Over a year ago I called for efforts between the sportsmen and the managers to work at tearing down these ridiculous walls that divide us. Little has changed. While it is still important to fight the good fight, perhaps the realization exists that there is little hope of “changing” the intellectual.

I am currently reading Eric Hoffer’s book, “The Syndicated News Articles”. In the late 1960s, Hoffer wrote The Syndicated News. This book is a compilation of many of his thoughts, ideas and commentary on the events of the day. Interesting as each and every article is, much of what he writes is applicable to today.

I have taken the time to type out one article called, “The Definition of an Intellectual”. I believe it to be important to help us gain a better understanding of this one man’s perspective on what an intellectual is and how they affect all of us. With a better understanding we equip ourselves with improved tools to get our jobs done.

Here is: The Definition of an Intellectual

February 16, 1969 – By Eric Hoffer in his book “The Syndicated News Articles” – Hopewell Publications, LLC

The intellectual knows with every fiber of his being that men are not equal, and there are few things he cares for less than a classless society. He is convinced that government is too weighty and complex to be left to common people. He cannot see how anything originating in an uninformed, unprincipled and uncommitted populace could be of any value. There is nothing he loathes more than government by and for the people.

The departure of Carl Pope, 66, a member of the club for more than 40 years, comes as the nonprofit group faces declining membership, internal dissent, well-organized opponents, a weak economy and forces in Congress trying to take the teeth out of environmental regulations.

Nothing would please me more than discovering this same set of troubles were eroding all environmental and animal rights groups nationwide. Unfortunately, it’s only a bunch of spewed rhetoric in an attempt to correct the listing of an old and tired ship.

Tom Remington

Here is a copy of a press release sent out by the U.S. Sportsman’s Alliance about the effort:

Columbus, Ohio – Today the House Natural Resources Committee passed H.R. 2834, the Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act. This bill would protect fishing, hunting and recreational shooting on federal lands.

H.R. 2834 passed the Committee with strong bipartisan support by a vote of 29-14. This vital piece of legislation would require fishing, hunting and recreational shooting to be included in all federal land planning documents and would fix numerous inconsistencies in federal law that are being exploited by litigious environmental groups to reduce hunting opportunities on federal land. This bill is strongly supported by the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance, Safari Club International, the National Rifle Association, and millions of sportsmen across the country.

“This legislation is vital given the Administration’s recent actions toward hunters and recreational sport shooters,” said Melissa Simpson, Director of Government Affairs for Safari Club International. “Sportsmen have repeatedly sought to collaborate with the federal agencies and have been greeted with proposed closures in areas such as the Sonoran Desert National Monument, where the BLM intends to close the entire one-half million acre national monument to shooters. There are some 63 shooting sites within the monument, closure of which will end access for sportsmen. Passage of H.R. 2834 is necessary to protect against these anti-hunting policies.”

“Sportsmen are increasingly facing attacks aimed at stopping them from using public land,” said Bud Pidgeon, President and CEO of the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance. “This bill closes the loopholes that anti-hunters have used time and time again to try to deny access for hunting, fishing and shooting. Now is the time to put a stop to it. We are extremely pleased and appreciative that the House Natural Resources Committee recognized the importance of this bill.”

On this very blog, many debates have occurred involving private property and the rights of those people who own it. As a mindless thug, it is mentally devoid to demand what others have. It’s even worse when you have nothing of your own that compares. So what happens when the tide is reversed?

I was reading Ed Morrissey this morning at Hot Air. Ed was talking about how some of the protesters at Occupy Wall Street were sorely upset because while they were demanding that others share what they have with them, redistribution of wealth was taking place behind the protesters’ backs. It seems thieves were out and about at Zuccotti Park in New York City, and taking property owned by the protesters, i.e. laptops, cash, etc.

Morrissey puts it this way:

Who’d have thought that a crowd of people demanding the seizure of wealth from banks, corporations, and the wealthy might also have a few thieves? I’m shocked, shocked to find theft occurring in a group that has hijacked private property it refuses to leave. I can’t imagine that a crowd that demands free higher education and the forgiveness of tens of thousands in student debt would also think of someone’s Mac or an iPhone as equally as communal as a college education.

Few, if any, people who place demands on others, mostly in the form of forcing ideals onto others, consider the consequences until the falling of the shoe lands on their own foot. It’s mindless cognition to demand the protection of wild species, even to the point of stealing someone’s property, when there is never a personal risk to the commander seeking to usurp the property of others.

Rural Americans are often subjected to the ridiculous demands of urban hijackers, who will never realize any of the resulting consequences of the “redistribution” of anothers’ property through demands of environmental protection, animal rights, etc.

When you have a real dog in any fight, you then can be taken seriously. In the meantime, without being vengeful, enjoy the darling irony.

Tom Remington

While I don’t as yet have a copy of RMEF’s brief to be filed with the Ninth Circuit Court, I would hope that if RMEF intends to expend its resources on writing this brief they somehow can tie the necessity of what forced Congress to resort to the adding of a rider to a budget bill in order to save the elk population, to why it was legal for Congress to do so.

MISSOULA, Mont.–Attorneys representing the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and other conservation groups on Nov. 8 will go before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena, Calif., to argue against “many weak points” in a lawsuit seeking to end state management of gray wolves and return the species to full federal protection.

The suit claims Congress acted unconstitutionally when it removed wolves from the endangered species list and cleared the way for hunting seasons now underway in Idaho and Montana.

A lower court in August ruled against the plaintiffs–a coalition of animal rights and environmental extremist groups–who quickly appealed that decision.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently granted a motion to intervene (which had been denied by the lower court) filed on behalf of RMEF and other conservation groups, ensuring that their position will be considered as part of the subsequent ruling.

In the meantime, says RMEF President and CEO David Allen, attorneys will file a court brief with data showing that elk calf survival rates in some areas are now too low to sustain herds for the future, along with other biological justification for managing wolf populations. State-regulated hunting will help bring wolf numbers and predation back into balance with other species and resources.

He said, “Wolf populations passed recovery goals under the Endangered Species Act some 10 years ago, but animal rights groups discovered that lawsuits are profitable and also stymie responsible wildlife management. They couldn’t care less that wolf numbers in many areas are now far out of balance with biological and social tolerances.”

The restrictions and attacks have occurred at the local, state and the national levels. Much of this has been caused by subversive laws passed in part because of back-door politics and deep funding by the animal rights lobby. Among these groups that are working against YOU are the Humane Society of the United States, PETA, ASPCA, Center for Biological Diversity and many others.

But help is on the way!

Thanks to the newly formed Sportsmen’s Issue Defense Fund (SIDF), developed by the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA), the future of hunting and angling looks much brighter. The SIDF was launched during a recent USSA board meeting in Columbus, Ohio.

This fund will provide the “on-the-ground” dollars necessary to initiate efforts to protect the rights of sportsmen and sportswomen from attacks. The SIDF will support direct lobbying, grassroots coalition building, ballot issue campaigning, and legislative and government relations. In short, it’s a working fund, or war chest, designed to insure the future of hunting, angling, trapping, and recreational shooting across America.

“Every year I have been involved with the USSA, the animal rights lobby has attacked our hunting heritage,” said Mason Lampton, vice-chairman of the USSA’s board of directors. “This year is no different as we’ve seen no signs that they are letting up. As history is my judge, we will not let up either.”

This fund will work in many ways and at many levels. It will defend against local dog laws affecting sporting dog owners and breeders, against trapping restrictions, against efforts to reduce hunting seasons, against unnecessary lead sinker and traditional ammunition restrictions, fishing-focused issues, plus other issues as they arise. As the anti-hunting forces are planning their next move and securing the funds to push their agendas, the SIDF is a chance to build a wall of protection against these attacks.

It’s important to note that all sportsmen and women will benefit from this unified fund that will pool financial resources for the defense of our outdoor heritage. The SIDF will draw resources from the entire sportsmen community and provide the strongest –and most immediate—defense for each facet of our hunting heritage.

“The SIDF will provide immediate seed money whenever and wherever the animal rights lobby attacks our great hunting heritage,” continued Lampton. “Whether in the states, in Washington D.C., or at the ballot.”

The SIDF fund is open for support by all sportsmen and women.

Fighting for our heritage is not cheap. State and national campaigns are expensive to launch and carry out. The SIDF goal is to secure $1 million to ensure funding is available at a moment’s notice to defend all hunting, fishing, recreational shooting and trapping activities. This is an on-going fund that sportsmen and women across America are urged to donate generously in their defense.

This SIDF fund needs your input immediately. The time is now as a hunting community to circle the wagons to defend the smallest segments of hunters, trappers, shooters, and anglers. If smaller segments of hunters and anglers are forced out, you could be the next group in the sights of the anti-hunting and animal rights lobby. The anti- forces are already whittling away your rights, access, opportunities and options. A fully funded SIDF’s mission is to turn back these attacks. Donate now!

“We must ban together, pool all our resources, and stand up for our sport, our heritage, our fight!” concluded Lampton.

Sportsmen and women can donate directly to this effort at: www.ussportsmen.org/donate.