The oldest conservation organization in North America has released its position on gun ownership and its historical influence on wildlife conservation.
“Sportsmen have known for a long time that hunting supports and funds wildlife conservation and management programs,” said Ben B. Hollingsworth Jr., president of the Boone and Crockett Club. “What is often overlooked is that the most successful system of wildlife conservation ever devised – the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation – would not have been possible without sportsmen and their right to own and use firearms.”
Public ownership of firearms was instrumental to the birth of the conservation movement in North America and still contributes to its continued success. The Boone and Crockett Club supports the right of citizens to own and use firearms. This right allows hunters to contribute to and maintain the longstanding success of wildlife conservation and management in North America.
“By the late nineteenth century wildlife species were depleted everywhere in North America,” said Hollingsworth. “It is indisputable that the hunter-conservationist movement rescued many species from certain extinction.”
Early hunter-conservationists like Theodore Roosevelt, who formed the Boone and Crockett Club in 1887, took action to allow game species to recover in the abundance we have today. Sportsmen across the nation joined Roosevelt in choosing to restrict themselves, limit their take, and abide by newly formed game laws and regulated hunting seasons. But they took one more step, explained Hollingsworth Jr.
“Even in the height of the Great Depression, sportsmen voted to tax themselves for the benefit of wildlife.” The Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act (Pittman-Robertson Act), proposed by sportsmen and passed by Congress in 1937, placed an excise tax on the sale of sporting arms and ammunition with the funds earmarked for wildlife conservation and distributed to state fish and wildlife agencies. In 2016, $700 million were generated and to date, nearly $10 billion has been distributed to states.
“As we know, game species did recover, but the habitats that were secured and managed for game species now benefit all wildlife,” said Hollingsworth. “None of this would be possible without the Second Amendment. It is why protecting and maintaining gun ownership by the public is so critical to wildlife conservation.”
The full position statement and video can be found at this link.
Several features have made the Browning Buck Mark a popular pistol among target shooters and hunters. Buck Mark pistols are made in the USA on a machined aluminum frame and feature a precision-rifled barrel, blow back action, crisp single-action trigger and adjustable sights.A Buck Mark Field Target Suppressor Ready model has been introduced for 2017. This model features a heavy round 5-1/2″ barrel and is threaded to accept a suppressor. A thread protector is included. An integral optics base is featured, along with an adjustable Pro-Target rear sight and front blade sight. Laminated Cocobolo target grips are included. Suggested retail price is $599.99. Read more
Popular M&P M2.0 Pistol Now Available in .45 AUTOSPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Smith & Wesson Corp. announced today that it has begun shipping its highly anticipated M&P45 M2.0 pistol chambered in .45 AUTO. Designed for personal, sporting, and professional use, the M&P M2.0 pistol delivers an entirely new platform, introducing innovative features in nearly every aspect of the pistol, including the trigger, grip, frame, and finish.
Matt Buckingham, President of the Firearms Division, said, “The new M&P M2.0 is one of the most advanced production pistols on the market today, and the consumer and law enforcement response to the 9mm and .40 S&W configurations has been remarkable, with several agencies currently evaluating the pistol. The M&P45 M2.0 features all of the enhancements found in the popular M&P M2.0 platform, and was an essential addition to the M&P M2.0 product line. The .45 AUTO is a common caliber for personal, sporting and professional use, and we are pleased to announce that the M&P45 M2.0 is now available for purchase in stores across the nation.” Read more
Omnibus spending package provides for sage grouse conservation, drought resiliency, conservation practices on farms and ranches, and one step forward for the Everglades
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congress has passed an omnibus appropriations bill for fiscal year 2017 with some increased funding for conservation and no harmful policy riders. The House and Senate’s investment in conservation is seemingly at odds with the Trump Administration’s budget outline for fiscal year 2018, which would deeply cut most conservation programs and entirely eliminate others, including Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts.
“While last-minute funding solutions are not the ideal way to govern, sportsmen and women should be heartened to see Congress endorse funding levels mostly on par with what we got in 2016 and even give a modest bump to the things we care about, including healthier waterways, stronger sage grouse populations, restoration assistance in the Everglades, and better conservation practices on private lands,” says Whit Fosburgh, president and CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.
Tucked within more than 1,600 pages detailing government spending through September 30, the FY2017 omnibus package includes the following:
An $8.9-million increase for sage grouse conservation programs and no riders undermining the federal conservation plans that helped keep this iconic Western game bird off the endangered species list in 2015.
$864 million for Conservation Operations at the Natural Resources Conservation Service within U.S. Department of Agriculture—that’s about $13.5 million more than last year and exceeds President Obama’s last budget request by more than $1 million.
A $10-million increase for the Conservation Technical Assistance Program, which provides farmers and ranchers with the technical expertise to put conservation on the ground using Farm Bill dollars. This will help NRCS to deliver more than $5 billion in conservation programs to farmers, ranchers, and private foresters next year, improving fish and wildlife habitat and water quality nationwide.
$150 million for the Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations Program, which hasn’t been funded since 2002. This will help states, local governments, and tribes to enhance fish and wildlife habitat, improve water quality, reduce erosion, control sediment, and construct wetlands.
A 30-percent increase for the WaterSMART grant program, in which the Bureau of Reclamation works with water users to help ensure rivers and streams have enough water flows to support fish, agriculture, and cities during droughts.
More than $10 million in funding for the National Park Service to support interagency coordination in the Everglades. Additional funding will be needed in the next fiscal year to carry construct a reservoir recently approved by the Florida legislature. This is critical to improving water quality and habitat in one of the country’s most popular fisheries.
Two Farm Bill conservation programs were trimmed through the Congressional budget process known as Changes in Mandatory Program Spending, or CHIMPS. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) was cut by $179 million and the Regional Conservation Partnership Program was cut by $28 million. Read more
Ithaca, N.Y.–Funky Nests in Funky Places is back! This popular contest focuses on the quirky places birds sometimes build their nests. Participants have found nests on tiny skyscraper ledges, in barbecue grills, traffic lights, wind chimes, flower pots, an old motorcycle helmet, or just about anywhere. The contest is hosted by the Celebrate Urban Birds citizen-science project at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.”Wherever you find a bird’s nest, send in a picture, video, poem, or artwork about it,” explains project leader Karen Purcell. ” You could win binoculars, bird feeders, online courses, posters, and much more.”
Nesting season is well underway, so everyone is invited to head outdoors to enjoy nature and find nesting birds in unexpected places. Participants don’t have to be bird or photography experts.
ELEY re-introduced ELEY standard this past weekend at the NRA annual meetings and exhibits. As ELEY continues to establish itself as the most accurate and demanding .22LR available in the world, they recognized a need in the market that wasn’t being filled. “Price conscious shooters deserve accurate and reliable .22LR as well,” said Jamie Corkish, PR and Marketing Manager for North America, “We decided to bring back a product we had many years ago, to allow shooters of all ages and levels to experience and trust ELEY’s un-rivaled accuracy at an affordable price.” Read more
A thicket, a patch of tall grass and a quiet spot in your back yard – what do they all have in common? They all are places where fawns have been found. For the first few weeks of a white-tailed fawn’s life, its mother will hide it in secluded locations. This behavior helps reduce the potential of predators finding the fawn.
A fawn’s spots are excellent camouflage and will help it stay hidden from predators. In addition to being hidden by its mother and having its own spotted camouflage, fawns have another adaptation to help them survive – they are virtually odorless when they are young.
“If you find a fawn alone, do not touch it,” said Hannah Schauer, Michigan Department of Natural Resources wildlife communications and education coordinator. “There is a good chance it is supposed to be there.” Read more
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources today announced it will not collect eggs from Great Lakes muskellunge in the Detroit River this month due to recent fish kills in Lake St. Clair that are attributed to a confirmed, widespread infection of viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSv). Read more
WASHINGTON, DC, – In a letter sent today to the Trump administration and Congress, a coalition of recreational boating and sportfishing interests urged action to fix America’s broken ethanol policy. The American Sportfishing Association (ASA), Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS), National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) and Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA) on behalf of the nation’s 12 million recreational boat owners, 46 million recreational anglers and 35,000 recreational boating businesses respectively expressed concern with the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).The RFS is the 2005 law that mandates the blending of biofuels such as corn-ethanol into our gasoline. When written, it was assumed that America’s use of gasoline would continue to rise. However, US gasoline usage has actually dropped steadily since 2005 and now the law forces more corn ethanol into fewer gallons of gasoline.
Boaters and anglers need access to safe and approved fuels. The letter said the RFS “…has discriminatorily affected the boating public – groups of boaters and anglers who purchase fuel for their boats… We write to ask that you to set a new course for the RFS – one that takes into account the objective concerns expressed by the boating community.”
