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FeedSportsmen Welcome New Access Incentive in Conservation Reserve Program
Hunters and anglers encouraged by increased attention to sporting traditions, hoping that other access initiatives receive similar boost
WASHINGTON – The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership welcomed today’s announcement by Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer that up to 7 million acres of land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program would be made eligible for increased incentives if landowners allow public hunting and fishing access on them.
“This move is a great first step toward reinvigorating America’s traditions of hunting and angling, which decline every time another piece of land is developed or placed off-limits to sportsmen,” said Geoff Mullins, a TRCP initiative manager. “We hope that the recent USDA attention to the need to promote sportsmen’s access carries over to Open Fields, a new program created by the recently passed Farm Bill that would receive zero funding in the administration’s current budget request to Congress.”
The Conservation Reserve Program is the largest program in the Farm Bill Conservation Title, which represents our country’s single largest overall investment in fish and wildlife habitat on private lands.
The CRP public access incentive will permit partnerships with existing state public access programs to identify and mark tracts of land as publicly accessible and publish maps for hunters and recreation enthusiasts. The incentive is consistent with current state public access incentives and will enhance the ability of state game departments to use hunting seasons as a wildlife management tool.
The CRP public access incentive will be limited to CRP participants in the 21 states that already have public access programs. These 21 states are: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming.
“This new incentive provides an excellent illustration of ways in which the federal government can team with state wildlife agencies to advance the cause of sportsmen,” Mullins said. “It should first be applauded, then replicated.”
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.
Posted at 02:17 PM | Permalink
