Initiative 4 - Expanding Access to Public and Private Lands
Text from the Recreational Hunting and Wildlife Conservation Plan, 2008, Page 19
Background
Hunting and recreational shooting with firearms and archery equipment are important elements of America’s outdoor heritage, and are uniquely dependent upon public access to federal, state, and private lands. Constraints on access have been identified as one of the leading impediments to sustaining and growing participation in these activities.
SCC White Paper Goals and Recommendations
- Create web-based tools that provide easily accessible information about hunting opportunities on federal lands.
- Expand and develop partnerships with the DOI, USDA, and Department of Defense (DOD) to determine what lands could be accessed by hunters and recreational shooters.
Actions for Initiative 4 - Expanding Access to Public and Private Lands
- I. - Reduce Liability for Access to Private Land
- II. - Expand Wildlife-Dependent Recreational Opportunities on Federal Land
- 19. - Integrate conservation and hunting opportunities into the next Transportation Bill
- 20. - Establish a one-stop-shop website of information on hunting on federal land
- 21. - Recommend improved and enhanced access to public lands where hunting is allowed
- 22. - Establish shooting ranges in urban areas as a part of urban centers for outdoor activities
- 22.1 - Improve connectivity of school groups to the outdoors
- 22.2 - Develop a model “hunting easement” similar to a conservation easement for use in providing or protecting hunting opportunities
- 22.3 - Expand and develop partnerships among federal agencies to determine accessible federal lands for hunting and recreational shooting
- 22.4 - Explore shooting range and hunting opportunity potential assessed as part of the military Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process
- 22.5 - Fund or implement programs resulting from the call for proposals improving federal land access
- 22.6 - Facilitate an effective federal government-wide process to use non-federal funds for acquiring hunting and shooting access to federal lands
- III. - Provide Specialized Training for Federal Employees
- 23. - Recommend and implement a training curriculum for federal employees on the history, ecology, and management of hunting on public land
- 23.1 - Explain the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation and the American system of conservation funding
- 23.2 - Communicate a consistent framework that will assess the impacts of project proposals on wildlife populations and hunting opportunities
- 23.3 - Market strategies to better communicate the availability of existing programs designed to provide educational outreach and technical assistance for private landowners.
- 23.4 - Establish more scholarships and stipends from private entities to bring new people, youth, and minorities to outdoor/hunting/wildlife conferences
- 24. - Require all federal land management supervisory personnel to complete a state-sanctioned hunter education course, or an equivalent program
- 25. - Teach best practices for hunting programs in formal training for federal land Managers
- 23. - Recommend and implement a training curriculum for federal employees on the history, ecology, and management of hunting on public land
Supporting documentation and findings
