On Thursday, May 9, SCI’s Lobby Day returned to Washington, and I’m proud to say we smashed previous records of success for this important showing of Hunters on the Hill. Our leadership, board members and staff met with over 100 Congressional offices to advance and protect hunters’ rights and promote sustainable-use wildlife conservation worldwide.
This is nearly double the previous year’s count of meetings, and it was made possible only by the tireless efforts of our Advocacy staff. The focus in our meetings on Capitol Hill was, of course, federal affairs, but the day also touched on issues at the state and international levels, plus pending legal matters and critical education in conservation. Lobby Day is a lesson in the interconnected nature of all of the facets of our Advocacy operation.
That lesson was underscored when our legal team made an important filing the next day. Safari Club International (SCI), joined by the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, moved to intervene in two cases where anti-hunting groups are challenging the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) decision to deny petitions to return gray wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains States to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) lists.
The Northern Rocky Mountains States, encompassing Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and parts of Oregon, Washington and Utah, were the focus of gray wolf recovery efforts when the FWS reintroduced wolves into Yellowstone National Park and Central Idaho in 1995 and 1996.
In the immediate aftermath, Northern Rocky Mountain wolf population numbers took off and have exceeded recovery metrics since 2001. These populations were then removed from the ESA lists in those states by 2012. Nevertheless, petitions and litigation from animal rights groups that raise money off these wolf-related cases persist.
These petitioners threaten to reverse the progress FWS has made on moving recovered species off the ESA lists of threatened and endangered species, despite repeated findings from FWS that wolf populations are not at risk of extinction.
If the animal rights groups succeed, gray wolves in these states will return to federal control. Legal, regulated hunting will be shut down and wolf populations will be allowed to increase and expand their range unchecked. Such expansion will decimate elk, deer and what little moose populations remain in these areas.
That filing tied into our legislative agenda as well. With Members of the U.S. House, our message was simple. We thanked them for the previous week’s passage of three pieces of pro-hunting, pro-conservation legislation on a bipartisan basis: the Trust the Science Act (H.R. 764), Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act (H.R. 615), and the Western Economic Security Today Act (H.R. 3397).
SCI is grateful for the work of Representative Bruce Westerman (R-AR-04), for his leadership in advancing these critical bills through the committee and shepherding them to a successful vote on the House floor with support from both Republicans and Democrats.
H.R. 764, sponsored by Representative Lauren Boebert (R-CO-03), would remove the gray wolf from the list of endangered and threatened wildlife under the Endangered Species Act, representing the culmination of more than 20 years of bipartisan advocacy efforts to delist recovered wolves to protect prey populations across the country.
H.R. 615, sponsored by Representative Rob Wittman (R-VA-01), would prohibit lead ammunition bans on public land without scientific justifications, protecting consumer choice for hunters while recognizing the lack of concrete evidence to support a broad ban or phaseout of lead ammunition and fishing tackle.
H.R. 3397, sponsored by Representative John Curtis (R-UT-03), would force the Biden administration to withdraw a recent Bureau of Land Management final rule that could prevent recreational and guided hunting on those public lands.
And our message on the other side of the Capitol was equally simple. We urged Members of the U.S. Senate to take swift action to pass these common-sense bills that protect hunters, ensure effective wildlife management, and conserve America’s public lands for generations to come.
But you don’t have to fly to Washington to be an effective advocate for protecting your freedom to hunt. Simply text “SCI” to 73075 to access the simple tools of our Hunter Advocacy Action Center, and you can make your voice heard today!