“fish and wildlife”

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy's executive order banning the legal hunting of bears on all state-owned lands has immediate impact on the state’s October and December 2018 bear-hunting seasons, spurring New Jersey hunters, elected officials and the state’s Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) to action.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) has condemned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Proposed Rule that would ban lead ammunition on 48 new distinct hunting opportunities across approximately 3,000 acres of National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs). 

At present, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) estimates there are about 1.3 million resident wild alligators, up sharply from a low in the early 1960s that prompted the closure of legal hunting. The alligator population has been on the rebound since, and hunting seasons were reinstated in the 1980s.

Just one day before President Trump's inauguration, departing U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe—and the administration that appointed him—took one last shot at American hunters by issuing Director's Order No. 219, which directs the USFWS to expand the use of nontoxic ammunition and fishing tackle on USFWS lands, water and facilities—and for certain types of hunting and fishing regulated by the Service outside those areas—to the fullest extent by January 2022.

With the recent listing of the African lion on the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service now requires American hunters to obtain an import permit for a lion taken on or after Jan. 22. If you’ve booked an African lion hunt or had planned to do so at the SCI Show this week, be sure to attend SCI's special info session on Feb. 6.

For 45 years, Congress has recognized the fourth Saturday in September as National Hunting and Fishing Day—and that tradition will continue on Sept. 23, 2017. NRA Second Vice President and Honorary NHF Day Chair Richard Childress is encouraging outdoorsmen and women across the nation to join in on the festivities by pledging to take someone hunting, fishing or shooting between now and Saturday.

More than half of the Tongass—9.2 million acres—is managed under the direction of the 2001 Roadless Rule. This management plan works to safeguard vital habitat for important fish and wildlife species, including Sitka black-tailed deer, black and brown bear, moose, and even Roosevelt elk. Now, the US Forest Service plans to lift the Roadless Rule in Alaska.

Did you know there are 13.7 million hunters in the United States alone, according the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation? Did you know that in 2015, 43.1 million Americans lived in poverty (13.5 percent of the U.S. population), and 42.2 million Americans lived in food-insecure households? The NRA’s solution? Start an initiative to assist in providing food to the needy by capitalizing on the millions of active hunters we have here in the United States.