Strange Bedfellows: Sportsmen, Environmentalists Align for Protecting Public Lands
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
DENVER - A Congress critics are calling the most environmentally unfriendly in years is creating an unusual alliance in Colorado and other Western states.
Politically conservative members of pro-hunting and fishing groups such as Trout Unlimited and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership are re-engaging with conservation in partnership with organizations such as the National Wildlife Federation.
Bob Meulengracht, Colorado representative for Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development, is one of those hunters. He says he's worried that bills making their way through Congress - such as HR 1581 - could open up prized hunting habitats to development. He calls the bill the "Assault on Our Sporting Heritage Act."
"We're talking about 40 million acres, the size of the state of Wyoming. Some of those areas probably don't need to be protected, but a lot of those areas do because of their importance to fish and wildlife."
Not all sportsmen's groups oppose HR 1581, which would release the land to local management. Safari Club International and the National Rifle Association back the bill, saying it would allow better access for disabled and elderly hunters. Opponents counter that low-impact hunting roads already exist in much of the land, and that the bill would open up the lands to mining and other high-impact development.
Matthew Copeland, public-lands organizer for the Wyoming Wildlife Federation, says supporters of HR 1581 aren't being completely upfront about its impact.
"They're billing this as 'Oh, we want to give you access as sportsmen to these areas so that you can go in and can hunt and fish,' when in fact we already have that access."
Meanwhile, environmental groups such as the National Wildlife Federation plan to continue their outreach to sportsmen - including participating in the International Sportsmen's Expo in Denver next month. Copeland says it's a new audience for the environmental message.
"These are folks that as a general rule don't fit the description of your stereotypical environmentalists. They are folks that are pro-industry, they are pro-development, but recognize the need for balance."
Democratic staffers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee report that the House has voted 191 times this year on provisions designed to roll back environmental protections. That's about a vote for every day the House was in session. That report is online at democrats.energycommerce.house.gov.
The text of HR 1581 is online at gpo.gov.
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