On the evening of Thursday, September 17, a group of outdoor industry and conservation insiders gathered at the White House Rose Garden to hear a speech from President Donald Trump about two new Executive Orders. During his remarks, Trump said he would open certain National Monuments to hunting, loosen restrictions on lead ammo and fishing tackle, and “eliminate absurd federal regulations on saltwater anglers.”
Notable attendees at the ceremony included Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, Bass Pro Shops founder and CEO Johnny Morris, and executives from Polaris Inc., Yamaha Marine Group, Beretta USA, and the Outdoor Sportsmans Group. High-level representatives of Ducks Unlimited, the Boone & Crockett Club, the Congressional Sportsmens Foundation, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and the National Wild Turkey Federation were also among the Rose Garden crowd.
The Trump Administration laid out specifics about the EOs in a pair of White House tear sheets issued before the ceremony. The hunting-focused EO, titled “Expanding Access to Federal Lands,” directed the Department of the Interior (DOI) to allow hunting on two National Monuments: the Castle Mountains National Monument in California and the Craters of the Moon National Monument Idaho. The National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management jointly manage the roughly 740,000-acre Craters of the Moon National Monument. NPS manages the Castle Mountains, which covers nearly 21,000 acres of the eastern Mojave Desert.
The hunting EO also aims to “improve public access to difficult-to-access Federal lands and waters,” the Administration says, “by prioritizing practical access opportunities, including voluntary access easements, land exchanges, cooperative agreements with States and local governments, and other tools that respect private property rights.”
A separate provision directs DOI to permit the use of “traditional lead ammo and tackle,” though it doesn’t specify any lead prohibitions that the Administration plans to abolish. The US Fish & Wildlife Service currently enforces a nationwide ban on the use of lead shotgun ammo for waterfowl hunting because of the material’s known toxicity for waterfowl and other bird species. Copper and other alternative rifle ammunitions are sometimes encouraged in big-game hunting because lead fragments ingested by raptors that scavenge gut piles can cause paralysis and fatal neurological symptoms. But there aren’t any blanket bans on the use of lead ammo for big-game hunting on federally managed public lands.
The second EO is titled “Restoring American Saltwater Angling and Recreation.” It directs federal agencies like DOI, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), to alter or overturn rules the Administration considers overly burdensome, like severe off-shore speed limit restrictions. It also looks to modernize and digitize fishing-related data collection efforts by state and federal agencies. And it establishes a task force designed to “address the rising rate of shark and pinniped depredation” on game fish.
A slew of conservation groups have come out in support of the EOs, saying they advance efforts that hunters and anglers have long fought for. “This Executive Order is an acknowledgment of hunters’ longstanding contributions to conservation, hunting access, sound waterfowl science, and hunter education,” said Ducks Unlimited CEO Adam Putnam in a press release about the EOs shared by the Trump White House. “Our proud hunting heritage has been woven into the fabric of our great nation’s identity for 250 years, and this sort of commitment will help ensure it remains that way for future generations.” The Trump presser also included endorsements from RMEF, the Mule Deer Foundation, the Boone & Crockett Club, Delta Waterfowl, the National Deer Association, and the Wild Sheep Foundation, among others.
In a statement issued on September 18, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers Eastern Policy and Conservation Manager Chris Borgatti said his organization appreciates the Administration’s attention to hunting, fishing, and public access. “Many of the goals outlined in these orders reflect priorities BHA and our partners have worked with Congress and federal agencies to advance for years,” Borgatti continued. “We’re encouraged to see that work reflected here, and are excited for the opportunity to work directly with the Administration to ensure the details reflect the needs of public land owners.” BHA was not in attendance at the Rose Garden ceremony last week.
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The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP), also absent from the list of Rose Garden attendees, welcomed the Executive Orders as well. “Hunters and anglers have shaped this country’s conservation legacy for more than a century, and they remain some of the most dedicated stewards of our fish, wildlife, and wild places today,” said TRCP Chief Conservation Officer Joel Webster. “We appreciate the administration’s support for wildlife corridors, access to landlocked public land, and management of invasive species and wildlife disease, as well as the emphasis on stronger fisheries science and closer coordination between federal and state managers.”
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