On the recordApril 17, 2012
This so-called ``Sportsmen's Heritage Act'' is an amalgam of four separate bills that have more to do with undermining conservation laws than hunting, fishing or recreational shooting. Like many Americans and most Members of this House, I don't have a problem with hunting, fishing or recreational shooting on federal land where appropriate. As a practical matter, over 75% of all federal lands are already open to hunting and fishing--and more than 85% of all national monuments are open for recreational shooting. But as a matter of common sense, these recreational activities need to be balanced against the health and safety of other park users and uses, as well as the proper management of wildlife and wildfire risk. And at the end of the day, these kinds of decisions are best made by local land managers, not an agency head in Washington, D.C. This legislation is further encumbered by a regulatory earmark benefitting an estimated 41 trophy hunters at the expense of our endangered species laws, and a provision banning the EPA from doing something it has already publicly said it isn't going to do. Accordingly, I urge a no vote.
