On Monday, The Sportsmen’s Act of 2012, which would give hunters and fisherman greater access to public lands, was blocked by the GOP.
The bill was sponsored by Montana Senator Jon Tester. And Republicans were in support for opening more public land for outdoorsman. However, the Senate Budget Committee and Jeff Sessions of Alabama, objected to spending on conservation programs.
Environmental groups also objected the bill because of the polar bear provision and exclusions from lead standards.
The polar bear provision would have allowed 41 hunters, who harvested polar bears in Canada to bring the bodies across the border. The bears were killed before the government started protecting polar bears as a threatened species in 2008 and banned polar bear trophy imports.
Here are just a few of the other issues included in the bill:
- increase public land access
- allow bow hunters to cross federal land
- encourage federal land agencies to help maintain state shooting ranges
- boost fish populations and protect animal habitat
- raising the cost of a federal Duck Stamp from $10 to $25
To read more on the issue, check out this story from Huffington Post.
And Outdoor Life put together a list of Senators who voted No.
