President Donald Trump signed an executive order to expand hunting access on federal lands, recruit a new generation of hunters and increase game populations; the order also identifies grazing and agricultural practices as tools agencies can use to improve wildlife habitat.
The executive order, “Reinvigorating America’s Hunting Heritage,” establishes a policy of applying a “presumption of accessibility” to federally managed lands and directs several federal agencies to review policies that restrict hunting and other recreational access.
The order directs federal agencies to consider broader changes within 180 days, including generally allowing hunting unless local resource conditions justify closures. The order also calls for construction, repair and maintenance of infrastructure needed to reach federal lands for recreation and wildlife management.
Access to landlocked public lands is another focus. A White House fact sheet describes the order as directing agencies to “unlock checkerboarded and landlocked parcels” through voluntary access easements, land exchanges and cooperative agreements that respect private property rights. The executive order itself refers more broadly to “difficult-to-access Federal lands and waters” and lists voluntary easements, exchanges and agreements with state and local governments as possible solutions.
For livestock producers, the order includes grazing as part of its game-management strategy. Federal agencies are directed to work with states to promote game populations through improved wildlife movement and habitat connectivity, reductions in invasive species, habitat degradation and disease, and targeted management of predators, competing species and other population-limiting factors.
The order also calls for prescribed fire, vegetation management, water development, “grazing, agricultural practices” and other habitat-management tools. It further directs agencies to pursue voluntary agreements with private landowners and agricultural producers.
Other provisions focus on developing future hunters. The Labor and Education departments are directed to clarify whether federal education funding can support school archery and hunter education programs. Interior is directed to identify opportunities to help states cultivate hunting among youth and veterans, while the Department of Veterans Affairs is instructed to prioritize eligible grants supporting hunting and fishing through its Adaptive Sports Grant Program.
The order also directs agencies to permit traditional lead ammunition, encourages states to expand Sunday hunting and calls for increased donations of wild game meat to schools and food banks.
Reactions
Livestock and recreation groups welcomed several parts of the order, while also emphasizing the need to balance recreational access with grazing, private property rights and other uses of federal lands.
Garrett Edmonds, senior director of government affairs for the Public Lands Council (PLC) and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, told WLJ the order recognizes a connection that ranchers have long made between livestock grazing and wildlife habitat.
“Livestock grazing plays an important role in protecting wildlife habitat and promoting wildlife species, including those favored by hunting partners,” Edmonds said. He also welcomed the administration’s focus on multiple use and additional tools for managing predators, invasive species and wildfire risk.
Edmonds also cautioned that an “open unless closed” policy could increase recreation in sensitive areas or lead to conflicts among public land users. He said PLC favors voluntary, locally driven solutions that balance public access with respect for private property rights.
“This executive order acknowledges that lasting access solutions are achieved through partnership, not mandates, while preserving the private property rights that ranchers and rural communities depend on,” Edmonds said.
Chris Borgatti, eastern policy and conservation manager for Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, said the administration’s attention to hunting, fishing, public access and fish and wildlife reflects priorities the organization and its partners have worked to advance for years. He also raised concerns about efforts to rescind or alter the Roadless Rule and Travel Management Rule, arguing those actions could, in some areas, conflict with the order’s goals for habitat and hunting access.
“Access, opportunity and abundant fish and wildlife are inseparable from healthy habitat and sound, science-based management,” Borgatti said.
The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) also welcomed provisions addressing wildlife corridors, access to landlocked public land, invasive species and wildlife disease.
“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 Joel Webster, TRCP’s chief conservation officer.
Humane World for Animals strongly opposed the order, raising concerns about lead ammunition and predator management while disputing the administration’s view that expanding hunting would benefit conservation.
“If the government is meant to represent the interests of the American people, then it should listen to the American people and invest in science-based conservation that protects biodiversity, reduces lead contamination and ensures wild animals can thrive,” said Kitty Block, CEO and president of Humane World for Animals. — Charles Wallace, WLJ contributing editor
