politics
Trump Administration Orders Rollback of Hunting and Fishing Restrictions at 55 National Park Service Sites
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum ordered agencies in January to remove unnecessary barriers to hunting and fishing. Managers have lifted bans on tree stands, dog training, vehicle retrieval and trail hunting while extending seasons and allowing new practices at specific parks. Hunting groups welcomed the changes even as former NPS officials questioned the process.
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The GuardianAudio version
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Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued an order in January directing multiple agencies to remove unnecessary regulatory or administrative barriers to hunting and fishing and to justify any regulations they want to keep. The directive applies to 55 sites in the lower 48 states under the National Park Service’s jurisdiction.
Managers at various locations have already lifted prohibitions on hunting stands that damage trees, training hunting dogs, using vehicles to retrieve animals and hunting along trails.
Specific adjustments include extending the hunting season through spring and summer at Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts, allowing hunters to clean their kills in bathrooms at Lake Meredith National Recreation Area in Texas, and permitting the killing of alligators at Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve in Louisiana.
Hunting is currently allowed across about 51 million National Park Service acres spanning 76 sites, with only about 8 million of those acres in the contiguous United States and the rest in Alaska. Fishing is allowed in 213 sites. NPS sites typically adopt state hunting and fishing regulations although they can impose additional restrictions to protect public safety and wildlife resources.
Interior Department spokesperson Elizabeth Peace said in an email that the order is a commonsense approach to public land management. She said any closures or limits needed for public safety, resource protection or legal compliance will remain in place.
Peace stated that for decades sportsmen and women have been some of the strongest stewards of our public lands and that the order ensures their access is not unnecessarily restricted by outdated or overly broad limitations that are not required by law.
The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership posted a statement online in January calling the order a balance between wildlife management and outdoor traditions hunters and anglers support. Ducks Unlimited posted a statement in March saying Burgum’s order recognizes duck hunters’ vital role.
