History shows new legislation can and is passed into law even as lame duck sessions of Congress come to a close. With that in mind, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation reached out to the chairs and ranking members of natural resources committees in both the Senate and House as well as the leaders in the two chambers, urging them to consider and pass several active forest management measures when they return from the campaigns in mid-November.
“Conservation is a 24-hours-a-day, 365-days-a-year focus,” said Ryan Bronson, RMEF director of governmental affairs. “It isn’t certain that any end-of-year deals will come to fruition. Sometimes bipartisan provisions get overlooked while the two parties horse trade for more controversial and partisan bills, so we want to elevate the active forest management ideas that have support on both sides of the aisle. We believe these provisions could be included in a Farm Bill along with other forestry related items or be part of a package with priority ‘lands’ bills that some environmental and conservation groups are advocating for and that have been scheduled for a Senate committee hearing in November.”
Details are spelled out in the letter below sent to various leadership in Washington DC.
The 118th session of Congress wraps up on January 3, 2025 with the 119th session beginning that same day and running until January 3, 2027.
October 28, 2024
Chairman Joe Manchin, Ranking Member John Barrasso, Chairman Bruce Westerman, and Ranking Member Raul Grijalva:
The mission of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) is to ensure the future of elk, other wildlife, their habitat, and our hunting heritage. Since its inception in 1984, RMEF has conserved or enhanced more than 8.9 million acres of North America’s most vital habitat for elk and other wildlife, including more than 3.8 million acres of U.S. Forest Service (USFS) land, and improved access to over 1.6 million acres of public land. Our membership is primarily comprised of sportsmen, many of whom recreate on public land, providing credence to the long-held belief that hunting is conservation. RMEF’s membership and mission are impacted by legislation considered by your respective Committees.
The Senate and House committees have held, or are anticipated to hold, bipartisan votes on substantive forestry and recreation policy reflecting many of RMEF’s priorities. RMEF supports S. 873, Senators Manchin and Barrasso’s “America’s Outdoor Recreation Act” and H.R. 6492, Chairman Westerman and Ranking Member Grijalva’s “EXPLORE Act” and encourages further bicameral collaboration and coordination to ensure this package is enacted into law. RMEF is particularly invested in the provision intended to enhance target shooting ranges on public land, the provision simplifying the process for certain photography and filming on public lands, and the provision enabling volunteers participating in wildlife management to keep the hides, horns, and antlers from the animals that are culled.
RMEF supports Chairman Westerman and Representative Scott Peters’ Fix Our Forests Act H.R. 8790, and Senators Barrasso and Manchin’s Promoting Effective Forest Management Act, S. 2867, and is particularly invested in the provisions designed to increase accountability and transparency, expedite projects, and mitigate litigation risk. S. 1540, reversing the flawed Ninth Circuit’s “Cottonwood” decision, continues to be RMEF’s most pressing priority. This policy would provide immediate conservation benefit to western forests and has received bipartisan support in both chambers and spanning several Administrations. On September 24, 2024, the Fix Our Forests Act passed the U.S. House by a strong bi-partisan vote of 268 – 151.
Likewise, there is bipartisan, bicameral agreement on H.R. 1450, the Treating Tribes and Counties as Good Neighbors Act, intended to facilitate new partnerships to foster more forest management. The five individual provisions specifically referenced above are RMEF’s top legislative priorities in your respective committees for the 118th Congress.
RMEF acknowledges the complexities of the legislative process, at times, necessitate combining bills into a larger legislative vehicle. While we welcome these discussions, we are wary the provisions referenced above could be held hostage by ambitions of a larger package, leveraged by other interests, or fall victim to the legislative calendar. Therefore, we wish to reiterate that the provisions previously referenced stand alone on their own merit and have already proved politically capable of passing both chambers. Further, we respectfully caution against undermining the purpose of these provisions by moving them alongside policies that would complicate forest management and/or frustrate public access.
RMEF commends the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee for advancing substantial, bipartisan forest and recreation legislation during the 118th Congress. We stand ready to partner with you to advance these bills for the betterment of our forests, wildlife, and sportsmen community.
Sincerely,
Ryan Bronson
Director of Government Affairs
CC: Senator Charles Schumer, Majority Leader
Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican Leader
Speaker Mike Johnson
(Photo credit: Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation)