WASHINGTON – The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership strongly applauded today's announcement that Open Fields, a TRCP signature issue since the organization's inception, has been included in the final Farm Bill compromise just released by Congress.
"Our coalition is digesting the details of this huge bill that is of huge importance to fish and wildlife," said TRCP initiative manager Geoff Mullins, "but right off the bat, we see one major victory, the inclusion of Open Fields."
Open Fields is designed to support voluntary, state-run programs that provide incentives to private landowners who allow public hunting and fishing access on their land. Many states have established programs that work in this vein, while many others have expressed the desire to create them. An added bonus of many of these types of programs is the fact that landowners who enroll their property are required to utilize best management practices for fish and wildlife.
Preliminary details released by Congress indicate that Open Fields will receive a total of $50 million in funding through the life of the new Farm Bill, which will expire in 2012.
"Open Fields is a winner on all fronts," said Mullins. "It helps farmers and ranchers by establishing new financial incentives, it helps fish and wildlife by expanding their habitat base and it helps sportsmen by expanding the places where they can hunt and fish.
"The TRCP has been fortunate to facilitate the work of a broad coalition of hunters, anglers and conservationists, the Agriculture and Wildlife Working Group, that made Open Fields one of its foremost priorities," Mullins continued. "The combined efforts of AWWG members helped get and keep Open Fields in the Farm Bill, showing the power of consensus-building and collaboration."
"Declining access for sportsmen is a major cause of decline in the numbers of American hunters and anglers," said TRCP President and CEO George Cooper. "This harms rural economies that depend on seasonal influxes of sportsmen, and it harms the entire country when our citizens' connections to their lands and waters disintegrate.
"We are heartened to see that Congress understands and is addressing those threats," Cooper continued, "and we owe a debt of gratitude to America's union sportsmen for helping make this clear to our elected officials. Multiple national unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO joined together to push for Open Fields, as did scores of rank-and-file union members from across the country. These folks have seen the declines in sporting opportunities in their own backyards and have done something about it."
Both houses of Congress are expected to approve the final Farm Bill compromise this week, sending it to the president's desk.
"Our coalition is digesting the details of this huge bill that is of huge importance to fish and wildlife," said TRCP initiative manager Geoff Mullins, "but right off the bat, we see one major victory, the inclusion of Open Fields."
Open Fields is designed to support voluntary, state-run programs that provide incentives to private landowners who allow public hunting and fishing access on their land. Many states have established programs that work in this vein, while many others have expressed the desire to create them. An added bonus of many of these types of programs is the fact that landowners who enroll their property are required to utilize best management practices for fish and wildlife.
Preliminary details released by Congress indicate that Open Fields will receive a total of $50 million in funding through the life of the new Farm Bill, which will expire in 2012.
"Open Fields is a winner on all fronts," said Mullins. "It helps farmers and ranchers by establishing new financial incentives, it helps fish and wildlife by expanding their habitat base and it helps sportsmen by expanding the places where they can hunt and fish.
"The TRCP has been fortunate to facilitate the work of a broad coalition of hunters, anglers and conservationists, the Agriculture and Wildlife Working Group, that made Open Fields one of its foremost priorities," Mullins continued. "The combined efforts of AWWG members helped get and keep Open Fields in the Farm Bill, showing the power of consensus-building and collaboration."
"Declining access for sportsmen is a major cause of decline in the numbers of American hunters and anglers," said TRCP President and CEO George Cooper. "This harms rural economies that depend on seasonal influxes of sportsmen, and it harms the entire country when our citizens' connections to their lands and waters disintegrate.
"We are heartened to see that Congress understands and is addressing those threats," Cooper continued, "and we owe a debt of gratitude to America's union sportsmen for helping make this clear to our elected officials. Multiple national unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO joined together to push for Open Fields, as did scores of rank-and-file union members from across the country. These folks have seen the declines in sporting opportunities in their own backyards and have done something about it."
Both houses of Congress are expected to approve the final Farm Bill compromise this week, sending it to the president's desk.
