From the FS press office.
(Washington, D.C., ) –
The U.S. Forest Service and the Boone and Crockett Club signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) underscoring the importance of sustaining outdoor recreation opportunities with a particular emphasis on public access for hunting, angling, wildlife conservation, habitat stewardship, and conservation education.
Fourteen other organizations participated in the signing and are recognized as collaborating partners to support the implementation of the MOU. Under the framework the Boone and Crockett Club will convene with these partners to identify, develop and implement opportunities to enhance the recreational access on public lands.
“The Forest Service welcomes nearly 164 million visitors each year to our national forests and grasslands, and approximately 14 percent – nearly 23 million people – participate in hunting, fishing or target shooting activities annually,” said Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz. “National forests offer stable, predictable, and affordable access to high quality wildlife habitat—an essential benefit for hunters and conservationists dedicated to fair chase and public land heritage. We are committed to strengthening this strong partnership with an historic institution, such as the Boone and Crockett Club.”
“We appreciate the attention of Chief Schultz and the Forest Service, along with our partner conservation organizations, on the challenge of recreational access on public lands for hunting,” commented Boone and Crockett Club chief executive officer Tony Schoonen. “Enhanced recreation and access opportunities can help increase awareness and engagement on forest health issues and build support for increased funding for access and conservation on national forests. We look forward to collaborating through this MOU to enhance recreational access to the National Forest System lands for hunters, anglers, and recreational shooters.”
The National Forest System and Forest Service came together through the vision of President Theodore Roosevelt, who founded the Boone and Crockett Club in 1887, and the agency’s first chief, Gifford Pinchot who was also a member of the Club.
The conservation and management of 193 million acres of forests and grasslands across the United States allows for significant recreational use by the public.
The Forest Service, Boone and Crockett Club, and associated stewardship partners will work together in the coming months to evaluate opportunities, resources, research, and other needs that will support efforts or projects to enhance recreational access.
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You might wonder who the other fourteen groups were, here on the Boone and Crockett website they are listed:.
The Forest Service, Boone and Crockett Club, and associated stewardship partners – including America Outdoors Association, Archery Trade Association, Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, Mule Deer Foundation, National Shooting Sports Foundation, National Wild Turkey Federation, National Wildlife Federation, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever, Professional Outfitter and Guide of America, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Ruffed Grouse Society & American Woodcock Society, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, and Wild Sheep Foundation – will work together in the coming months to evaluate opportunities, resources, research, and other needs that will support efforts or projects to enhance recreational access.
I think your headline should have said “hunting-based access.”
And fishing and wildlife-viewing…
This is a curious MOU. I’m not a hunter or fisher, but this seems like a “solution in search of a problem”. I am not aware that hunting or fishing (or the other items listed) is restricted on Forest Service (or BLM lands), except for restrictions that state wildlife agencies impose like no shooting within certain distance of homes/structures, and sometimes stream reach closures to fishing (not meaning catch-and-release). If there are restricted areas on FS lands imposed by the FS, it must be a miniscule percent. Access problems typically are related to private land owners preventing access across their lands to get to federal lands, which does not seem like something the FS could resolve.
Dale, I think what the FS can do about access has to do with having enough time with lands experts to work on it. Some folks I’ve spoken with in the past experienced more trespass issues than they could effectively deal with, so maybe they don’t have time to work on access. Then there are people that put up signs that roads are private when they’re not. I also heard in the distant past that DOJ doesn’t want to take access cases.
But that’s a great question. I will reach out to TRCP (which is very active in the access space) and see if I can get more detail. Maybe it’s related to this?
https://forestpolicypub.com/2023/10/09/trcp-video-on-expanding-public-access-to-public-lands/
Does anyone know what they all think “recreational access” means? Or what the barriers to that currently are that drove this MOU?