WASHINGTON — The Department of the Interior announced the reestablishment of the Hunting and Shooting Sports Conservation and Access Council on Sept. 21. The advisory body counsels the secretary on policies affecting hunters and sport shooters on federal public lands.
The reestablishment gives organized hunting and shooting sports constituencies a formal advisory voice in Interior Department policymaking, a priority for an administration that has emphasized expanding public lands access for outdoor recreation.
Millions of American hunters and sport shooters use federal public lands each year, and the council’s recommendations can influence decisions on land access, wildlife management and conservation funding that directly affect those users.
The council advises the Secretary of the Interior on policies related to hunting, recreational shooting and wildlife habitat conservation across the more than 500 million acres of federal land managed by Interior Department agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service.
The council was previously active under earlier administrations but lapsed, a pattern common for federal advisory committees that depend on executive action for renewal. Its reestablishment required a formal charter and new member appointments.
Appointees to the council typically include representatives of hunting organizations, firearms industry groups, wildlife conservation organizations and state fish and game agencies.
The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation and National Rifle Association have both advocated for the council’s reestablishment, arguing that hunters and shooters need a dedicated advisory channel to ensure their interests are represented in federal land management decisions.
Conservation groups that support hunting have also backed the council, noting that hunters contribute billions of dollars to wildlife conservation annually through the Pittman-Robertson excise tax on firearms and ammunition.
The Department of the Interior did not immediately release the full list of new council members or a timeline for the body’s first meeting.