Icymi: Capito Applauds Interior's Historic Expansion of Hunting and Fishing Opportunities on Public Lands

Press Release

U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) today applauded the Trump administration's efforts to increase recreational access on public lands. U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt announced the historic opening and expansion of over 850 hunting and fishing opportunities across more than 2.3 million acres at 147 national wildlife refuges and national fish hatcheries. This rule is the single largest expansion of hunting and fishing opportunities by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in history. This announcement will create more hunting and recreational opportunities at Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge in Tucker County, which Senator Capito is visiting today.

"Hunting and fishing are two staples of the Mountain State, making it welcome news that Interior is increasing access to the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge. It is important that we continue to support the outdoorsman of our state and provide adequate access to the bountiful wild game in West Virginia. I thank the Trump administration for taking notice of this opportunity in West Virginia, and I look forward to the benefits this will create for our hunters and fishermen," said Senator Capito.

"On the heels of President Trump signing the most significant conservation and recreation funding in US history, providing nearly $20 billion over the next 10 years to fix and conserve the American people's public lands, the Trump administration has now made an additional 2.3 million acres accessible to new hunting and fishing opportunities," said Secretary Bernhardt. "We continue to take significant actions to further conservation initiatives and support sportsmen and women who are America's true conservationists."

"The Trump administration and Secretary Bernhardt have made access to public lands for hunting and fishing and other outdoor recreation a priority beginning day one. Hunting and fishing are a part of our American history, and we continue to ensure we provide opportunities for these activities which epitomize our American heritage," said Service Director Aurelia Skipwith. "Furthermore, we have maintained our commitment to promoting good government by reducing the regulatory burden by working with states to facilitate these outdoor activities."

DETAILS ABOUT THE RULE:

The final rule opens or expands 859 hunting and fishing opportunities. On top of last year's expansion of 1.4 million acres for new or expanded hunting and fishing opportunities, this proposal would bring the Trump administration's total expansion to over 4 million acres nationwide.

This rule increases the number of units in the Service's National Wildlife Refuge System open to public hunting to 430 and those open to fishing to 360. The rule also formally brings the total number of National Fish Hatchery System units open to hunting or sport fishing to 21.

A complete list of all refuges and hatcheries opening or expanding hunting or fishing is available in the final rule. View an online list and map. The final rule includes the opening of sport fishing for the first time and the expanding of existing migratory bird, upland game and big game hunting to new acres at Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge.

The rule also continues the effort from last year's rule toward revising refuge hunting and fishing regulations, so they more closely match state regulations where the refuge is located. Whenever refuge regulations depart from state regulations for safety or conservation compatibility reasons, these extra regulations are as consistent as possible across all refuges in a given state. Interior worked closely with the states during the rule making process.

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