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August 1, 2024
NSSF Welcomes USFWS Expanded Hunting Opportunities on Public Lands
WASHINGTON, D.C. — NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, welcomes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) announcement that more opportunities will be opened for sportsmen and women to hunt and fish on National Wildlife Refuges (NWR). The USFWS announced that 53 new hunting and fishing opportunities across 211,000 acres on 12 NWRs are being added to the 400 existing NWRs and 35 wetland management areas where hunting and fishing opportunities already exist.
“This announcement of more and expanded hunting opportunities on National Wildlife Refuges is an accomplishment all the firearm industry celebrates, along with all outdoorsmen and women,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President & General Counsel. “It has long been the goal that hunting opportunities should be opened on public lands and made available to the public. They are the public land owners and the ones who are vested in seeing these hunting opportunities benefit sustainable wildlife conservation. The firearm industry is particularly proud of the conservation investment made by firearm and ammunition manufacturers through the federal firearm and ammunition excise taxes that are the primary driver of wildlife conservation in America.”
NSSF welcomes USFWS’s recent announcement embracing voluntary pilot programs to educate hunters about alternative ammunition options for hunting. Hunters and recreational marksmen should be free to choose the ammunition that will best serve their needs for ethical and efficient harvesting of wildlife. NSSF is disappointed, however, that today’s opening of additional big game hunting opportunities will restrict the use of traditional ammunition. Wildlife management decisions should be based on sound scientific field data. Restrictions on the use of traditional ammunition should only be imposed where the sound science establishes a wildlife population decline caused by hunters’ use of traditional ammunition and there is no other less-costly remedial measure available to effectively address the issue. Today’s “Hunt-Fish” rule does not set forth such science that would justify restricting the use of traditional ammunition on the newly opened big game opportunities.
NSSF is proud that the firearm and ammunition industry has invested over $27.38 billion, when adjusted for inflation, to wildlife conservation in America since 1937 through the Pittman-Robertson federal firearm and ammunition excise taxes. These taxes, paid by the manufacturers, are dedicated solely for the conservation of wildlife, the habitats in which they thrive, hunter education and construction of new, or expansion of existing recreational target shooting ranges to promote safe and responsible firearms skills, handling and ownership. These 10 to 11 percent excise tax dollars collected for the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act are specifically designated to be used by state wildlife agencies for conservation and related purposes. Collectively, purchasers of firearms and ammunition, hunters and the industry are the greatest source of wildlife conservation funding.
In 2024, USFWS apportioned over $1.6 billion to the states for wildlife conservation projects, of which $944 million was sourced from Pittman-Robertson excise taxes paid by firearm and ammunition manufacturers.
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About NSSF
NSSF is the trade association for the firearm industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of thousands of manufacturers, distributors, firearm retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations and publishers nationwide. For more information, visit nssf.org.
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NSSF Media contact:
Mark Oliva
202-220-1340
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