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CONSERVATION CORNER
For the week of September 3, 2007
Bush Signs Executive Order On Hunting
by James L. Cummins

This past month, President George W. Bush signed an Executive Order to direct federal agencies that have programs and activities that have a measurable effect on land management, outdoor recreation and wildlife management, including the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture, to facilitate the expansion and enhancement of hunting opportunities and the management of game species and their habitat.

Federal agencies shall, consistent with agency missions, conduct the following:

First, they shall evaluate the effect of agency actions on trends in hunting participation and, where appropriate to address declining trends, implement actions that expand and enhance hunting opportunities for the public.

They shall also consider the economic and recreational values of hunting in agency actions, as appropriate.

Third, the agencies shall manage wildlife and wildlife habitats on public lands in a manner that expands and enhances hunting opportunities, including through the use of hunting in wildlife management planning.

They shall also work collaboratively with state governments to manage and conserve game species and their habitats in a manner that respects private property rights and state management authority over wildlife resources.

Another point of the Executive Order I really like is that agencies shall establish short and long-term goals, in cooperation with state and tribal governments, and consistent with agency missions, to foster healthy and productive populations of game species and appropriate opportunities for the public to hunt those species.

The order also orders agencies to ensure that agency plans and actions consider programs and recommendations of comprehensive planning efforts such as State Wildlife Action Plans, the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, and other range-wide management plans for big game (i.e., white-tail deer) and upland game birds.

It also states that the agencies shall seek the advice of state and tribal fish and wildlife agencies, and, as appropriate, consult with the Sporting Conservation Council and other organizations, such as Wildlife Mississippi, with respect to the foregoing federal activities.

I commend President Bush for his leadership in establishing this Executive Order. As I said to him in the Oval Office in 2002, I am proud we have a president who understands the difference between a Remington 1100 and a Government 1040.