Washington, DC -(AmmoLand.com)- On May 29, 32 national pro-sportsmen’s organizations, including the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF), sent formal comments to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) on the proposed management plan for recreational shooting in Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests (ARNF) in Colorado.
The comments respond to a USFS press release issued on May 4, announcing the beginning of a public scoping process on a proposal to include Forest Plan management direction for recreational sport shooting, and requests comments from the public on the proposal.
Currently, the 1997 Forest Plan does not provide designated direction on how to manage recreational shooting sports on Forest Service land. Because the issue has become more prevalent in recent years, the letter directly requests that the USFS conduct a thorough analysis of the shooting access needed to maintain adequate shooting opportunities. Developing an effective, long-term management plan is inadequate without first understanding the volume of recreational shooting taking place in the planning area of ARNF.
In 2006, 40 pro-sportsmen’s organizations, along with the Department of Interior (DOI), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the USFS, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which created the Federal Lands Hunting, Fishing and Shooting Sports Roundtable.
Renewed in 2014, the overarching goal of the Roundtable, as stated in the MOU, is, “for planning and implementing mutually beneficial projects and activities related to hunting, fishing, and shooting sports conducted on federal lands.”
The letter references the Roundtable as a comprehensive source of expertise that should be fully utilized by the USFS when examining current and potential shooting areas during the scoping process.
CSF, along with the organizations signed onto the comments letter, are committed to working with the USFS throughout the entirety of the scoping process to ensure that land used by hunters and recreational shooters is protected and conserved for future generations.
About Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation
Since 1989 CSF has maintained a singleness of purpose that has guided the organization to become the most respected and trusted sportsmen’s organization in the political arena. CSF’s mission is to work with Congress, governors, and state legislatures to protect and advance hunting, angling, recreational shooting and trapping. The unique and collective force of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC), the Governors Sportsmen’s Caucus (GSC) and the National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses (NASC), working closely with CSF, and with the support of major hunting, angling, recreational shooting and trapping organizations, serves as an unprecedented network of pro-sportsmen elected officials that advance the interests of America’s hunters and anglers.
For more information on CSF, visit: www.SportsmensLink.org.