Funding Boost for USDA Program Expanding Public Access & Habitat Restoration Draws Sportsmen’s Praise
$8 million in federal funds allocated to “Open Fields” public access program to increase hunting and angling opportunities on private lands.
WASHINGTON –-(Ammoland.com)- WASHINGTON – -(Ammoland.com)- The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership today welcomed a U.S. Department of Agriculture announcement regarding continued funding for the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program, popularly known as “Open Fields,” which is dedicated to expanding public access and conserving valuable fish and wildlife habitat on privately owned lands.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack stated that public access programs in 2011 will receive additional grants totaling $8 million toward the total of $50 million that is available for three years through Open Fields. Many of the grants funded in 2010, the first year of the program’s implementation, were for multiple years and will receive continued funding in 2011.
One of the signature issues of the TRCP, Open Fields was successfully included in the 2008 Farm Bill following the efforts of the TRCP and many TRCP partner organizations. Open Fields can open millions of additional acres of private lands to hunters and anglers by augmenting existing state access programs and encouraging new walk-in programs. The increased funding facilitates the creation or expansion of existing public-access programs or provides landowner incentives to increase sportsmen’s access and improve fish and wildlife habitat on newly enrolled lands.
“By allocating these millions of dollars to Open Fields, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is showing its support of practices that benefit fish and wildlife and public access to the nation’s private lands,” said Jennifer Mock Schaeffer, Farm Bill coordinator for the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies and chair of the TRCP Agriculture and Wildlife Working Group. “Without the USDA’s vote of confidence, these important conservation programs would not otherwise be funded.”
The $8 million to be made available in 2011 is in addition to the initial VPA-HIP monies approval for the program in 2010; approximately $11.75 million was awarded to 17 states last year following approval of these funds.
“Our nation’s hunting and fishing traditions are inextricably tied to the health of America’s privately owned farm, ranch and forest lands,” said Dave Nomsen, vice president of government affairs for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever and member of the TRCP Agriculture and Wildlife Working Group. “We appreciate Secretary Vilsack’s commitment to American sportsmen and our shared natural resources through his support of continued funding of Open Fields.”
Twenty-six states currently have public access programs for hunting, fishing and other related activities. Sportsmen are encouraging states and tribal governments to submit VPA-HIP applications for 2011 funding through the federal government’s grants portal to the Farm Service Agency for consideration.
“America’s sportsmen-conservationists already have demonstrated overwhelming support of the Open Fields program – and of similar private-lands conservation programs included in the 2008 Farm Bill,” said TRCP President and CEO Whit Fosburgh. “We offer the USDA our thanks for continuing to see that public access and fish and wildlife conservation remain priorities of the federal government, and we look forward to working to sustain funding for these crucial programs as the 2012 Farm Bill is deliberated in the months to come.”
- Learn more about Open Fields and other Farm Bill programs.
- Read more about the TRCP’s work on the Farm Bill.
About:
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the tradition of hunting and fishing. Visit: www.trcp.org