Staff Reports

A proposal for new and expanded hunting and fishing opportunities has been announced by David L. Bernhardt, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior.
The proposal focuses on adding more opportunities to utilize over 2.3 million acres of land at the 97 national wildlife refuges and nine fish hatcheries throughout the nation. According to a news release, the proposal is “the single largest expansion of hunting and fishing opportunities by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) in history.”
Almost 900 new hunting and fishing opportunities would be created with the proposal, adding to the 1.4 million acres of land that was added last year for such endeavors.
“America’s hunters and anglers now have something significant to look forward to in the fall as we plan to open and expand hunting and fishing opportunities across more acreage nationwide than the entire state of Delaware,” said Secretary Bernhardt in the news release. “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Hunt Fish Chiefs have been instrumental in our effort over the past two years to streamline our regulations and identify new opportunities for sportsmen and women like no other previous administration.”
New opportunities would include the opening of migratory bird hunting, upland game hunting, big game hunting and sport fishing at places such as the Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge in Florida.
The proposal is intended to be in place in time for the 2020-2021 hunting seasons. Public comments about the proposal can be made on the issue starting April 9. A notice will be posted on http://www.regulations.gov.