I have spent most of my life around hunters, shooters, conservationists, and the places that bring us together. And if there is one thing those years have taught me, it is that access matters.
You can teach someone to shoot. You can teach hunter safety and ethics. You can explain the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation and the extraordinary role hunters have played in restoring wildlife populations and habitat across this country. But eventually, you have to give people a place to go.
That is why the Trump administration and Department of the Interior deserve real credit for the historic expansion of hunting and fishing opportunities finalized this summer and published in the Federal Register this week.
The numbers alone are impressive. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is opening or expanding hunting and fishing at 111 field stations, including 107 national wildlife refuges and four national fish hatcheries. Fourteen refuges and three hatcheries will offer hunting or sport fishing for the first time. Altogether, Interior says the final rule creates 1,488 new hunting and fishing opportunities across 32 states, with more than 92 million acres - more than 95 percent of National Wildlife Refuge System lands - now available for hunting.
That is a remarkable accomplishment. But what matters most to me isn't the acreage - it's what happens on that acreage.
It's a father or mother taking a child hunting for the first time. It's a young hunter finding a place close enough to home that hunting can become part of his or her life rather than something experienced only through a screen. It's an experienced sportsman introducing a friend to the outdoors. It's another generation learning that wildlife doesn't simply exist - it has to be managed, habitat has to be protected, and conservation requires active participation.
Those experiences ensure a hunting tradition survives. They are also how conservation survives.
For too long, hunting access and conservation have sometimes been presented as competing interests. Anyone who has spent a lifetime in this community knows better. Hunters have been among America's most important conservationists for generations. They contribute directly to wildlife management and habitat restoration, support rural communities and outdoor economies, and develop a personal stake in protecting the wild places and wildlife they encounter.
The Department of the Interior itself recognizes that relationship. Hunting and fishing on refuges aren't simply opened indiscriminately. Federal law requires these activities to be compatible with the purposes of the individual refuge and the mission of the Refuge System. The Fish and Wildlife Service coordinates with state wildlife agencies, evaluates wildlife and habitat considerations, and conducts environmental reviews before expanding opportunities. Expanding responsible access gives more Americans a stake in conserving the wildlife and wild places that make hunting possible.
The administration also deserves credit for addressing something hunters experience far too often: unnecessary regulatory complexity. Alongside the new opportunities, the Fish and Wildlife Service is making more than 1,000 modifications to existing regulations, with an emphasis on clearer rules and better alignment with state wildlife regulations. That may sound bureaucratic compared with opening millions of acres, but it matters almost as much.
A hunter shouldn't need to be a lawyer to understand whether the rules change when he crosses an invisible boundary from state-managed land onto a federal refuge. Where conservation objectives allow it, aligning federal and state regulations makes compliance easier, respects the traditional role of states in wildlife management, and removes unnecessary barriers between Americans and the lands they own.
As someone who has dedicated much of my professional life to promoting hunting, shooting, conservation, and the responsible use of firearms, I believe we should recognize progress when we see it. At The 1791 Foundation, our mission is to preserve these traditions for the next generation. We support firearm education, shooting sports, conservation, and programs that give Americans - especially young Americans - the opportunity to participate in them.
Those priorities are connected. A young person who learns to shoot safely may become tomorrow's hunter. A new hunter may become tomorrow's conservationist. A conservationist may become the person who fights to preserve a wetland, restores wildlife habitat, mentors another hunter, or ensures that a public shooting range remains open. But that chain only continues if people have opportunities to participate.
I've been fortunate to spend a lifetime doing something I care deeply about: helping people discover hunting, shooting, and the outdoors, and working to make sure those opportunities will still exist for the generations that follow us. That is why this action by President Trump, Secretary Doug Burgum, and the Department of the Interior matters. Opening more land to responsible hunting and fishing isn't simply about giving today's sportsmen another place to spend a Saturday morning. It is about creating the experiences that produce tomorrow's hunters, conservationists, and stewards.
If we want Americans to protect our hunting heritage, we must give them the opportunity to experience it. This administration just gave millions of Americans more opportunities to do exactly that.
– Peter Churchbourne
Peter Churchbourne is Executive Director of The 1791 Foundation and a lifelong hunter, shooter, and conservationist.
