Conservation

WASHINGTON - Today, President Donald J. Trump proposed a $12.8 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 budget for the Department of the Interior, including a new, innovative $50 million initiative that would begin to transform and build a more stable and permanent wildland firefighting workforce to better align with the challenges of prolonged periods of wildfire activity and the need to more aggressively implement active vegetation management.

According to the Boone and Crockett Club, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) should be fully and permanently funded as intended when this law passed in 1964. Two Montana Senators with a track record of supporting active and healthy forest and rangeland management, public lands and public access, and the state’s traditions of hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation, Jon Tester (D) and Steve Daines (R), have recently joined other lawmakers in a bipartisan effort to make this a reality.

According to the Boone and Crockett Club, one of the most significant pieces of legislation in the history of wildlife conservation, now almost 50 years old, is undergoing much-needed steps toward modernization to improve efficiency.

Secretary of the Interior, David Bernhardt, today signed new Endangered Species Act (ESA) rules that increase transparency, make it easier for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) to work with the states and give landowners more opportunities to promote conservation for imperiled species.

The Boone and Crockett Club today endorsed the nomination of Aurelia Skipwith as the new U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director. Skipwith, an attorney and scientist, currently serves as deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife, and parks at the U.S. Department of the Interior.