GOP shoots down Testers Sportsman's package

[Outdoor Junkie]

If you need an e-mail to send to your friends and family, here you go. Copy, passte and send!

Hey guys,

I’m not usually one to get involved in stuff like this, but the biggest piece of legislation in support of hunting in my lifetime was shot down by the republicans in the senate a couple days ago. The Sportsmen's Act took a great deal of work to bring together no less than 46 of the nation's leading sportsmen and conservation groups. The cost of the Sportsman Act of 2012 ($140Million) is offset by revenue increases totaling $145 Million (mostly a duck stamp price increase). This is supported by Duck’s Unlimited!! The CBO has projected that this will REDUCE the deficit!

Here is a link to the senators who voted against this and their phone numbers.

http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/open-country/2012/11/tell-senate-pass-sportsmens-act-now


The bill is being renegotiated, but it’s our responsibility to make sure the sportsman’s voice is being heard. Here is a list of all the organizations that support it. CALL SENATOR SESSIONS AND YOUR SENATOR TODAY!

* American Fisheries Society * American Fly Fishing Trade Association * American Sportfishing Association * Archery Trade Association * Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies * B.A.S.S. LLC * Bear Trust International * Berkley Conservation Institute * Boone and Crockett Club * Campfire Club of America * Catch-A-Dream Foundation * Center for Coastal Conservation * Coastal Conservation Association * Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation * Delta Waterfowl Foundation * Ducks Unlimited * International Game Fish Association * International Hunter Education Association – United States of America * Masters of Foxhounds Association * Mule Deer Foundation * National Marine Manufacturers Association * National Rifle Association * National Shooting Sports Foundation * National Trappers Association * National Wild Turkey Federation * North American Bear Foundation * North American Grouse Partnership * Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association * Orion The Hunter’s Institute * Pheasants Forever * Pope & Young Club * Public Lands Foundation * Quail Forever * Quality Deer Management Association * Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation * Ruffed Grouse Society * Shimano * Sportsman’s Alliance for Alaska * Texas Wildlife Association * The Conservation Fund * Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership * Trout Unlimited * Whitetails Unlimited * Wild Sheep Foundation * Wildlife Forever * Wildlife Management Institute *

Sorry guys, but these yahoos need to hear from us! Please forward this to all your hunting and shooting friends and family.

 

[BuzzH]

Make the calls and send emails. I took an hour out of looking for a once in a lifetime ram to call Barrasso and Enzi. Their staffers were both surprised they'd vote against sportsmen.

 

[Straight Arrow]

My Senators are Tester and Baucus who obviously voted for the bill. I sent strong messages via the website emails to Senators from Wyoming and Idaho, informing them that in many circles they are now viewed as anti-hunting and anti-public access. 'Probably won't carry much weight as a non-constituent, but if enough of us reach out to neighboring states's Senators with strong criticism of their position voting against this bill, then perhaps it will have an impact.

My message:
I am angered and appalled that a Senator from my neighboring state would vote against sportsmen and help defeat Tester's bill that is not partisan and actually helps fiscally.

Senator Barasso now has taken on a new image in many circles as being anti-hunting and anti-public access.

There is an ever-increasing groundswell of lifelong Republicans like myself who unfortunately are having to look toward Democrats to protect those cherished hunting, angling, and public land interests that have so long been a valuable legacy in the West.

 

[spook12]

Don't forget to mention in your phone call the 20 to 25 hunting buddies and family members that you will be explaining to that ''Our Senator'' has abandoned us.

Oh they ''Love'' that!

 

[Khunter]

PUBLIC LANDS:
Proposed budget fix could revive Tester sportsmen's package
Phil Taylor, E&E reporter
Published: Friday, November 30, 2012
A Montana senator has proposed adding a crop insurance provision to his sportsmen's bill to bring it into compliance with budget law.

Democrat Jon Tester has offered to add a "sodsaver" amendment to S. 3525, a package of 17 bills that would conserve wetlands, expand funding for shooting ranges and increase recreational access to public lands, among many other provisions.

According to a Senate aide, Tester made the offer to Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), who on Monday raised a point of order blocking the bill, arguing that it violates the Budget Control Act of 2011 (E&E Daily, Nov. 27).

Tester said Monday he would have to find an additional $140 million to offset the bill's duck stamp provision, even though the Congressional Budget Office found that the bill would reduce the deficit by $5 million over the next decade.

Tester's proposal, according to the aide, would add a sodsaver provision that was included in the Senate's farm bill by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) before it was marked up last April by the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee.

The amendment, which is supported by sportsmen and conservationists, would reduce insurance premium supports and other subsidies when farmers kill off native grasslands to turn them into production. It would save about $175 million, more than enough to make up for the duck stamp costs, the aide said.

A Sessions aide last night said he had not seen the sodsaver proposal but that the senator remains committed to working with Tester to fix the bill.

Tester last night filed a placeholder amendment to the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill. If Sessions agrees to the fix, the amendment would be swapped out with the revised sportsmen's bill.

The National Audubon Society, National Rifle Association and National Catholic Rural Life Network supported the sodsaver language when it was offered as an amendment to the House farm bill by Reps. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) and Kristi Noem (R-S.D.).

"I have guns, Gods and greens all behind this one," Walz said at the time, though he later withdrew the amendment amid opposition from Texan and Oklahoman representatives.

Supporters say the provision is particularly important for habitat vulnerable to crop conversions in the Northern Plains' prairie pothole region, including much of the Dakotas, eastern Montana, Iowa and Minnesota, which provides important nesting grounds for ducks and other birds.

Sportsmen and conservation groups continue to lobby hard for Tester's package, which is backed by the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, the National Rifle Association, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, the Nature Conservancy and dozens of other organizations.

"Senators should take advantage of this rare opportunity to act on a bill that has bipartisan and broad support," said Bob Bendick, director of U.S. government relations for the Nature Conservancy.

The bill is opposed by the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth, the Humane Society of the United States and some Democrats who have opposed language prohibiting U.S. EPA from regulating lead ammunition and for allowing a few dozen polar bear carcasses to be imported into the United States (Greenwire, Nov. 26).

 

[Ben Lamb]

Just heard that the calls to Senator Sessions are working. Now we have a problem with Senator Roberts, R-Kansas.

Here's his phone number: 202-224-4774

Make those calls!

 

[What Map]

Will do. First thing Monday morning.

 

[What Map]

Just heard that the calls to Senator Sessions are working. Now we have a problem with Senator Roberts, R-Kansas.

Here's his phone number: 202-224-4774

Make those calls!

I just left a message for Senator Roberts and the gentleman taking my information seemed to have heard my message before. He understood that republicans may be hurting themselves by not supporting Tester's bill. We'll see how this plays out.

 

[Khunter]

1. PUBLIC LANDS:
Senators agree to budget fix for sportsmen's package, but scant floor time remains
Phil Taylor, E&E reporter
Published: Tuesday, December 4, 2012

A bipartisan package of hunting, fishing and conservation bills is poised for passage after senators this weekend agreed to new crop insurance language to bring the legislation into compliance with budget law.

But Sen. Jon Tester's (D-Mont.) S. 3525, a package of 17 bills from Republicans and Democrats, will not likely be attached to a pending defense authorization bill, and it is unclear whether Senate leaders will allow floor time for the measure during the remainder of the lame duck.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) last night confirmed that he has accepted Tester's offer to add a sodsaver provision to the sportsmen's bill, which seeks to conserve waterfowl habitat, expand funding for shooting ranges and increase recreational access to public lands, among roughly a dozen other provisions.

"I think it's a good deal," Sessions said.

While the Congressional Budget Office estimated Tester's bill would save $5 million over the next decade, language authorizing the Interior secretary to raise the price of duck stamps and use the revenue to preserve wetlands ran afoul of the Budget Control Act of 2011.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), meanwhile, said she has agreed to let Tester take the sodsaver provision out of the farm bill she passed through the Senate last June.

The sodsaver amendment, which is supported by sportsmen and conservationists and was inserted in the Senate farm bill by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), would reduce insurance premium supports and other subsidies when farmers kill off native grasslands to turn them into production. It would save about $175 million, more than enough to make up for the duck stamp costs, a Senate aide said.

"I'd prefer they not go into the farm bill, but it matches completely with the duck stamp provisions," Stabenow said last night. "I'm a strong supporter of the sportsmen's bill, so we're going to let them do that."

Tester last week had proposed adding his amended sportsmen's bill to the defense authorization package, but with last night's cloture vote on the measure, he said it appears unlikely that will happen.

The Senate today or tomorrow is expected to complete work on the defense authorization bill and today will also vote on a U.N. treaty for people with disabilities. After that, the chamber is expected to move to either an extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a bill that would normalize trade relations with Russia, or Hurricane Sandy relief.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has not said whether he will bring the sportsmen's bill back up for a vote.

"We're going to remain hopeful that Reid will find a way to get this into something," said a conservation lobbyist in Washington, D.C. "We're in limbo right now, which is not really a good place to be."

Opposition over ammunition, tackle provision

Tester's bill is highly unlikely to move by unanimous consent because it is still opposed by Democratic Sens. Barbara Boxer of California and Ben Cardin of Maryland, among others, over a provision barring U.S. EPA from regulating lead ammunition and fishing tackle.

Boxer and Cardin yesterday held a press conference to announce the results of a National Academy of Sciences study on the lead exposure of Department of Defense personnel who work at shooting ranges (see related story). The report, Boxer and Cardin argued, makes the case for the lead provision in Tester's bill to be removed.

Boxer said she and Cardin put the kibosh on Tester's proposal to add his sportmen's package to the defense bill, as well as another from Environment and Public Works Committee ranking member James Inhofe (R-Okla.) that contained the EPA lead provision.

"I'm going to do everything I can to stop the provision that says EPA can never regulate any of the toxins in ammunition and fishing tackle," Boxer said. "This is a very important point. We have stopped it so far, and I'm doing my best to stop it because of this provision."

Their opposition means the bill will likely need floor time of its own in a jam-packed lame duck. Passage through normal order takes about three days if no senators agree to yield back their time.

Sportsmen and conservation groups continue to lobby hard for Tester's package, which is backed by the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, the National Rifle Association, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, the Nature Conservancy and dozens of other organizations.

The bill is opposed by the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth and the Humane Society of the United States over the lead provision and other language allowing a few dozen polar bear carcasses to be imported into the United States (Greenwire, Nov. 26).

 

[Khunter]

The folks who work hardest to remove all human access and use of our public lands is trying hard to sink Testers Sportsmens Package. Hopefully all sportsmen realize the Center for Biological Diversity is the enemy of not just sportsmen but all Americans, and out west, the longstanding but ever shrinking ability to make a living from our vast natural resources. Truly an insidious and well funded group out to steal the west and our way of life from those who live here.


PUBLIC LANDS:
Ads urge Reid to block lead provision in sportsmen's package
Phil Taylor, E&E reporter
Published: Thursday, December 6, 2012


New print and radio ads being run in Las Vegas this week by a green group urge Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to block legislation that would ban U.S. EPA from regulating lead in ammunition and fishing tackle.

The ad campaign by the Center for Biological Diversity includes dozens of spots on three Las Vegas radio stations and a full-page ad in the weekly publication Vegas Seven.

"Lead poisons families and the environment," says the print ad, which features a mother and her infant child. "So why is the Senate trying to kill efforts to protect kids and pregnant women from the toxic lead in ammunition?"

Reid in September began pushing for passage of Sen. Jon Tester's (D-Mont.) S. 3525, a package of 17 hunting, angling and conservation bills that includes language clarifying that U.S. EPA has no authority under the Toxic Substances Control Act to regulate lead in bullets, shot or fishing tackle.

The provision, which mirrors Tester's stand-alone S. 838, is backed by the National Rifle Association and the National Shooting Sports Foundation, among others, which argue that regulation of lead bullets could raise the cost of hunting and lower excise revenue for wildlife conservation.

But the language is opposed by a coalition of 200 conservation, birding and animal welfare groups, which last month warned that lead ammunition, shot and fishing sinkers have harmed bald eagles, swans, loons, condors, ravens, bears and other wildlife and that lead exposure can stunt mental development in children.

CBD and several other bird and wildlife groups in June also filed suit against U.S. EPA, arguing the agency erred in rejecting their petitions asking it to consider banning lead in ammunition (E&ENews PM, June 7).

"Senator Reid can and should stop this lethal legislation dead in its tracks," said Rob Mrowka, an ecologist at the CBD's Nevada office. "Lead ammo endangers hunters and their families, as well as bald eagles and other wildlife."

Critics have pointed to a 2008 study in North Dakota by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that found people who eat wild game killed with lead bullets appear to have higher levels of lead in their blood than people who do not, although others note that none of the more than 700 study subjects had unsafe blood lead levels.

The Fish and Wildlife Service banned lead shot for waterfowl hunting in 1991, but the element remains in ammunition for upland hunting and shooting sports and in fishing tackle. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that shooting ranges see as much as 1.5 to 23 tons of lead shot and bullets annually.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) last month offered an amendment that would bar EPA from proposing any lead regulations until a study is completed on the human and environmental impacts of lead ammunition, but it, along with all other amendments, was not allowed a vote.

It became a moot point after Republicans later defeated the bill on procedural grounds, since it violates budget law. But the bill now is poised for passage after senators agreed to new language to bring the legislation into compliance with budget law, although it is unclear whether Senate leaders will allow floor time for the measure during the remainder of the lame duck (E&E Daily, Dec. 4).

While lead poisoning in species including California condors, swans and loons is well documented, defenders of lead ammunition argue there is no evidence that bullets or fishing tackle is causing population-level declines in wildlife.

Susan Recce, NRA's director of conservation, wildlife and natural resources, warned against removing the lead provision from the bill.

"It would be a deal breaker," she said. "Hunters and their families are not at any higher risk than people who are not eating wild game."

But she added that people should be mindful of how they prepare harvested meat and cook it.

Tester's office yesterday said there are no discussions about removing the lead provision.

Reid won re-election over Sharron Angle by a narrow margin in 2010.

The CBD radio ads are being aired on KSNE (106.5 FM), KKLZ (96.3 FM) and KXPT (97.1 FM).