Our U.S. Government has finally done something good for anglers and hunters.

According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the firearm industry trade association, they applaud the U.S. House of Representatives for the bipartisan approval of the Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act, H.R. 556.

This crucial legislation would ensure our nation’s number one resource of conservation funding remains in place and that hunters, recreational shooters and anglers throughout the nation can continue to enjoy America’s hunting and shooting sporting heritage.

“This important bipartisan legislation will protect the primary funding for wildlife conservation in America,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel. “Firearm and ammunition manufacturers and importers are responsible for over $31 billion of conservation funding apportioned to the states - when adjusted for inflation - since 1937, and that has been the leading funding source of wildlife and habitat conservation in America.

“Efforts by bureaucrats to limit or eliminate the use of traditional lead ammunition and fishing tackle puts those conservation funds at serious risk by increasing costs and creating barriers to participation in outdoor recreation. The bipartisan passage of the Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act by the House of Representatives is a significant step to protecting wildlife conservation and preserving access to our public lands.”

This NSSF-supported legislation would require the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture to provide site-specific peer-reviewed scientific data that demonstrates traditional lead ammunition or fishing tackle is causing detrimental wildlife population impacts before prohibiting their use by hunters and anglers.

NSSF denounced the previous administration’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service final rule published in 2023 that offered sportsmen and women a “bait-and-switch” deal to open hunting and fishing opportunities on National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs), but banned the use of traditional lead ammunition and fishing tackle. The rule offered no scientific evidence of detrimental population impacts to justify banning the use of traditional ammunition, despite promises by the Biden administration to “follow the science.”

Requiring the use of alternative ammunition would put a significant cost barrier to participation in hunting and fishing on public lands. Alternative ammunition (i.e. steel) is, on average, 25 percent more expensive than traditional lead ammunition and less available in the market. That barrier would “price out” many hunters and anglers and decrease the excise tax funding paid by firearm and ammunition manufacturers and importers they support.

Firearm and ammunition manufacturers and importers pay an excise tax of 11 percent on long guns and ammunition and 10 percent on handguns into the Wildlife Restoration Trust Fund, commonly referred to as the “Pittman-Robertson excise tax.” The firearm and ammunition industry was directly responsible for over $804 million Pittman-Robertson taxes of the nearly $1.3 billion apportioned to the states through the USFWS for state conservation and education programs in 2026 alone.

MENTORED YOUTH

TROUT DAY

March 28 marks the special day for youths under 16 years of age to fish for trout before the statewide trout opener April 4 when the streams will be crowded. All that is needed is a Mentored Youth Permit or a Voluntary Youth Fishing License that can be obtained from most any tackle shops or the fish commission’s website. The Mentored Youth Permit is free but the Voluntary Youth License is $2.97.

Youths must be accompanied by a licensed adult with trout permit and youths may catch two trout seven inches or longer.