John Edwards for President-Hunting and Fishing Bill of Rights and Responsibilities

Hunting and Fishing Bill of Rights and Responsibilities

"Growing up in small, rural towns, I learned early that America has been blessed with a wealth of natural resources. Just as it is our right to enjoy America's forests, mountains, fields and streams, it is also our responsibility to protect them for generations to come." -- John Edwards

Nearly half of American adults fish, hunt or participate in outdoors recreation relating to fish and wildlife each year. We need to ensure opportunities for all Americans to enjoy the country's natural resources and protect these resources for future generations. Today, John Edwards announced his Hunting and Fishing Bill of Rights and Responsibilities, outlining five principles for access to public lands, gun rights, conservation, and safe, healthy fishing. [USFWS, 2007]

Improve Access to Public and Recreational Lands

Too often, Americans are unable to enjoy America's natural places and wildlife. Access issues -- including rapid private development and poor trail maintenance -- create barriers for cyclists, runners, hunters, fishers and others who depend on access to recreational land and water. Edwards will help Americans get outdoors.

Provide more paths into the wilderness: Edwards will increase support for state "Open Fields" programs encouraging rural landowners -- including farmers and ranchers -- to open their private lands to hunters, fishers and nature enthusiasts. Edwards will also create more trails and access points into the wilderness by converting defunct industrial uses, like the Rails to Trails program does for hiking and snowmobiling. [CSF, 2006; RTTC, 2007]
Form partnerships to provide local input on public access issues: Edwards will give local conservationists and outdoor enthusiasts a voice in federal public lands policymaking through new regional public access councils. The councils will advise land agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park and Forest Services, based upon the perspectives of hikers, hunters, fresh and saltwater fishers, conservationists, scientists and others.
Preserve the roadless backcountry: Undeveloped wilderness provides the best wildlife habitat and excursion areas for fishers and hikers. In 2004, George Bush offered up 60 million of America's last wild lands to corporate interests by repealing the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. Edwards will reinstate the rule permanently to keep the backcountry wild, rather than building roads for logging, drilling and development. [Outdoor Industry Foundation, 2006]

Protect the Tradition of Responsible Gun Ownership

Edwards hunted when he was young and grew up in rural areas where owning a gun was part of a way of life. He respects that way of life and the individual right to own firearms guaranteed by the Second Amendment. He believes that law-abiding citizens should be able to own firearms to protect themselves and their families, enjoy sport shooting and take part in the time-honored tradition of hunting. At the same time, we've all seen the terrible consequences when guns fall into the hands of criminals and the mentally ill. We can do two things at once: protect gun rights and promote gun safety.

Preserve Access to Clean, Healthy Water for Fishing

The longstanding American tradition of angling is threatened by pollution in our nation's waters. Under President Bush, Clean Water Act enforcement has fallen while more than 300,000 miles of rivers and shoreline and 5 million acres of lakes are too contaminated for recreational use. Edwards will protect the tradition of fishing by protecting America's waterways. [Iowa DNR, 2007; NRDC, 2004]

Clean up America's lakes, streams and oceans: Edwards will affirm the application of the Clean Water Act to all the nation's waters, reversing President Bush's drive to limit its authority, and recommit to the goal of making all U.S. He will ban new or expanded concentrated animal feeding operations to reduce agricultural waste spills. waters fishable and swimmable.
Protect fish and humans from toxic mercury: There are official mercury advisories on the fish from a third of the nation's lakes and wetlands. The Bush Administration has suppressed evidence of mercury's effects, exempted the worst polluters from regulations and offered business-friendly trading schemes that fail to combat local "hot spots" of pollution. Edwards will require mandatory reductions of mercury pollution by 90 percent -- a figure set by science, not industry lobbying -- with national monitoring. [CSM, 1/24/07]
Support inland fisheries: Edwards will reinstitute science as the guiding factor in managing inland fishery resources -- which has been absent in the Bush administration. He will end the uncertainty and delays that have been caused by improper implementation of conservation plans, directing federal agencies to reach swift resolution while balancing the interests of conservationists, sportsmen and industry.
Support recreational saltwater fishers: Edwards will work with fishers and conservation groups to restore depleted fishery stocks, balancing the needs of commercial and recreational fisheries. He will explore innovative approaches to setting catch shares and collect better data. Finally, he will fund recreational fishing advocates within the national Marine Fisheries Service.

Secure our Natural Heritage for Future Generations

At every opportunity, George Bush has put narrow corporate interests ahead of regular families, causing new threats to our nation's great wildlife habitats. Edwards believes that protecting our natural heritage for future generations to enjoy is among our highest duties.

Protect resources for federal land conservation: Edwards will protect much-needed resources for our national park, forest and wildlife refuge systems and invest in the improvements the National Park Service deserves approaching its 100th anniversary. He will also write the National Landscape Conservation System into law to permanently protect 26 million acres of nationally significant scenic areas. [NPCA, 2007; Wilderness Society, 2007]
Restore balance to federal land management: The Bush Bureau of Land Management has prioritized faster processing of oil and gas drilling applications over the needs of citizens and long-term wilderness conservation. John Edwards will restore a balanced approach to land management. His administration will always include the regional sporting and naturalist communities in drafting land use plans and will grant permits only after considering potential damage to wildlife habitat, hunting, fishing and outdoor activities. [BLM, 2005]
Protect America from invasive species: Invasive plants, insects and animals are increasing, partly due to poorly regulated imports. Invasive species cause more than $120 billion in damage annually. Edwards will strengthen the Agriculture Department's ability to protect domestic species from potentially dangerous plant and animal species, including from imports, and provide more resources for interstate inspections. [NPCA, 2007; TNC, 2007]

Expect Citizens to Share Responsibility for Stewardship

The government alone cannot adequately care for the hundreds of millions acres of state and federal lands and waters, much less the millions more acres of natural resources -- including 75 percent of the nation's wetlands -- that are under private ownership. Edwards will create new ways for regular Americans to take responsibility for conserving America's natural treasures. [EPA, 2007]

Help private landowners with conservation: Edwards will support and expand successful conservation partnerships, including the Agriculture Department's Conservation Reserve Program, to help landowners adopt conservation methods and restore their wetlands, forests and farm lands.
Create an Outdoor Career Corps: Edwards will address understaffing at conservation agencies in part by expanding the natural resources career programs at 12 rural Job Corps centers nationwide. The programs will connect rural youth to jobs and skills in natural resources management, such as surveying land, preventing and fighting wildfires, and managing species.
Involve sportspeople in wildlife management: To create new opportunities for hunters and save taxpayer dollars, Edwards will encourage the National Park Service's wildlife experts to consider working with qualified local sportsmen, rather than paid sharpshooters, to manage overpopulated herds in national parks.
Study the impacts of private wildlife cultivation: The increase in fish and game farms, high-fence hunting operations, and sport cultivation of non-native species has raised concerns across the country. Edwards will appoint regional commissions made up of sportspeople, conservationists, scientists and business owners to quantify the economic benefits and study ways to control the impact on native species.