For Chris Wood, the proposed rollback of the so-called roadless rule is personal.
When the Trout Unlimited CEO worked for former U.S. Forest Service chief Mike Dombeck in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he provided policy insight on what would become a major pillar of modern forest conservation. But that pillar has also proved to be a lightning rod as of late.
A groundswell of public input has temporarily halted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s plans to revisit its rules around drain tile setback calculations, according to a post the federal agency made on X (formerly Twitter) on August 14.
“The Fish and Wildlife Service thanks the more than 200,000 commenters who responded to the request for information on the process for calculating setbacks for the drain tiles around the wetland easements,” reads the post.
On July 24, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published notice of a 14-day public comment period regarding drain tile setbacks on private lands adjacent to federal wetland easements. While the agency has yet to propose a new policy, some hunter-led conservation organizations fear the information-gathering period could signal changes on the horizon.
USFWS seeks public comment on setback rules for drain tile Read More »
Federal natural resource agencies are accepting public comment on a proposal to increase public land user data tracking in 40 different pilot locations across the U.S. But members of the outdoors community find some of the proposed tactics for data collection concerning.
Section 133 of the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experience (EXPLORE) Act, which President Biden signed into law on Jan. 4, 2025, mandates leaders of the Department of the Interior, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to increase data collection on how the public uses some of its federal lands and waters.
Proposed Federal data tracking plan on public lands raises red flags for some Read More »
The Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 – commonly known as the “Farm Bill” – cleared the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, April 30 in a 224-200 vote.
It now heads to the U.S. Senate for committee markup, likely to happen around the end of May or early June, per Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.)
Farm Bill clears U.S. House Read More »
In early March, the House Committee on Agriculture voted to approve a provision in the draft Farm Bill that has sporting groups concerned over potential consequences for training hunting dogs.
After months of widespread hand-wringing over the absence of a Farm Bill, Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) introduced the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 on Feb. 13. It was referred to the House Committee on Agriculture, which hosted a meeting and mark-up for the bill on March 3.
Farm Bill provision triggers concerns over sporting dog training, events Read More »
Former New Mexico congressman and Bureau of Land Management director nominee Stevan Pearce faced the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee for a nomination hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 25 answering multiple rounds of targeted questions regarding his views on everything from energy development to resource management plans to grazing. But, as expected, the topic of public lands selloffs was the star of the show.
On Wednesday, March 4, without any further debate, the committee voted 11-9 along party lines to advance Pearce’s confirmation to the full U.S. Senate.
Nominee for BLM director clears committee Read More »
Former New Mexico congressman and Bureau of Land Management director nominee Stevan Pearce faced the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee for a nomination hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 25 answering multiple rounds of targeted questions regarding his views on everything from energy development to resource management plans to grazing. But, as expected, the topic of public lands selloffs was the star of the show.
Nominee for BLM director faces pushback regarding his record on public lands Read More »
On Feb. 11, the Department of the Interior announced the availability of some $8 million for big game migratory habitat conservation across the West, building on funding previously secured through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and federal and private partners.
The funding came as part of the MABA 250 initiative from the Make America Beautiful Again commission, chaired by Interior secretary Doug Burgum.
Sign up for the Outdoor News Weekly Newsletter and get 2 months of FREE access to OutdoorNews.com – packed with hunting, fishing, and conservation news. No Catch.
This offer includes digital access only (not the printed edition)
We’ve simplified things. Now you only need one password to access all your Outdoor News digital content.
If you hit the help page, follow the directions so you don’t miss out on any of our great content.
Let’s get you reading!
We’ve simplified things. Now you only need one password to access all your Outdoor News digital content.
• Click Continue below.
• You’ll be taken to the OutdoorNews.com sign-in screen.
• Don’t have an account yet? Create one—it’s quick!
• After signing in, click the E-Edition Login button again. When the pop-up appears, just click Continue. You’ll either:
If you hit the help page, follow the directions so you don’t miss out on any of our great content.
We know you love the outdoors—now we want to make OutdoorNews.com the ultimate destination for all things hunting, fishing, and conservation.
Take our brief 3 minute survey to share your thoughts, and help us build the best outdoor website on the planet. As a thank you, we’ll send you a special offer!
Together, we can make OutdoorNews.com even better.
For a limited time, you can get full access to breaking news, all original Outdoor News stories and updates from the entire Great Lakes Region and beyond, the most up-to-date fishing & hunting reports, lake maps, photo & video galleries, the latest gear, wild game cooking tips and recipes, fishing & hunting tips from pros and experts, bonus web content and much, much more, all on your smartphone, tablet or desktop For just a buck per month!
Some restrictions apply. Not valid with other promotions. $1 per month for 6 months (you will be billed $6) and then your subscription will renew at standard subscription rates. For more information see Terms and Conditions. This offer only applies to OutdoorNews.com and not for any Outdoor News print subscriptions. Offer valid thru 3/31/23.
Already a subscriber to OutdoorNews.com? Click here to login.
