Trump administration to ease hunting, fishing regulations at national parks

President Donald Trump’s administration is looking to allow more hunting and fishing in national parks, refuges and wilderness areas controlled by the federal government.

The order to ease regulations was issued months ago in January, The Associated Press reported.

Despite the order being about five months old, The New York Times first reported on it this month as it took effect on May 4.

Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told agencies to remove “unnecessary regulatory or administrative barriers” and to justify the regulations they wanted to keep.

“Expanding opportunities for the public to hunt and fish on Department-managed lands not only strengthens conservation outcomes, but also supports rural economies, public health, and access to America’s outdoor spaces,” Burgum wrote at the time. “The Department’s policy is clear: public and federally managed lands should be open to hunting and fishing unless a specific, documented, and legally supported exception applies.”

The order affects 55 locations, the National Parks Conservation Association said.

Hunting was allowed at 76 sites across the country, but most were in Alaska. Fishing was allowed in 213 sites before the order was issued, the AP reported.

Some locations are now allowing hunting stands, which could damage trees. Hunters can also train dogs, use vehicles to retrieve animals, and hunt along trails, according to the NPCA.

Hunting groups support the updates, Oregon Live reported.

Not all agree with the changes.

The former head of the park service’s biological resources department, Elaine Leslie, said the order does not support science-based management of the lands, the AP reported.

It could also affect the experience of other visitors to the national parks.

“I don’t want to take my young grandchildren to a park unit only to have a hunter drag a gutted elk they shot across a visitor center parking lot. Nor enter a restroom where hunters are cleaning their game,” Leslie told the AP. “There is a time and place for hunting, trapping and fishing ... but that doesn’t mean every place has to be open to every activity especially at the expense of others and degrading our public resources.”

Outside magazine has compiled a list of changes that have already been documented at the following locations:

• Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida
• Big Thicket National Preserve, Texas
• Canaveral National Seashore, Florida
• Cape Cod National Seashore, Massachusetts
• Curecanti National Recreation Area, Colorado
• Gulf Islands National Seashore, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida
• Jean Lafitte National Historic Park, Louisiana
• Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, Maine
• Lake Meredith National Recreation Area, Texas
• Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, Mississippi
• Missouri National Recreational River, Nebraska and South Dakota
• Obed Wild and Scenic River, West Virginia
• Oregon Caves National Preserve, Oregon
• Padre Island National Seashore, Texas
• Timicuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, Florida

The publication said the following sites may also be impacted:

• Amistad National Recreation Area, Texas
• Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Wisconsin
• Assateague Island National Seashore, Maryland and Virginia
• Bighorn Canyon National Preserve, Montana and Wyoming
• Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, Kentucky and Tennessee
• Bluestone National Scenic River, West Virginia
• Buffalo National River, Arkansas
• Cape Hatteras National Seashore, North Carolina
• Cape Lookout National Seashore, North Carolina
• Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Oklahoma
• City of Rocks National Reserve, Idaho
• Craters of the Moon National Preserve, Idaho
• Cumberland Island National Seashore, Georgia
• Water Gap National Recreation Area, New Jersey and Pennsylvania
• Fire Island National Seashore, New York
• Gateway National Recreation Area, New Jersey and New York
• Gauley River National Recreation Area, West Virginia
• Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Arizona and Utah
• Great Egg Harbor Wild and Scenic River, New Jersey
• Great Sand Dunes National Preserve, Colorado
• Hagermann Fossil Beds National Monument, Idaho
• John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway, Wyoming
• Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, Washington
• Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Arizona and Nevada
• Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, Washington
• Little River Canyon National Preserve, Alabama
• Mojave National Preserve, California
• New River Gorge National River, West Virginia
• Niobrara Scenic River, Nebraska
• Ozark National Scenic Riverway, Missouri
• Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan
• Point Reyes National Seashore, California
• Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River, Texas
• Ross Lake National Recreation Area, Washington
• Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan
• St. Croix National Scenic Riverway, Minnesota and Wisconsin
• Tall Grass Prairie National Preserve, Kansas
• Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River, New York and Pennsylvania
• Valles Caldera National Preserve, New Mexico
• Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, California

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