Federal Hearing Held in Hayward, Wisconsin for Improving Federal Land Access

By: Paige Hansen

Monday the city of Hayward was the location for a federal hearing on “Improving Access and Opportunities for Hunting, Fishing and Outdoor Recreation on America’s Federal Lands.”

Testimonies were heard from witnesses from Wisconsin and Minnesota, they say reduced access to federal land is decreasing the amount of people recreating in outdoor activities like hunting.

Hunting and fishing, among other outdoor recreation activities, are a staple in the northland, and that’s just what witnesses stated in their testimonies during the hearing.

“Hunting doesn’t exist without access,” said Luke Hilgeman, Executive Director, International Order of T. Roosevelt.  “And what we see time and time, again, is that access is one of those issues that hunters name when they say I’m giving up the sport because I just can’t get to the land where the game is that I want to pursue.”

Wisconsin has 1.9 million acres of federally managed land. So the committee discussed roads into national forests being blocked off, and land being restricted off sporting activities.

Some of the topics brought up at the hearing were loss of access to bodies of water for fishing, land for hunting, recreation space and limited access for logging.

“We got some really good information from these witnesses, who talked about how the reduction in access to our federal lands is really causing a multitude of problems, from being able to get wood out of the national forests, which is one of the primary reasons they’re there,” said Congressman WI-07, Tom Tiffany.

Wisconsin Congressman Tom Tiffany and Minnesota Congressman Pete Stauber, both republicans, are members of the committee.

“To me, that’s unconscionable that we can’t access our federal lands and enjoy our federal lands. So that’s why this hearing was very important. And, and I know we’re going to take it back to Washington and look at some changes in the regulations, and the thought process of our agencies,” said Congressman, Minnesota District 8, Pete Stauber.

One of the witnesses at the hearing was Luke Hilgeman, who voiced his concern for the number of hunters who are quitting the sport because of the lack of land access. Hilgeman says he hopes the hearing was beneficial for the committee.

“I think, again, with a strong leader like Tom Tiffany in Congress, I hope that he’s able to convince some of his colleagues in the US Senate to take up some of the policies that they’ve already passed. His CHIPS and Science Act, which will return management of wolves to the States is a critical piece of policy that needs to get passed in the US Senate,” said Hilegman.

The committee says they are committed to pushing back against what they call President Biden’s anti-access policies and hope to improve opportunities for hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation.

Read the article here.