House Natural Resources Committee Passes Legislation to Protect All Hunting Opportunities on Public Lands
Safari Club International 06.12.13
Safari Club International (SCI) thanks the 28 members of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources for their bipartisan vote to pass H.R. 1825, the Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act of 2013, today. Further, SCI commends Congressman Dan Benishek (MI) for his leadership to advance H.R. 1825. SCI respectfully requests that this important legislation be brought to the House of Representatives for a floor vote soon.
The Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act of 2013 will recognize the rightful place of recreational hunting, fishing, and shooting on federal lands and protect those opportunities from being closed to the public without justification. Millions of Americans, including thousands of SCI Members, hunt and shoot on our nation’s public lands. By passing this legislation out of committee and to the House floor, the committee has helped to protect our hunting heritage for future generations.
“Public lands are essential to American sportsmen and women as a means of access to available land,” said SCI President Craig Kauffman. “H.R. 1825 protects the opportunity to hunt on those lands. It is essential that the House advance H.R. 1825 with a vote, so that the U.S. Senate can adopt this legislation, necesary to preserve the sporting heritage of Americans for years to come.”
The U.S. House of Representatives passed similar legislation in the 112th Congress and Safari Club International remains hopeful to have the current bill move quickly to a floor vote for passage. Hunters all across America are encouraged to contact their lawmakers and ask them to protect American’s sporting heritage for future generations by supporting H.R. 1825.
Protecting hunters’ rights and promoting wildlife conservation, SCI’s two areas of focus, historically has been the interest of hundreds of individuals long before SCI was established. But how did SCI as an organization begin?
Forty years ago, there were many safari clubs across the country made up of local, unaffiliated groups of hunters. One such was Safari Club of Los Angeles, which was formed in April 1971 by forty-seven individuals. In early 1972, an out-of-towner from a similar club in Chicago attended one of the monthly Wednesday night meetings, and it was decided that the L.A. club should attempt to combine with the one in Chicago to make it an affiliated chapter. The founder of Safari Club of Los Angeles, C.J. McElroy, went to the Windy City and instituted the new chapter.
Eleven months after the formation of Safari Club of Los Angeles, on March 9, 1972, the name was changed officially to Safari Club International. SCI continued to reach out to other independent safari clubs throughout the United States in an effort to combine them into a single overall organization.
Today, interest in SCI’s two primary missions has grown a worldwide network. Subsequent involvement and promotion of these missions is rooted in each of our 55,000 members, supported through each of our 190 membership chapters found across the globe, and put into action by government representatives and personnel both nationally and internationally.
In this way, we can encourage an appreciation for nature and wildlife so that conservation efforts remain strong, while also fighting to protect our rich hunting heritage. Big changes can be achieved through the endeavors of many who are united in a mission – the mission of Safari Club International.
