Safari Club International Encourages Senate Action on the Sportsmen’s Act of 2013
Safari Club International 08.02.13
Safari Club International (SCI) today commended Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) for introducing the Sportsmen’s Act of 2013, the first comprehensive bill to benefit America’s sportsmen and women in the 113th Congress.
SCI encourages Members of the Senate to sign on as co-sponsors of the bill, and urges support of its important provisions. The package combines several individual bills protecting the interests of sportsmen and women nationwide.
“Passage of the Sportsmen’s Package is vital to protecting the rights of sportsmen and women nationwide,” said SCI President Craig Kauffman. “First and foremost, this bill will help secure hunting rights on our public lands for future generations. We encourage the Senate to take action as soon as possible,” he added.
The Sportsmen’s Act of 2013 includes many key legislative priorities for sportsmen, including:
Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act: Protects the public’s right to engage in recreational hunting, fishing, and shooting on federal lands, thus ensuring sound and scientific management and conservation of wildlife and habitat.
Permanent Electronic Duck Stamp Act: Grants the Secretary of the Interior permanent authority to authorize any state to issue electronic duck stamps. It also outlines electronic duck stamp application requirements.
The Hunting, Fishing and Recreational Shooting Protection Act: Excludes traditional ammunition and fishing tackle from the Toxic Substances Control Act, protecting hunters and anglers from arbitrary bans on conventional hunting and fishing equipment.
Recreational Lands Self-Defense Act: Prohibits the Secretary of the Army from promulgating or enforcing any regulation that prohibits an individual from possessing a firearm at a water resources development project administered by the Chief of Engineers.
Polar Bear Conservation and Fairness Act: Allows for the Secretary to authorize permits for importation of legally harvested Polar Bears taken from populations approved for hunting in Canada before the 2008 import ban was enacted by the U.S.
Bows Transported through National Parks: Allows hunting bows to be transported across national park lands. Currently, firearms can be legally transported, but not archery bows.
“We are thankful to have champions of our cause like Senator Murkowski in the United States Senate,” said Melissa Simpson, SCI Director of Government Affairs and Science Based Conservation. “Her leadership will help protect the future of recreational hunting, fishing, and sport shooting in the United States,” Simpson concluded.
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.
