Biden Administration Breaks Deal on Big-Game Hunting

Federal regulators have tossed a last-minute Trump-era agreement with the National Rifle Association about wildlife conservation which critics said was designed to help trophy hunters.

Aurelia Skipwith, director of the Fish and Wildlife Service under Trump, signed the agreement on Jan. 13, just seven days before President Joseph Biden was sworn in.

“The service’s memorandum of understanding with the National Rifle Association was not adequately reviewed by agency staff or the Department of the Interior solicitor’s office,” said an agency spokesperson. “Therefore, the service terminated the agreement.”

The 10-year agreement called for the agency to work with the NRA to develop “science-based strategies” for wildlife conservation. The agreement also called for the Fish and Wildlife Service and the NRA to promote hunter education, expand access to shooting ranges and hunting and promote marksmanship and shooting safety.

Brett Hartl of the Center for Biological Diversity, which asked that the agreement be rescinded, said the likely goal of the agreement is “increasing the opportunity for trophy hunters to kill big game animals and put their heads on walls.”

https://www.dcreport.org/2021/08/25/biden-administration-breaks-deal-on-big-game-hunting/