On Friday, the House passed a bill that will expand access to hunting and fishing areas on public lands, protect the right to use lead bullets and strip wolves of federal protection in four states.
Approved on a 242-161 vote, it would let hunters return to the U.S. 41 polar bear carcasses shot in Canada before 2008 while allowing limited imports of ivory.
“This legislation would open up our most pristine protected lands to road-building, motorized vehicles and other activities that undermine the explicit intent of the Wilderness Act,” said Gene Karpinski, President of the League of Conservation Voters.
Detractors of the bill say it will undermine protections for wolves and other wildlife while reducing efforts in the fight against ivory trafficking.
The bill is headed to the Senate next.
If enacted, the legislation “could prove devastating for the recovery of wolves in the continental United States,” Drew Caputo, vice president of the environmental group Earthjustice said.
Here are some tips on scouting/hunting public land:
