The U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance is a non-profit organization based in
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...
, United States, that was formed in 1977. The Alliance defends the rights of
hunters
Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...
,
anglers,
trappers
Animal trapping, or simply trapping or ginning, is the use of a device to remotely catch and often kill an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including for meat, fur/feathers, sport hunting, pest control, and wildlife man ...
, and sport shooters.
History
The U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance was originally known as the Wildlife Legislative Fund of America and Wildlife Conservation Fund of America and was formed in 1977 after an Ohio Ballot threatened Ohio's trapping community. The organization was officially incorporated in 1978 as The U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance. Throughout the years the Alliance has worked on numerous bills and ballot issues that deal with hunters' rights.
Advocacy
The U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance mostly speaks out against
animal rights
Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...
groups in favor of the rights of hunters, trappers, and other sports shooters.
Maine's chapter of The U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance spoke out against a proposed state park in Maine that would take away access to a large amount of public land that was used largely for recreational activities like hunting and snowmobiling.
In 2004, there was a disagreement on whether or not to hold a black bear hunting season in New Jersey. The DEP Commissioner Bradley Campbell wrote a letter to Council Chair W. Scott Ellis requesting to not hold a black bear hunting season, but the season was scheduled for December 6–11, 2004. Campbell then used his authority to refuse to issue hunting licenses to hunters for black bears. The U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance filed an unsuccessful lawsuit against the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) which challenged Campbell's authority to refuse hunting licenses.
The U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance spoke out in favor of the
. It urged members to call their representatives in Congress and ask them to vote in favor of the bill.
The bill is an
omnibus bill
An omnibus bill is a proposed law that covers a number of diverse or unrelated topics. ''Omnibus'' is derived from Latin and means "to, for, by, with or from everything". An omnibus bill is a single document that is accepted in a single vote by ...
that covers several firearms, fishing, hunting, and federal land laws.
It passed the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
on February 5, 2014.
Programs
Families Afield was created in collaboration with the
National Shooting Sports Foundation
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) is an American national trade association for the firearms industry that is based in Newtown, Connecticut. Formed in 1961, the organization has more than 8,000 members:
The NSSF helps write safety a ...
, and the
National Wild Turkey Federation
The National Wild Turkey Federation is an international non-profit organization whose mission is 'the conservation of the wild turkey and the preservation of our hunting heritage.' It currently has more than 250,000 members in the United States ...
and works to get more involvement of women and families in hunting. The program created the "apprentice" hunting license that allows someone who has not completed hunter's safety to accompany an experienced hunter on a hunt.
Outdoor Business Council is a program that was created to unite all of the outdoors businesses under one organization to help protect the rights of outdoorsmen all over the United States.
References
{{Reflist
External links
Official website
Hunting in the United States
Hunting organizations
Recreational fishing organizations
Non-profit organizations based in Ohio
Organizations based in Columbus, Ohio
Organizations established in 1977
1977 establishments in Ohio