“This long sought win is a great victory for hunters everywhere, and reinforces the process of keeping national wildlife refuges open for hunting, by hunters,” said Bill Horn, the US Sportsmen’s Alliance director of federal affairs.

This long-running case began in 2003, when the Fund for Animals, which later merged with the HSUS, filed a lawsuit to stop hunting on 39 refuges. The U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance Foundation (USSAF), along with other organizations, intervened on behalf of sportsmen. Anti-hunting groups later expanded the lawsuit to nearly 60 refuges. USSAF defended this case for eight years, through many rounds of hard-fought and costly briefing, providing stability in the defense as the U.S. attorneys assigned to the case changed frequently over that time.

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Okay, I am going to unload a few tid-bits I have been collecting the past few months concerning new actions pending with land management issues.

BLM:  State-wide (California), BLM does not have a good inventory of routes nor do they have good mapping data.  To their credit, they are working to build a standard database of routes that reflects the management plans developed by the various field offices.

Forest Service:  Everyone is painfully familiar with the route designation process and the various gyrations over the past couple of years.  Well, the FS is at least trying to build a good database of their actions. I have used the term "database".  Specifically, this refers to the respective agencies moving into planning efforts using data that is coded into Geographic Information Systems (GIS) layers.

Many people are voicing complaints about the pending loss of their favorite trail or restrictions on off-road recreation and are threatening to file a lawsuit.  Sounds simple.  But, is it that simple?

Keep in mind, to file a lawsuit, you must have “standing” and prove that you are “harmed” by the decision.  So, just what is “standing” and what is “harm”?

You, the recreationist, have an opportunity to participate in the discussions and make our opinions known to the planning team about routes (roads and trails) that need to be considered for developing the alternatives to the Proposed Action. Participation establishes “standing”.

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