REACTION: Trump’s Make America Beautiful Again Agenda

Courtesy NSSF

A little while ago, we identified a portion of the “Big Beautiful Bill” that we, along with many others, felt was detrimental to our enjoyment of public lands.

As it turns out, that portion of the bill was removed by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah). Yes, you read that correctly; the Republican majority in Congress actually listened to their constituents. This was a very welcome development. Now, we’re learning that there’s another Trump card (pun intended). It’s an Executive Order, not a law or bill. Reading through it, this author doesn’t see anything objectionable to those of us who love the outdoors.

That said, what’s up with the name? Yes, the Trump administration loves the Make (Noun) (Verb) Again format. But America IS beautiful and it never stopped being beautiful, despite all of the ups and downs of the last 60 years. A better name would be “Safeguard America’s Natural Beauty Forever,” but I guess we can’t all get what we want.

So what do the same industry experts who monitor conservation initiatives think of it? Well, here’s the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) with its reaction.

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NSSF applauds President Donald Trump’s Executive Order Establishing the “Make America Beautiful Again” Commission. President Trump signed the Executive Order on July 3, which will prioritize expanding public land access for hunting and encourage wildlife conservation efforts through proactive, voluntary, on-the-ground collaborative efforts.

“President Trump’s Executive Order is a significant step toward ensuring public lands continue to be places where the public can safely practice and pass along the traditions of hunting and recreational target shooting,” said Joseph Bartozzi, NSSF President and CEO. “Equally important is the commitment to sustainable wildlife conservation. Thriving wildlife across America is successful only through the investments by hunter-conservationists and firearm and ammunition manufacturers that pay the overwhelming share of excise tax dollars to fund this vital effort. America’s successful wildlife conservation is the envy of the world. Conservation-minded policies keep us connected to the lands and the wildlife we enjoy.”

President Trump’s “Make America Beautiful Again” Commission will be chaired by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. The commission’s focus will be on conserving America’s national treasures and natural resources, facilitating interagency coordination on conservation efforts, providing the president with actionable recommendations to improve conservation efforts, developing policies to recover fish and wildlife populations through collaboration over regulation and including state wildlife agencies in those efforts.

Key to these efforts will be developing policies that will expand access to public lands, national parks, national forests and wildlife refuges to promote outdoor recreational activities, including hunting.

President Trump’s Executive Order noted that hunters, hikers, anglers and outdoorsmen and women have been stripped of their ability to access public lands through mismanagement of public land resources, regulatory overreach and neglect of routine maintenance. The Executive Order also recognized that bureaucratic restrictions have undermined outdoor traditions and threatened conservation funding. Additionally, President Trump noted that since the NSSF-supported Great American Outdoors Act was signed into law, the outdoor recreation economy has grown to $1.2 trillion in economic output and comprises 3.1 percent – or 5 million – jobs in the United States.

President Trump’s Executive Order follows Secretary Burgum’s Secretarial Order to begin implementing key provisions of the NSSF-supported Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences (EXPLORE) Act, which was signed into law last year. The EXPLORE Act includes the NSSF-priority Range Access Act, which requires the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), after consultation with local stakeholders, to build recreational shooting ranges in each BLM district and National Forest in areas where opportunities do not already exist. These opportunities will allow for more access to public shooting ranges for target practice, to sight in rifles and shotguns before the hunting season and venues for in-person hunter safety education courses, all without competing against private ranges that offer the same opportunities.