Chapter X

OUTDOOR ETHICS & RECREATION

The League is recognized for its leadership in building a national outdoor recreation policy that addresses both personal behavior and public opportunity. Spurred by escalating pressures on America’s outdoor resources after World War II, the League conceived and steered through Congress the idea of the national Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission (ORRRC)—established under President Eisenhower and managed by the Kennedy administration. The work of ORRRC was a driving force behind many gains over the last 30 years, including major expansion of the National Park System, success of the wilderness movement, comprehensive outdoor recreation plans in every state, and the clean water crusade. The ORRRC Report led directly to the establishment of the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation and the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). Essentially a League concept, the LWCF has been the primary source of financing for acquisition of new parks and other recreation lands by federal agencies—as well as for outdoor recreation planning, acquisition, and development at state and local levels. LWCF monies come from receipts from federal oil and gas leases. Through the 1980s, the LWCF was authorized at $900 million annually, but appropriations averaged only around $200 million. The League consistently has called for full funding.

• A) Principles
  • 1) There should be preserved, developed, and made accessible to all American people such quantity and quality of outdoor recreation as is necessary and desirable for individual enjoyment and physical, cultural, and spiritual benefits to the nation.
  • 2) Natural areas and areas dedicated wholly or largely to recreational use must be adequate in distribution and number to serve the entire public.
  • 3) The public interest requires that recreation and fish and wildlife values be considered fully in the planning and management of all public lands and waters.
  • 4) The League recognizes that this overall recreational objective can be achieved only through public and private cooperation in recreation planning and development. The League encourages private landowners to make recreation resources available to the public. Private owners who make their lands available for public recreation should be protected fully from legal liability. State and local agencies should make special enforcement or other arrangements for patrolling and protecting private properties that are opened for public recreation.
  • 5) Public programs should be designed and conducted to protect and, when possible, enhance recreation and fish and wildlife values.
  • 6) Abandoned railroad corridors should be preserved for public recreational use through a national rails-to-trails program.
  • 7) The League believes that it may be proper to permit hunting and fishing, subject to careful regulation, wherever populations of game species are large enough to support controlled harvest. Sport hunting and fishing are valid recreation pursuits in their own right. They may provide food for the table. Hunting is used as a management tool in balancing wildlife populations with the carrying capacity of their habitat.
  • 8) The League recognizes that, for reasons of public safety and public enjoyment of the natural environment and related purposes, it is in the public interest to close some areas to some or all forms of hunting and fishing—even where wildlife and fish populations are large enough otherwise to support such use.
  • 9) Hunting and fishing regulations should be based on scientific principles rather than on political pressures. They should reflect the best biological data available, and they should be set by trained personnel of fish and wildlife agencies, rather than by legislatures.
  • 10) Lawful hunters, anglers, and trappers should be protected from intentional harassment (blocked access, verbal interference, disturbing game) by other persons who are opposed to those activities.
  • 11) The illegal taking of wildlife and fish is unethical, unsportsmanlike, and destructive to fish and wildlife. The League supports vigorous enforcement of wildlife and fisheries laws and urges sportsmen to report violations.
  • 12) Billboards should be banned in scenic areas and restricted in size, number, and location outside of scenic areas.
• B) Firearms Rights
  • 1) The League supports the constitutional right of law-abiding citizens to own and use firearms.
  • 2) The League opposes legislation or other action that would require the general registration of firearms.
  • 3) The League objects to gun control proposals that do not address the problems of violent crime or safety; rather we support vigorous enforcement of existing firearms-related laws.
  • 4) The League supports efforts to prevent firearms sales to or possession by felons, people found by a court of law to be mentally incompetent or insane, and people under the age of 18.
  • 5) The League supports laws establishing severe and mandatory penalties for the use of firearms in the commission of any crime and severe penalties for flagrant misuse of firearms in any way. We oppose attempts to classify criminal activities as health care issues.
  • 6) The Leagueopposes federal controls on commerce in firearms and related equipment that restrict the lawful activities of private gun collectors, part-time dealers, gunsmiths, hobbyists, or black-powder users. The League opposes taxing firearms to pay for any problems other than sound conservation programs and related research.
  • 7) Although millions of semiautomatic firearms are used legally and routinely for recreation, some legislative proposals fail to distinguish “assault weapons” from other semiautomatic firearms and would ban or restrict the legitimate use of semiautomatic sporting arms. The League calls on Congress and other legislatures to reject such proposals restricting the possession and use of semiautomatic firearms.
• C) Shooting Ranges
  • 1) The League supports state legislation to protect shooting ranges that conform to safe and generally accepted operation practices from “nuisance” lawsuits or civil liability caused by natural and foreseeable risks and conditions. The League supports the creation of state commissions to help define range liability. The League opposes zoning changes that would close ranges in operation before the change of law.
• D) Outdoor Ethics Education
  • 1) Higher hunting license fees, if necessary, to finance actions such as new hunter-education programs that include concentrated attention to hunting ethics and supplementary training for all waterfowl hunters.
  • 2) Thedevelopment of a model hunter-mentoring program based on survey of existing programs. In addition, all hunter-education programs should include a significant unit on outdoor ethics and be conducted under the supervision of certified hunter-education instructors.
  • 3) Each state, through its fish and wildlife outdoor recreation agency, should educate the outdoor-using public about the ethics, as well as legalities, of various outdoor recreation activities. The League urges the fish and game agency of each state to provide vigorous leadership in statewide campaigns to educate hunters about safe, legal, and ethical practices.
• E) Law Enforcement
  • 1) New laws, as needed, in an effort to end poaching, hunting from vehicles, and indiscriminate shooting.
  • 2) Increased enforcement of federal wildlife laws by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, stiffer penalties for waterfowl violations, and vigorous enforcement of existing statutes.
  • 3) Licensing systems that make it possible to deny license sales to people convicted of major game laws and other hunting violations.
• F) Nontoxic Shot and Fishing Weights
  • 1) Because of the serious problem of lead shot poisoning of waterfowl and secondary poisoning of bald eagles, the League has supported a phased conversion to nontoxic shot for hunting migratory waterfowl. Similarly, the League encourages the use of nontoxic fishing weights in areas where lead can cause a problem.
• G) Hunting With Dogs
  • 1) TheLeague urges state fish and wildlife agencies to support hunting with the assistance of dogs, in order to enhance the recreational experience, and to reduce potential loss of game. At the same time, agencies should reasonably limit the time frame in which hunting dog training in the field can be conducted.
• H) Fair Chase
  • 1) The League urges states to:
    • a) Maximize conservation opportunities, fair chase, and ethics when creating policy on the use of electronic technology in hunting and in examining how the use of such technology affects the resources and the image of hunters.
    • b) Ban big-game shooting preserves that do not allow for fairchase hunting. Shooting pen-reared, human-conditioned biggame animals within the confines of fenced enclosures that prohibit their normal free-ranging movement is inconsistent with ethical hunting.
• I) Contests
  • 1) The League opposes fishing contests, because they tend to encourage unsportsmanlike practices.
• J) Personal Watercraft
  • 1) Jet Skis and other personal watercraft (PWC) are the fastest-growing segment of the boating industry. PWCs account for a disproportionate share of all boating accidents, and they contribute to air and water pollution as a consequence of inefficient 2-cycle engines and the manner in which they are normally used. Due to noise, speed and the ability to travel in shallow areas, PWCs can displace marine organisms from their habitat and disrupt the migration, feeding, and breeding patterns of fish and wildlife. PWCs are often incompatible with most other water-related recreation activities and are a source of intrusion into the tranquility necessary for aesthetic enjoyment of our lakes and rivers.
  • 2) The League urges:
    • a) All manufacturers to phase out the production and sale of 2- cycle engines of two horsepower and above, and to replace them with cleaner-burning engines until the 2-cycle engines can equal or exceed the standards of the 4-cycle engine.
    • b) Two-cycle engines and smaller should be replaced or upgraded as technology becomes available.
    • c) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other governmental bodies and agencies with regulatory authority over PWCs to adopt and implement the most restrictive rules possible that would prohibit the use of PWCs and limit their noise levels in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
    • d) State legislatures to amend boating laws to allow regulation of PWCs apart from other watercraft to enable counties and municipalities to adopt and enforce their own PWC regulations.
• K) Off-Highway Vehicles
  • 1) Off-highway vehicle use on federal lands should be prohibited except where and when expressly permitted.
  • 2) The League opposes the use of vehicles in streambeds.
• L) Land and Water Conservation Fund
  • 1) The federal government should provide financial assistance to states for outdoor recreation programs under matching-fund prin- ciples. The states similarly should assist local government outdoor recreation efforts.
  • 2) The federal Land and Water Conservation Fund should be financed at the full authorized level from a variety of sources, including but not limited to:
    • a) Fees for recreational use of federal lands, waters, and outdoor recreation facilities.
    • b) Excise taxes on recreational equipment.
    • c) Federal leasing of offshore oil and gas rights.
    • d) Energy resource leases on federal lands.
  • 3) The primary mission of the Land and Water Conservation Fund is the acquisition of the land base for outdoor recreation and the preservation of our natural heritage. Fund monies should be used only for outdoor recreation programs. Indoor recreation facilities should be financed separately.
  • 4) The Leaguehas endorsed the idea of a National Heritage Trust fund that would generate at least $1 billion in interest each year for parks, recreation, and historic preservation, as a successor to the Land and Water Conservation Fund.