As of yesterday, the force fourth was definitely with America’s hunters and anglers as dozens of site-specific restrictions on hunting and trapping were officially lifted across roughly 76 federal sites, thanks to a swift directive from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
The changes are the latest implementation of Secretarial Order 3447, the landmark “open unless closed” policy Burgum signed in mid-January. That order set a clear new default for Department of the Interior-managed lands that would see hunting and fishing opportunities presumed open unless a specific, documented legal, safety, or resource-protection reason requires otherwise. It directed agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and Bureau of Reclamation, to review and remove unnecessary bureaucratic barriers while better aligning federal rules with state wildlife agencies.
Naturally, sportsmen’s groups wasted no time popping bottles on the heels of the news. The Sportsmen’s Alliance called it “a victory in the open-access battle we’ve been fighting for decades.” Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, and the NRA Institute for Legislative Action all praised the move for reducing red tape, respecting hunters’ longstanding role as conservationists, and boosting opportunities on this country’s 480 million acres of public lands.
Fast-forward to April 21, when the Interior Department issued a detailed memo and spreadsheet to land managers spelling out exactly which rules were coming off the books. The guidance was straightforward, outlining that “closures and restrictions not required by law must be the minimum necessary for public safety or resource protection.”
Yesterday, those targeted changes went live and included allowing the discharge firearms from, toward, or across trails in places like Colorado’s Curecanti National Recreation Area (where it was previously banned), cleaning and processing game in restrooms or other designated areas and skipping outdated requirements like tagging hunting dogs at Missouri’s Ozark National Scenic Riverways.
Colorado’s Curecanti National Recreation Area | NPS
“For decades, sportsmen and women have been some of the strongest stewards of our public lands, and this order ensures their access is not unnecessarily restricted by outdated or overly broad limitations that are not required by law,” Aubrie Spady, a spokeswoman for the Interior Department, said in a statement.
Core safety rules remain firmly in place. Reckless discharge, endangering others, or violating broader federal and state firearms laws are still illegal everywhere. Developed areas, campgrounds, and visitor centers stay protected where justified and the memo makes clear that managers must keep any truly necessary safeguards, reiterating that nothing is being thrown out that actually protects people or wildlife.
That balance is exactly what most hunters and anglers have been asking for. Sportsmen's groups have long pointed out that hunters and anglers already fund the lion’s share of wildlife conservation through license fees, Pittman-Robertson excise taxes, and voluntary habitat work.
But as many of us would expect, pearl clutching was an inevitable byproduct of the memo and ruling. Some environmental voices and park advocacy groups have expressed concern that the changes were rolled out quickly and could lead to conflicts or unintended pressure on resources. Pro-access advocates counter that the policy still demands science-based, site-specific decisions, and that over-regulation in the past often did more to frustrate users than protect habitat.
From where we sit, this feels like a long-overdue course correction toward treating public lands as working landscapes that welcome multiple uses, including the traditions that have sustained America’s wildlife for generations. As long as safety stays paramount and stewardship remains our North Star (which seems to be what the order and memo promote, at least for now), yesterday’s effective date should mean more boots on the ground, more fish in coolers, and more us getting acquainted with the great outdoor spaces we all collectively own.
