[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 120 (Sunday, August 21, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 21, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                  HUNTING ON NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGES

                                 ______


                           HON. PAT WILLIAMS

                               of montana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Sunday, August 21, 1994

  Mr. WILLIAMS. Mr. Speaker, I am today joined by 15 of our colleagues 
in introducing a resolution affirming the Nation's tradition of hunting 
on national wildlife refuges.
  This bill simply states our longstanding, correct Federal policy that 
hunting is an appropriate, and often necessary, compatible use of our 
national wildlife refuges.
  The reason for introducing this bill today is because the U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service is completing its work on a review of the wide-
range recreational and economic uses of our wildlife refuges to 
determine if those uses are compatible with the purposes for which the 
specific refuge was established. This bill sends a strong message that 
in reviewing these uses, we would intend that the agency start from the 
assumption that hunting and fishing are appropriate uses of a refuge.
  Mr. Speaker, hunting in America is, unfortunately, controversial. 
There are well-intentioned, but I believe misguided, efforts underfoot 
to limit hunting on our wildlife refuges and game ranges. These efforts 
are misguided, first of all, because carefully managed hunting is in 
many, if not all cases, important to the overall health of a refuge 
ecosystem. They are misguided, second, because they target the easy 
bogeyman of hunters and hunting, instead of focusing on the real threat 
to wildlife from the loss and mismanagement of wildlife habitat.
  The purpose of my bill is to reestablish our historical understanding 
that recreational hunting and fishing is consistent with the protection 
and careful management of wildlife. Congress has, over the years, shown 
increasing support for hunting at each juncture in which wildlife 
refuge policy was reviewed.
  In Montana, as it is in many States, hunting is central to our 
lifestyle. For thousands of Montanans, and for visitors to the State, 
the year is measured in hunting seasons: the fall for elk and deer, the 
spring for bear, the winter for mountain lion. Montanans have long 
understood the importance of habitat protection and careful management 
of hunting in order to assure healthy wildlife populations.
  On the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Montana 
there is elk, deer, coyote, waterfowl, and small game hunting. Because 
the elk population is on a steady increase, the annual refuge hunt has 
increased, more than doubling since the last decade. This fall the 
State plans to allow about 930 elk tags, compared to an average of 
about 400 per year in the 1980's. The deer season on the refuge is 
unlimited for Montana residents; refuge officials estimate the deer 
population varies between 5 to 15 per square mile. The CMR provides one 
of Montana's--and America's--great hunting experiences available on 
public land.
  At the Red Rock Lakes refuge near Yellowstone National Park hunting 
is allowed for waterfowl, deer, elk, moose, and antelope. Thriving 
moose populations have allowed a steady increase in moose tags. The 
Fish and Wildlife Service is considering some area restrictions on elk 
hunting in order to assure public safety, and to fulfill their mandate 
that refuge hunting be high quality and a fair chase.
  And at the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge near Stevensville, 
MT, there is top-notch waterfowl hunting. That refuge has a serious 
overpopulation problem with deer, and so the refuge managers have 
promoted archery hunting, which is safer, given the refuge's location 
within a populated section of the valley.
  Montana's hunters and fishers understand that the linchpin to the 
protection of wildlife and game is the protection of wildlife habitat. 
National wildlife refuges are simply the finest wildlife habitat we 
have in this country, and the hunters and anglers who enjoy these 
resources are, simply, the strongest supporters of the refuge system.

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