More than 100 hunters, anglers, conservation advocates, and outdoor-industry leaders are headed to the White House Thursday night for something Washington doesn't normally offer them: dinner with the president and a seat near the policy table.
President Donald Trump is expected to sign two executive orders expanding hunting and fishing access, reducing regulatory barriers, and directing agencies to reconsider policies affecting ammunition, fishing, and public-land use.
From Fox News:
Trump will deliver remarks to the sportsmen and industry representatives gathered for the dinner in the Rose Garden as his administration moves to open more public lands and waterways, ease regulatory barriers and promote hunting among younger Americans and veterans, Fox News Digital learned.
He is expected to sign a pair of executive orders in the Oval Office Thursday aimed at expanding "America’s public lands and waterways," promoting healthy wild game populations and expanding access to offshore recreational fishing, a White House official told Fox News Digital.
The dinner is symbolic, but the acreage isn't.
Last month, Trump's Interior Department finalized 1,488 new hunting and sport-fishing opportunities across 111 refuges and hatcheries in 32 states. Over 92 million acres, over 95% of National Wildlife Refuge System lands, is now available for hunting.
Fourteen refuges and three national fish hatcheries received hunting or fishing opportunities for the first time.
Trump has been moving in this direction since returning to office. His Make America Beautiful Again Commission was ordered to expand access to federal lands and waters for hunting, fishing, hiking, boating, and other recreation while emphasizing voluntary conservation and cooperation with states.
There's an important bit of history here. The Biden administration also expanded hunting and fishing opportunities, including a 2021 action covering 2.1 million acres. Hunting access didn't disappear under Joe Biden.
The disagreement increasingly became one of regulation.
Biden's Fish and Wildlife Service moved toward requiring non-lead ammunition and tackle at several wildlife refuges, citing documented risks lead poses to wildlife. Hunters' and sportsmen's groups argued that mandatory restrictions could raise costs and create another barrier to using public lands.
Trump's administration has taken a different approach. It has supported congressional legislation restricting federal bans on lead ammunition and tackle and has emphasized voluntary lead-free programs rather than broad federal mandates.
That difference gets to the heart of what Trump is doing.
Hunters aren't simply customers of America's public lands. They help finance conservation, manage wildlife populations, support rural economies, and pass traditions from one generation to another. A policy written for them without listening to them is likely to miss something important.
Trump apparently understands the value of putting those people in the room.
The expected orders also reach offshore recreational fishing, where the administration wants to reduce paperwork, move charter operators toward longer-term permits, modernize catch reporting, restore depleted fisheries, and examine using eligible offshore platforms as artificial reefs.
Those are the sorts of details that disappear when the public-land policy gets reduced to the usual Washington fight between "development" and "conservation."
Hunters and anglers know the two aren't always enemies.
They need healthy deer herds, clean water, functioning wetlands, productive fisheries, and access to the places where those resources exist. Conservation without access leaves people outside the fence. Access without conservation eventually leaves them with nothing worth hunting or catching.
Trump's record so far has emphasized both access and fewer federal barriers. Thursday night's dinner won't put another acre near a hunter.
The policies they're discussing around the table already have.