by Karen Mehall Phillips, NRA HLF and American Hunter - Tuesday, July 15, 2025
Today delivered good news for American hunters as the House Natural Resources Committee advanced two NRA-ILA backed bills: the Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act, sponsored by Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA-1) and the Grizzly Bear State Management Act, sponsored by Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY-AL). According to NRA-ILA, the bills now await a vote on the House floor.
As this NRA hunting news website shared in February, H.R. 556 would prohibit the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture from arbitrarily banning the use of traditional lead ammunition on federal lands and waters made available for hunting and fishing in their federal departments’ jurisdictions. The bill was introduced for good reason following repeated attacks on hunters and shooters by the Biden administration and other past administrations attempting to limit Americans’ access to hunt and shoot on federal lands. If passed, H.R. 556 will ensure that hunters can use the ammunition of their choice while preventing federal agencies from closing areas to hunting with lead ammunition without showing a scientific need to do so.
Of course, NRA members, hunters and shooters recognize that NRA-ILA has been involved in the fight to ban the use of traditional lead ammunition on Capitol Hill and in courtrooms for decades. Such bans not only would make hunting more difficult and more expensive for those who want to access these public lands, but those striving to ban lead ammunition on the grounds that it harms wildlife are doing so despite a lack of scientific data to back up their claims.
“As a lifelong hunter and recreational fisherman, I was appalled by the Biden-Harris administration’s quest to restrict access for our nation’s sportsmen and women who use traditional lead fishing tackle and ammunition on federal lands and waters,” said Congressman Wittman. “We cannot allow a ridiculous ban like this to happen again. Effective environmental stewardship and wildlife conservation rely on the valuable contributions of our hunters and anglers, and affordable lead ammunition and tackle are crucial to reducing financial barriers that limit accessibility for sportsmen and women.”
For more good news, H.R. 281 requiring the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove the long-since-recovered Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) population of grizzly bears from the list of endangered species passed out of the House Appropriations Interior and Environment Subcommittee on July 15 and is awaiting review by the full Appropriations Committee. As this NRA website, American Hunter and NRA-ILA have reported, while the original recovery goal for the species was 500 bears, today’s numbers exceed twice that amount. The fact the bears have recovered should be celebrated as an Endangered Species Act success story, yet animal rights extremists continue to promote emotion over facts and prevent returning their management to the states where it belongs.
“Federal officials at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service, influenced by wildlife lobbyists, have disregarded recovery data and the unique needs of states like Wyoming for far too long,” said Congresswoman Hageman. “The Greater Yellowstone Grizzly has far exceeded its recovery goals, yet Washington bureaucrats continue to obstruct delisting with needless delays and politicized decisions. These desk activists aren’t the ones dealing with the realities of an overgrown grizzly population—Wyoming families are.”
Pointing to increasing attacks on humans, livestock and property, Rep. Hageman went on to underscore how families shouldn’t have to live in fear of grizzly bears rummaging through their trash or endangering their children, adding that her legislation “addresses the concerns of the people of Wyoming that are being ignored by Washington.”
Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) introduced the Senate companion to the Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act, S. 537, and Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) introduced the Senate companion to the Grizzly Bear State Management Act, S. 316. Both bills are still awaiting review by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
NRA-ILA will continue to work alongside policymakers to ensure NRA-backed priorities such as H.R. 556 and H.R. 281 are passed out of the House and Senate and signed in to law by President Trump.