ATA’s Advocacy Efforts: What’s the Latest?

The ATA is always finding new ways to advocate for our members. We apply for grants, keep our eye on legislative topics and discuss the industry with like-minded outdoor organizations to help provide you with relevant and informational topics related to conservation and the archery and bowhunting industries.

ATA Members Help Bring Attention to the EXPLORE Act

Approximately 250 businesses and organizations throughout the country sent a letter strongly urging the Senate to pass the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences Act in June thanks to the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable and ATA’s action alert. “It streamlines efficiencies and updates processes that are critical to 5 million American jobs and over half of all Americans who get outdoors,” Dan Forster, ATA’s vice president, said. “This bipartisan legislation would appropriately meet the increased demand for access to the outdoors while also protecting public lands and waters for future use.”

ATA Adds Name to Sign-On Letters

The ATA has added our name to multiple policies, including support for:

- The Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act of 2024

This bill allows the Environmental Protection Agency to issue 15 permits as part of a pilot program for non-liable third parties to begin cleaning up abandoned mines, many of which are degrading fish and wildlife habitat.

- The Forest Conservation Easement Program

The FCEP will fill gaps in existing forest easement programs by providing funding for land trusts, tribes and other non-governmental organizations to acquire conservation easements on forestlands and by offering more broad land eligibility than existing programs.

- The Outdoor Recreational Outfitting and Guiding Act

This bill will help enhance outdoor recreation experiences on hundreds of millions of acres of federal lands.

New Forest Management Bills Introduced

The National Prescribed Fire Act would invest in the management of hazardous fuels to reduce the risk of wildfire. The Fix Our Forests Act is a comprehensive, bipartisan bill that would encourage active forest management and support community resiliency by simplifying and expediting environmental reviews for forest management projects, promote federal, state, tribal, and local collaboration and strengthen tools like the Good Neighbor Authority and Stewardship Contracting, among other provisions.

Bowhunter Participation Numbers

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s survey specialists provided the ATA with an update on the estimated number of bowhunters based on the 2022 National Survey on hunting participation. The estimate was generated from a modeling exercise and regression analysis using responses from a 2021 survey. It suggests that 3,945,873 people participated in the sport in 2022. This number is directly in line with ATA’s state-by-state estimate from 2021, which indicated 3.7 million active bowhunters in the U.S.

Advocating for You

The ATA seeks to keep members informed about all that is happening in the archery and bowhunting industries. Members will receive action alerts about important legislative issues when there’s a new policy on the table, data gathered from a wide variety of outdoor industry organizations and information roundups like this one.

To learn more about how the ATA advocates on your behalf, visit the Advocacy page of our website and attend the Archery and Bowhunting Summit at the ATA Show. The Summit is an opportunity to attend an array of advocacy seminars, participate in discussions and meet state agency professionals.

Questions? Contact Dan Forster at (507) 233-8143 or danforster@archerytrade.org.