NRA Board Issues Policy Statement On H.R. 701, The Conservation And Reinvestment Act (CARA)

"MOVED, That The NRA reaffirms its endorsement of the original wildlife conservation and restoration provisions of H.R. 701, as introduced by Rep. Don Young, (R-AK), an NRA Director, which embody the NRA`s long standing support for more shooting ranges, more public hunting opportunities, and sound wildlife management policies which help preserve and increase wildlife. The NRA has no way of knowing what form the CARA legislation will eventually take. We will not support any bill which does not promote greater and better hunting and shooting opportunities, which does not embrace sound principles of wildlife management, and which fails to protect adequately the constitutional rights of private property ownership.

Of specific concern, however, to the NRA is the tendency for land acquired by the federal government to be declared off limits for hunting and shooting or its use so encumbered as to negate its suitability for such purposes. In determining the NRA`s final position on any CARA measure, its Board of Directors will be guided by its commitment to the principle of no net loss in federal land ownership open to public hunting and shooting activities. The NRA will not support, as a general principle, increased acquisitions of federal lands under CARA or any similar measure where such acquisitions do not provide increased hunting and shooting opportunities.