Boone and Crockett Club Welcomes USDA Increased Commitment to Big Game Migration Corridor Conservation

USDA Announces Historic Investment in Wildlife Conservation, Expands Partnership to Include Additional Programs

MISSOULA, Mont. – The Boone and Crockett Club welcomed U.S. Department of Agriculture Under Secretary Robert Bonnie’s announcement of a new funding commitment to big game migration corridor conservation on private lands in Idaho and Montana. In addition, the Department will be expanding the highly successful Working Lands for Wildlife initiative that targets funding for wildlife habitat conservation on working lands. Following is a statement by James L. Cummins, President of the Boone and Crockett Club.

“The Club has a long history of making sure private landowners have incentive-based programs for wildlife conservation.  We greatly appreciate the announcement by U.S. Department of Agriculture Under Secretary Bonnie for USDA’s increased commitment of funding for working lands conservation that will support voluntary, incentive-based conservation efforts through their new Frameworks for Conservation Action. Directing $500 million to these Frameworks through the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Farm Bill conservation programs like the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) and Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) will help farmers and ranchers continue to improve their operations while also benefiting the fish and wildlife that depend on these private lands. 

In particular, we applaud the expansion of the big game migration corridor pilot project to now include not just Wyoming but also Idaho and Montana. As western big game species move across the landscape, they naturally ignore the boundaries between federal, state, Tribal, and private lands. Improving the habitat throughout migration corridors will help ensure these arteries of protein continue to flow across the landscape with few barriers. Private landowners in the West are critical to this process and we greatly appreciate USDA’s financial commitment to support voluntary conservation efforts to sustain these iconic western big game animals.”