Today, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Republican Rob Bishop (R-Utah) released the following statement on the passage of H.R. 1222.  Author of this legislation, U.S. Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wash.) also provided a statement.

“H.R. 1222 provides states with greater flexibility to create safe, quality shooting facilities on public lands. It also encourages responsible hunting and shooting, while ensuring the American system of wildlife conservation funding remains strong for the future. Today’s vote is a win for hunters, a win for sportsmen and even more so, a win for wildlife conservation and restoration.” – Ranking Republican Rob Bishop (R-Utah)

“As a sportsman who taught his sons how to hunt, I know the important role our public target ranges play in giving hunters a safe location to practice, prepare and learn about hunting safety and responsible gun ownership. I am proud that my bipartisan bill, the Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act has passed, and look forward to it being signed into law soon.”
– Representative Ron Kind (D-Wis.)

Outside Group Support:

“Now more than ever, America’s sportsmen and women need places to hone their skills and learn the fundamentals of hunting and the shooting sports. This bill furthers these goals by making it easier to build and operate public shooting ranges that are critical in our efforts to recruit, retain and reactive hunters and target shooters that are the backbone of the American System of Conservation Funding.”
- Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) President Jeff Crane

“This has been a key piece of legislation for NSSF to grow and sustain hunting and recreational target shooting that will additionally benefit wildlife conservation. We are deeply appreciative to our leaders on both sides of the aisle and on both sides of Capitol Hill for their perseverance and foresight to benefit state wildlife agencies, recreational target shooting and sustained wildlife conservation.”
- Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel

Background:

H.R. 1222 amends the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (PRWRA) to facilitate the construction and expansion of public target ranges by: (1) authorizing a State to pay up to 90% of the costs of acquiring land for, expanding, or constructing a public target range; (2) authorizing a State to elect to allocate 10% of a specified amount apportioned to it from the federal aid to wildlife restoration fund for those costs; (3) limiting the federal share of those costs under the PRWRA to 90%; and (4) requiring amounts provided for those costs under the PRWRA to remain available for expenditure and obligation for five fiscal years.

The legislation also instructs the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to cooperate with State and local authorities, and other entities, to implement waste removal and other practices on federal land used as public target ranges to encourage continued use for target practice or marksmanship training.