The Department of the Interior has opened the doors to the largest expansion of hunting and sport fishing opportunities in the history of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The action is a massive deregulatory move just in time for the upcoming fall 2026 U.S. hunting season, which kicks off in late August and September.
More than 92 million acres, or more than 95% of National Wildlife Refuge System lands, are now available for hunting.
This translates to 1,488 new hunting and sport-fishing opportunities across 32 states, including 107 national wildlife refuges and four national fish hatcheries. It also opens 14 refuges and three hatcheries for the first time to hunting and sport fishing.
Fish and Wildlife Service Director Brian Nesvik said the move will “better align with state regulations, help promote healthy wildlife habitats and boost local recreation economies.”
“This expansion will provide incredible opportunities for sportsmen and women and their families across the country to pass on a fishing and hunting heritage to future generations and connect with wildlife,” he said in a Thursday statement. “We are committed to responsibly managing these areas for the benefit of future generations while fulfilling our conservation mission.”
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said it also reduces the “regulatory burden” of facilitating outdoor activities.
The Fish and Wildlife Service is making more than 1,000 modifications to existing regulatory provisions to better align federal regulations with state fish and wildlife laws. In doing so, the Interior Department said this “reduces confusion for the public, improves consistency across field stations and reinforces the role of states as primary managers of fish and wildlife resources.”
The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation commended this “historic expansion,” citing access as one of the most significant factors affecting participation in hunting and fishing.
“We are pleased to see the final rule better align federal regulations with state fish and wildlife management frameworks, helping reduce confusion for hunters and anglers,” Taylor Schmitz, senior vice president of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, said in a statement to The Washington Times. “This action also recognizes the essential role hunters and anglers play in conserving our nation’s fish and wildlife resources.”
Reaction to the proposed version of this rule in May had been cautiously optimistic.
The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership initially welcomed the access expansion but warned that federal access directives need to stay balanced with sound and localized wildlife management.
The Defenders of Wildlife said that refuges “have never received less Congressional support or attention” and that “needed management activities are no longer occurring.”
The rule “will make an already desperate situation worse for wildlife” by demanding more of an already-strained system,” it said in a June statement.
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