Our natural resource agenda affecting hunting and fishing opportunities can only go so far. More needs to be done to protect our wild lands from fragmentation and development. It is your continued support and participation as well as a unified voice of concern that will maintain our natural resources. Unfortunately I must tell you today, and surveys back me up, the reasoned voices of hunters and anglers are not being heard among the cacophony surrounding the public lands management debates. Hunters and anglers, outdoor constituencies must stay engaged to protect and preserve this legacy for future generations.
Private lands have their place in modern and future hunting.
But the availability and quality of public lands, led by Forest Service management, must play a key role in the future of hunting if we want to be viewed as good stewards of the land. The founders of the National Forests and President Theodore Roosevelt tirelessly proclaimed that sportsmen and women would be far more effective if they stayed involved in the management of their public lands. One hundred years ago, President Roosevelt felt the public and their public lands were inseparable. Things have not changed as we embrace the next one hundred years. On behalf of the 30,000 dedicated public servants of the Forest Service, I thank you for your hospitality at today s campfire.