NRA Files Official Protest to Bears Ears Shooting Closure

On Friday, NRA-ILA and other sportsmen’s groups filed a formal protest against the Biden-Harris administration’s plan to close recreational shooting access to 1.3 million acres in the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah.

Last month, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced a final Resource Management Plan that directs the closure of 1.3 million acres to recreational shooting in the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. NRA-ILA, joined by other members of the Hunting and Shooting Sports Roundtable, filed a formal protest against the management plan.

Such a sweeping closure throughout Bears Ears fails to comply with a 2019 law specifically written to head off such actions by the federal government. The John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management and Recreation Act established a policy that the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service consider hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting opportunities as part of federal land, resource and travel management plans. The Dingell Act also requires recreational shooting closures apply to the “smallest area for the least amount of time that is required for public safety, administration, and compliance with applicable law.”

“This management plan is in clear violation of the law,” said Randy Kozuch, NRA-ILA Executive Director. "Time and again, we see the Biden-Harris administration restrict access to federal lands to gun owners, hunters, and recreational shooters. The NRA is proud to stand with other members of the sportsmen’s community to protest this egregious action.”

The Bears Ears closure is the latest in a series of actions by the Biden-Harris administration to circumvent the law to punish recreational shooters and cut off access to federal lands. Earlier this year, nearly 99% of the Sonoran Desert National Monument’s 485,791 acres were closed to recreational shooting. Additionally, the Biden-Harris administration attempted to cut federal funding for schools with archery and hunter education programs, though that policy was quickly overturned by Congress. All of this underscores the importance of tomorrow’s election to ensure that those in power respect the Second Amendment and our ability to exercise those freedoms.