Call to action: Support wildlife conservation, oppose HR 8167
Wildlife conservation is one of the longstanding aims for the Tulsa Urban Wilderness Coalition, so it seemed important to tell our membership about legislation moving through Congress that could have a dramatic impact on those efforts.
House Resolution 8167 would repeal the federal firearms excise tax and dramatically reduce the excise tax on fishing equipment. Laws that enacted these taxes were created at a time when hunters, anglers and conservationists became concerned about dwindling populations of wild game and other species.
Funds raised through these taxes go directly toward wildlife conservation. Since these programs were enacted, species such as deer, elk, wild turkey, various waterfowl and more saw dramatic comebacks.
In Oklahoma, the state’s Department of Wildlife Conservation receives a large portion of its budget from matching federal funds provided by the excise taxes in question.
HR 8167 would replace the excise taxes with revenue raised from federal offshore oil and gas leases. But those funds, by design, would only provide half the funds currently raised by the excise taxes.
HR 8167 is opposed by 43 hunting, conservation and gun rights groups, including the NRA.
What we see is a unified front consisting of hunters, shooting enthusiasts, anglers and conservationists who recognize what we see: The excise tax has been a win-win program for everyone and a longstanding conservation success story.
But HR 8167 has its supporters: 58 co-sponsors, including U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin.
What we would like to ask of TUWC members is to contact your congressional representatives and tell them to scrap HR 8167. If we lose wildlife conservation funds, we will lose wildlife at the places we like to go. Should HR 8167 become law, we will definitely lose funding. A loss of funding will harm wildlife populations and diminish species diversity.
Find out who your congressional representative is and let them know you oppose HR 8167. Write or call their offices in Washington, D.C., or at their local offices here in Oklahoma.
Tulsa-area congressmen are:
Kevin Hern: https://hern.house.gov/
Markwayne Mullin: https://mullin.house.gov/
Frank Lucas: https://lucas.house.gov/
For more, read this editorial from the Tulsa World: https://tulsaworld.com/
Or read this writeup from the Conservation Coalition of Oklahoma: https://oklahomaconservation.
