Story perspectives

Trump Signs Orders Expanding Hunting, Repealing Lead Bans

By Drooid · Sep 19, 2026, 6:19 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Trump Expands Hunting

U.S. President Donald Trump signed two orders expanding hunting on federal lands and rescinding lead-ammunition bans.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum must permit hunting in California’s Castle Mountains and Idaho’s Craters of the Moon within 90 days.
Idaho and California will be directly affected by the new monument hunting openings.
A 2019 analysis reported over 6.35 million acres of landlocked state lands in 11 western states, with Montana holding 1,560,000 acres.

Summary

NOAA Implements App Surveys

Order directs NOAA to replace mailed surveys with mobile apps for faster, more accurate catch data.
Agencies must craft a five-year plan that incorporates economic data when setting recreational fishing season quotas.
Funding expands youth archery, hunter-education programs and enables school archery initiatives.
The order authorizes artificial-reef projects using decommissioned offshore platforms where legally and environmentally appropriate.

History

Historical Context

In February 1905 the Transfer Act moved 63 million acres of forest reserves from the Interior to the Department of Agriculture, creating the U.S. Forest Service under Gifford Pinchot. By 1930 the agency managed 193 million acres, and the 1946 establishment of the Bureau of Land Management expanded federal land use. Trump’s hunting orders now draw on those historic conservation authorities.

1 of 3

Trump Expands Hunting

U.S. President Donald Trump signed two orders expanding hunting on federal lands and rescinding lead-ammunition bans.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum must permit hunting in California’s Castle Mountains and Idaho’s Craters of the Moon within 90 days.
Idaho and California will be directly affected by the new monument hunting openings.
A 2019 analysis reported over 6.35 million acres of landlocked state lands in 11 western states, with Montana holding 1,560,000 acres.

1 / 3