I've done some more research over the last few days and my independent findings are scary, to say the least.
This ultimately comes down to one basic question...
Does, or should, the NRA take official positions on non-gun related legislation, even if it protects the hunting heritage?
A handful of you (5 or 6) have stated that the NRA is a single-issue organization and is not involved in protecting our hunting traditions, they are purely a 2nd Amendment organization.
I pointed out how the NRA takes positions regarding shooting ranges and target shooting on public land and how they have a magazine called American Hunter, which shows an acknowledgement of the relationship between hunters and gun-owners. Piper also pointed out how they have previously taken positions on wilderness areas. This all makes it very clear that the NRA has chosen to weigh in on land/hunting related issues in the past.
Here is a quote for you that should put that debate to rest... ?Anti-hunting and animal rights extremists seek to incrementally destroy America?s hunting heritage,? said Chris W. Cox, executive director of NRA?s Institute for Legislative Action. ?The NRA and SCI's filing for intervenor status seeks to ensure that American hunters and their interests are represented in this case, as we continue to fight for the complete delisting of gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act.? Basically, this states the NRA was active in the judicial battle over wolf-delisting (hardly a 2nd Amendment fight).
Thus, it is very clear that the NRA is willing to take up fights to protect hunters from "extremists" that "seek to incrementally destroy America's hunting heritage" (I read that as Rob Bishop and his ilk, but that's just me). The NRA even calls itself "the number-one hunter's organization in America" (hservices.nra.org).
The NRA-ILA states that it aspires to "be involved in any issue that directly or indirectly affects firearms ownership and use. These involve such topics as hunting and access to hunting lands, wilderness, and wildlife conservation."
Somehow, the NRA either supports, or at least failed to oppose, the selling of federal lands in the Western US. How can this be, when a poll of hunters found 73% oppose the sale of public lands? (
http://www.bullmoosesportsmen.org/hunters-see-value-in-federal-tracts-oppose-selling-them-poll)
Hmmm... I wonder why they are mum on protecting public lands then? Could it be the massive contributions they take from the energy industries?
Here's a few examples...
In 2010, after the NRA received a $1 Million donation from CWE (an oil company), Kevin McCarthy introduced the Wilderness and Roadless Area Release Act. "It posed a very real threat to backcountry areas around the country," says Matt Lee-Ashley, a CAP senior fellow and the author of the think tank's report referenced below. It would have allowed mining, road building, logging, and oil and gas extraction on protected federal lands. More than 200 wildlife managers, identified as "dedicated hunters and anglers" wrote a letter to Congress denouncing the bill. Eight Colorado hunting organizations said the bill was "an affront to a long-standing public process and our outdoor heritage." The NRA then teamed up with the American Petroleum Institute and the National Mining Association in support of the bill. Does this sound like the self-proclaimed "number-one hunter's organization in America"?
After the previous bill failed to pass, Dan Benishek introduced the bill again, but renamed it the Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act. The National Wildlife Federation called it "nothing more than the sportsmen community being used as a cover to hide an attack on Wilderness, National Monuments, and National Wildlife Refuges." Susan Recce, NRA Director of Conservation, Wildlife, and Natural Resources, testified before Congress in support of the bill. It failed to gain traction, but was ultimately attached to HR3590 so it would pass Congress.
In 2012 alone, six oil and gas companies contributed a total of between $1.3 million and $5.6 million apiece to the NRA, according to CAP. (The companies are Clayton Williams Energy, J.L. Davis Gas Consulting, Kamps Propane, Barrett Brothers Oil and Gas, Saulsbury Energy Services, and KS Industries.)
CWE is the 6th largest NRA donor overall and the largest donor outside of the firearm industry. These aren't small donations. It is obvious the energy industry is a major financial contributor to the NRA. Why would energy companies donate to the NRA if it didn't benefit them financially?
If you haven't uncovered the answer by putting the pieces together yet, or you want more info for your own personal research... See the report titled "Oil and Gas Industry Investments in the National Rifle Association and Safari Club International: Reshaping American Energy, Land and Wildlife Policy" published in April 2014 (written by Matt Lee-Ashley, director of public lands, CAP). Here is one excerpt...
"The positions that are being advanced by oil- and gas-funded sportsmen groups appear to be out of step with the basic principles for wildlife and natural resource management that American sportsmen have been advocating for more than a century. Instead, these groups? efforts align with the oil and gas industry?s longstanding campaigns to expand drilling activities in national forests and public lands; sell off federal public lands with high mineral value to private interests; block efforts to protect public lands for their backcountry or wilderness characteristics; and fight the nation?s most effective wildlife recovery law, the Endangered Species Act.?
I've spent a lot of time researching this and could provide even more information and evidence, but if this doesn't do it then you probably are just not willing to consider a reality outside what you want to believe.
I'll admit that I was skeptical of the claims by previous posts that the NRA was too involved with the oil industry. I felt the NRA was probably neutral on the public lands sell, but they were remaining silent due to loyalty to the Republican Party. It now appears the NRA is likely an actual player in the push to sell public lands to the energy companies (which is also why the Koch Brothers are the single-largest donor to the American Lands Council, the main instigator of this fraud on the American people).
If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, looks like a duck... well, you get the picture.
Grizzly