Expanded hunting and fishing are now allowed in areas where the practices were never before legal, including Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge in Colorado and Stewart Lake National Wildlife Refuge in North Dakota.
“America’s hunters and anglers now have something significant to look forward to in the fall,” said Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in the press release announcing the rule Aug. 13. “We are also promoting good government by reducing the regulatory burden and working with states to facilitate these outdoor activities.”
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) oversees more than 570 national wildlife refuges that were “established to serve a statutory purpose that targets the conservation of native species dependent on its lands and water,” according to the agency’s website.
Now, hunting and other forms of recreation are permitted across a majority of those refuges when “compatible with each station’s purpose and mission under federal law,” per FWS.
The new rule raises a question of compatibility: How can the refuges fulfill their conservation mandate amid the nation’s largest-ever expansion of hunting and fishing?
It also said that the new rule will help revitalize rural economies, as hunters and anglers contribute more than $144 billion annually to the U.S. economy.
Sporting groups touted the “historic expansion” and its potential ability to help retain hunters and fishers at these refuges, which may rely on them for curbing overabundant and invasive species.
“And with long-term concerns about declining hunting participation, providing meaningful access remains an important part of recruitment, retention, and reactivation efforts,” he says.
This was not the first time the Trump Administration proposed such an expansion. A version of the rule from 2020 opened some 859 opportunities across 2.3 million acres. The increase in scope from his first term is about 73%.
Robert Fischman, professor of environmental law at Indiana University Maurer School of Law, says that such a dramatic overhaul is worth noting. “I mean, 1,000 rules sounds pretty important,” he tells TIME.
The new rule reverses restrictions on lead ammunition
Following a lawsuit in 2021, the government said it would phase out the potentially harmful materials and require hunters and anglers to switch to non-toxic alternatives.
The lawsuit was settled under the Biden Administration in 2022, with FWS saying it would phase out the use of lead ammunition and tackle at several refuges across the country.
In response to the reversal, Bloom says Earthjustice will be looking at litigation—as will other environmentalist groups.
Recent staffing cuts raise concerns about oversight
FWS staffing decreased by approximately 18% between April 2024 and May 2025, according to agency records obtained by the Center for Biological Diversity. The decline can be attributed in part to the “workforce optimization initiative” implemented by the Department of Government Efficiency at the beginning of 2025.
“What I'm hearing from people who are on the ground is you have whole national wildlife refuges that no longer have any staff there full-time,” Fischman says. “You have a refuge manager running around from one refuge to another, riding circuit to try to keep things together.”
“It’s dependent on there being people there to maintain trails, to monitor impacts on species, to enforce the law,” he says. “It could be that the rulemaking seems pretty logical [to the Administration], but on the ground can't be practically implemented in a way that is consistent with public safety and compatible with both the system mission and the refuge purposes.”
“On one hand, are you reaching a point where you might be doing some harm of not having adequate sanctuary for wildlife? Or maybe you are making a net improvement to increase retention and recruitment of hunters, which provides a financial benefit?” he wonders. “The answer is probably yes on both sides of the house.”
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