Contributor
View AllSam Lungren
Sam Lungren is MeatEater's Fishing Editor and a former freelance writer/photographer, commercial fisherman, and editor of BHA's Backcountry Journal. Though originally from Whidbey Island, Washington, he's been in Montana for almost a decade and probably isn't leaving—except during steelhead season. Follow him @samlungrenmedia.
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Policy & Legislation
EPA Removes Clean Water Act Protections from Many Wetlands and Streams
Sam Lungren
Feb 5, 2020
This article was originally published in September, 2019, and has been updated to reflected current events.
On Jan. 23, the Trump Administration’s EPA and Army Corps announced new, weaker regulations regarding enforcement of the 1972 Clean Water Act. The federal agencies say it was necessary to repeal Obama-era rules that limited filling and pollution of wetlands and ephemeral streams, but the conservation community is gravely concerned about...
On Jan. 23, the Trump Administration’s EPA and Army Corps announced new, weaker regulations regarding enforcement of the 1972 Clean Water Act. The federal agencies say it was necessary to repeal Obama-era rules that limited filling and pollution of wetlands and ephemeral streams, but the conservation community is gravely concerned about...
Policy & Legislation
Interior Department to Weaken Protections for Waterfowl and Other Migratory Birds
Sam Lungren
Jan 31, 2020
On Thursday, the Trump Administration announced new regulations that would remove penalties for construction, oil, gas, and other industries that incidentally kill birds listed under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. If approved, the new set of rules would only punish companies that deliberately kill birds, making many in the conservation community wonder what purpose the century-old conservation law now serves.
The Deepwater Horizon oil...
The Deepwater Horizon oil...
Policy & Legislation
Herrera v. Wyoming: Inside the Elk Hunting Case Before the Supreme Court
Sam Lungren
Feb 13, 2019
On Jan. 8, a former game warden for the Crow Tribe of southeastern Montana went before the United States Supreme Court. Clayvin Herrera was convicted by the State of Wyoming of killing a bull elk out of season, without a license in January 2014. Two of his companions, who also shot bulls after following the herd off the Crow Reservation across the state line into the Bighorn National Forest, both pleaded guilty to the same poaching charges and...
Public Lands & Waters
What Does the Government Shutdown Mean for Hunting and Fishing?
Sam Lungren
Jan 21, 2019
On Saturday, Jan. 12, the partial federal government shutdown became the longest such closure in the nation’s history. As the stalemate between the President and the House of Representatives over funding for a $5 billion wall along the Mexican border spills into a fifth week, shuttered and unfunded public lands management agencies are starting to feel the pinch.
The Department of the Interior, which houses the National Park Service, Bureau of...
The Department of the Interior, which houses the National Park Service, Bureau of...
Policy & Legislation
How You Can Help Reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund Right Now
Sam Lungren
Dec 19, 2018
The popular conservation program commonly known as LWCF could be reauthorized this week, says MeatEater Conservation Director Ryan Callaghan, if sportsmen and women call their representatives and throw their weight behind the agreement currently before Congress.
The Land and Water Conservation Fund was established in 1964 to invest royalties from offshore oil and gas drilling into America’s public lands and waters. From inner-city playgrounds...
The Land and Water Conservation Fund was established in 1964 to invest royalties from offshore oil and gas drilling into America’s public lands and waters. From inner-city playgrounds...