Highlights from SCI’s January–March 2026 Advocacy Report

Part of every SCI membership pays for advocacy: lawyers, lobbyists and staff who work on hunting policy in Washington, in state capitals and overseas. Each quarter, SCI publishes a report on that work. Here are highlights from its report covering January through March 2026.

Federal

• The U.S. House passed H.R. 556, the Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act. It bars bans on lead ammunition and tackle on federal public lands without sufficient scientific justification.
• Interior Secretarial Order 3447 expands hunting and fishing access on federal lands, reflecting several SCI priorities.
• SCI hosted 19 events at its Hunters’ Embassy in Washington, involving 26 members of Congress.

States

• Delaware’s House passed a Sunday hunting bill 38–1, and Massachusetts’ governor backed Sunday hunting.
• In Arizona, a bill to reclassify mountain lions and bears as predatory animals was defeated after SCI met with committee members.
• SCI is watching a New York bill that would ban imports of “Big 5” African trophies and an Oregon ballot drive to ban hunting, fishing and trapping.

International and legal

• South Africa published proposed export quotas for leopard, elephant and black rhino trophies for 2026 and 2027, after several years without quotas. SCI supported the process.
• In California, a federal court voided a law restricting firearm marketing, and the state agreed to pay nearly $500,000 in attorneys’ fees.

SCI posts every quarterly report on its Impact Report page, including newer reports. Read the January–March 2026 report.

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