SCI Kicks Off 2025 Hunter Advocacy Week
Washington, D.C. – Today, SCI is excited to kick off its annual Hunter Advocacy Week, beginning with Lobby Day where our dedicated advocacy staff based out of The Hunters’ Embassy on Capitol Hill will take SCI hunters, anglers, and conservationists to meet with members of congress from around the US. This all-out advocacy blitz will allow members of Congress to hear directly from SCI leadership and our most vocal members on the issues that matter most to our industry.
Halfway through our 53rd year of defending your right to hunt on Capitol Hill, some of these key issues include opposing unscientific bans on the import of wildlife legally hunted and harvested abroad, supporting the Pittman-Robertson Act’s pipeline of conservation funding, supporting no-net-loss policies on federal hunting and fishing access, and overhauling the Endangered Species Act to correct the current uninformed and damaging ESA decisions that lack state specific input.
As always, SCI’s Lobby Day marks only the beginning of the biggest week for advocacy in our industry. Later that evening, SCI’s Hunters’ Embassy will host a Welcome Reception with the biggest hunting, fishing, and outdoor sportsmen advocates currently elected to office.
SCI will keep the momentum going with our President’s Dinner on Friday night and our May Board Meeting on Saturday. At the President’s Dinner, members of congress and our SCI membership will not only hear about the state of the industry from SCI President John McLaurin and SCI CEO W. Laird Hamberlin, but also hear from Army Ranger, combat veteran, and our keynote speaker Mark Nutsch. Lastly, Saturday’s May Board Meeting is a crucial midyear gathering where leadership will make key decisions such as how to optimize our federal and state advocacy priorities, ratify new SCI chapters, and raise funds that are crucial to supporting the global SCI mission year-round.
Considering the historic administration of President Donald Trump and a unified Republican Congress, SCI events like this Lobby Day have never been more important. After over half a century of advocacy here in Washington, SCI is still the tip of the spear for the interests of outdoorsmen and women among our policymakers, and we are immensely grateful for their support.