Conservation leaders, firearms industry representatives, and the Democratic vice presidential candidate on what a potential Harris-Walz administration might look like
Editor’s Note: This is the second of a three-part series covering the presidential election and how each administration’s policies might impact outdoorsmen and gun owners. Part one focused on how (and why) Outdoor Life covers politics. Part Three examines a potential Trump-Vance administration.
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has been explicit: If elected, her administration will not be a cut-and-paste version of the Biden administration, in which she served as vice-president.
For many conservation leaders, that’s a welcome statement. After four years of a Trump presidency that, while chaotic and fractious, was actually pretty good for core hunting, fishing, firearms, and conservation issues, the subsequent Biden administration was generally a disappointment for American sportsmen and women.
“[During] Trump’s administration, there was genuine concern that his Interior Secretary would turn Western lands into gas fields and his Agriculture Secretary would let Big Ag run our Farm Bill. We expected the Biden administration would be overall good for conservation,” said the CEO of a sportsmen’s organization who asked not to be named. Because most non-profit conservation groups are prohibited from endorsing or even commenting on political candidates, many talked to Outdoor Life on the condition that neither their names nor the names of their organizations would be used in election-season reporting.
By Andrew McKean
