Sierra Club Moving to the Middle?

And partnering with the National Rifle Association to push new legislation?

From the new Sierra Sportsmen section of their web site:

Open Fields: 20 Million More Acres for Sportsmen

Sierra Club is one of 40+ conservation, agricultural, recreational, and labor organizations supporting the "Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program of 2005" bill in the U.S. Congress. More commonly known as the "Open Fields" bill, this important legislation-- sponsored by Kent Conrad of North Dakota and Pat Roberts of Kansas in the Senate, and Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota and Tom Osborne of Nebraska in the House-- would open more than 20 million acres of prime hunting and fishing land to sportsmen.

"Open Fields" calls for an increase in Department of Agriculture funding to bolster existing state programs that provide access to private lands for hunters and anglers. It further encourages the establishment of similar, new "walk-in" programs. Through these programs, states offer rural landowners small per-acre payments to voluntarily open their lands, improve habitat, and expand the landbase available to sportsmen.

Other groups that played a role in this legislation include the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Pheasants Forever, the Izaak Walton League, the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, the Boone and Crocket Club, the Wildlife Management Institute, and the National Rifle Association. For more information visit http://www.trcp.org/ea_openfields.aspx


Strange.