Executive orders · Friday, September 18, 2026
White House signs hunting and saltwater-angling executive orders
The File desk · Sep 18, 2026, 2:18 PM UTC
Status
Confirmed (White House presidential actions and fact sheets, Sept. 17, 2026)
President Trump signed two executive orders on Wednesday. The hunting order directs the Interior Department to allow hunting of animals not listed under the Endangered Species Act inside Castle Mountains National Monument and Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve within 90 days. It also tells War, Interior, Agriculture, and Commerce to propose broader public-land hunting access within 180 days, generally allowing hunting unless a local closure is justified, except in national parks. The saltwater-angling order tells the Commerce Department’s ocean agency to review recreational fishing rules under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, modernize catch data (including mobile apps and possible phase-down of mail surveys), ease boating and permit burdens, and start a federal Outer Continental Shelf “reef-in-place” program for retired oil and gas platforms. Separately, the White House withdrew five pending Senate nominations the same day.
President Trump signed two executive orders on Wednesday.
Legal instrument A presidential order that directs Interior to open hunting of non–Endangered Species Act–listed animals in two named national monuments within 90 days and steers several agencies to propose wider hunting access on public lands within 180 days, while keeping national parks off that general presumption.Executive Order — Reinvigorating America’s Hunting Heritage (Sept. 17, 2026)
It also tells War, Interior, Agriculture, and Commerce to propose broader public-land hunting access within 180 days, generally allowing hunting unless a local closure is justified, except in national parks.
Legal instrument A presidential order that steers federal ocean agencies to treat recreational saltwater fishing as a priority, fix weak catch-and-effort data, ease permits and boating rules, and turn some retired offshore oil and gas platforms into artificial reefs — subject to later agency rules and existing fisheries law. White House: Restoring American Saltwater Angling and RecreationExecutive Order — Restoring American Saltwater Angling and Recreation (Sept. 17, 2026)
That order also tells the agency to modernize catch data, including mobile apps and a possible phase-down of mail surveys, ease boating and permit burdens, and start a federal Outer Continental Shelf “reef-in-place” program for retired oil and gas platforms.
Separately, the White House withdrew five pending Senate nominations the same day: Jeffrey Anderson, of Georgia, to be the U.S. representative on the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization; John Grunewald II, to the Farm Credit Administration Board; Richard Schroyer, to be an assistant secretary of Homeland Security; Heidi Semann, to be inspector general at Education; and Robert Stebbins, to be deputy chief executive of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation.
What is still unknown or disputed
- Federal Register publication numbers and the first concrete rule changes under each order are not yet posted.
Primary sources
Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.
Source 1
REINVIGORATING AMERICA’S HUNTING HERITAGE
The White House · September 17, 2026
Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Interior is directed to allow for the hunting of species that are not subject to 16 U.S.C. 1533 within Castle Mountains National Monument… and within Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve…
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/09/reinvigorating-americas-hunting-heritage/
Source 2
Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Reinvigorates America’s Hunting Heritage
The White House · September 17, 2026
Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to expand access to America’s public lands and waterways, foster and recruit the next generation of hunters, and promote robust and healthy wild game populations.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2026/09/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-reinvigorates-americas-hunting-heritage/
Source 3
RESTORING AMERICAN SALTWATER ANGLING AND RECREATION
The White House · September 17, 2026
It is the policy of the United States to elevate the marine recreational fishing industry as an important consideration in all Federal ocean, coastal, and public land decision-making.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/09/restoring-american-saltwater-angling-and-recreation/
Source 4
Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Restores American Saltwater Angling and Recreation
The White House · September 17, 2026
Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to modernize Federal fisheries management, empower recreational industries, and eliminate unnecessary restrictions on American boaters and anglers.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2026/09/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-restores-american-saltwater-angling-and-recreation/
Source 5
Withdrawals Sent to the Senate
The White House · September 17, 2026
WITHDRAWALS SENT TO THE SENATE: Jeffrey Anderson, of Georgia, to be Representative of the United States of America on the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization…
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/09/withdrawals-sent-to-the-senate/