The Trump administration plans to open more than 903,000 hectares of land for hunting and fishing at more than 100 national wildlife refuges and fish hatcheries under a proposal unveiled on April 8 that is aimed at giving Americans more recreational access on public lands.

The plan earned applause from several hunting and fishing groups, but criticism from one conservation organization that called it "tone deaf" to focus on this during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The proposal would allow fishing for the first time at several national wildlife refuges, including San Diego Bay in California, Alamosa in Colorado, Bombay Hook in Delaware and Umbagog in Maine and New Hampshire and Everglades Headwaters in Florida, according to a list posted online.

It would also allow alligator hunting at three national wildlife refuges: Banks Lake in Georgia, Laguna Atascosa in Texas and Savannah in Georgia and South Carolina.

The plan was announced as part of the Interior Department's annual review ahead of the upcoming hunting season, department spokesman Conner Swanson said.

Western Values Project director Jayson O'Neill criticized the timing of the announcement and other decisions the Trump administration has made that he contends damages public lands.

"Instead of responding to pleas by state and local officials for needed agency resources, assistance, and help during this generational pandemic, Secretary Bernhardt made a tone-deaf announcement that by no means could ever make up for the hunting opportunities and wildlife lost as a result of Trump's deregulatory agenda decimating our public lands and environmental protections," O'Neill said.

People will have 60 days to comment on the proposal.

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