Hunting Heritage and Fishing Preservation Act of 2004

Hunting Heritage and Fishing Preservation Act of 2004 - Hunting Heritage Protection Act - Requires that Federal public lands be open to access and use for recreational hunting with certain exceptions.

Directs the head of each relevant Federal agency to support, promote, and enhance recreational hunting opportunities.

Declares that Federal land management decisions and actions should, to the extent practicable, result in no net loss of land area available for hunting opportunities on Federal public lands.

Prohibits a withdrawal, change of classification, or change of management status that effectively closes 5,000 or more acres of Federal public land for use for recreational hunting from occurring unless the head of the Federal agency with authority to manage the land has submitted written notice of the action to specified congressional committees.

Freedom to Fish Act - Amends the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to require that any fishery management plan, which is prepared by any Council or by the Secretary of Commerce, not establish geographic areas where recreational fishing is prohibited unless: (1) clear indication exists that recreational fishing in such area is the cause of a specific conservation problem; (2) no alternative conservation measures will adequately provide for conservation and management of the fishery; (3) the management plan provides for specific measurable criteria to assess whether the prohibition provides conservation benefits to the fishery, and requires periodic review to assess the continued need for the prohibition; (4) the best available scientific information supports the need to close the area to recreational fishing; and (5) the prohibition is terminated as soon as the condition that was the basis of the prohibition no longer exists.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov