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Our Passion
Hunting and fishing isn’t what we do – it’s who we are. Backcountry Hunters & Anglers celebrate the great American tradition of testing your personal boundaries amid the solitude of the wilds. We understand the urgent need to speak up for those irreplaceable experiences if we want that kind of opportunity for future generations.
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Protecting Habitat
As students of nature, hunters know that adequate and healthy habitat is the foundation of healthy wildlife populations. In the end, our freedom to hunt and fish depends on habitat. Native wildlife has both intrinsic value and is often reflected in the health and quality of habitat itself.
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Standing Up for Your Rights
We are “boots on the ground” hunters and fisherman, standing up for quiet experiences in wild habitats, entirely removed from the disturbances of crowds and machines. We enjoy the wonder and adventure of the pristine outdoors with our friends and families – and work to defend and expand quality opportunities for hunting and fishing.
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Engaged Membership
We help sportsmen around the country be effective, protective voices for the wild habitat essential to quality hunting and fishing opportunities. Our membership is actively engaged, and our voices are trusted and respected.
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Backcountry Guardians
We combat threats to the wild, quiet habitat that support our traditional hunting and fishing opportunities and access. We stand up to off-road vehicle abuse of public land and wildlife, as well as those who would abuse our habitat and water for commercial gain. Our networks of on-the-ground volunteers help report abuse and comment on issues impacting our public lands.
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Vigilant Advocates
We constantly identify critical projects to improve access and habitat, applying our values, and developing beneficial relationships with private property owners, local agencies and community leaders.
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Active Educators
We educate and inform our membership, the public and decision-makers through our website and our publications and one-on-one communication. Our quarterly magazine, Backcountry Journal is a forum for member stories, state activities, and the most pressing issues we face.
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Watch Our Video
We speak for traditional hunting and angling interests, the voice of sportsmen who love truly wild places: the home of a real backcountry experience.
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Welcome to Backcountry Hunters and Anglers
BHA Members Speak Up Against “The Border Bill” (HR 1505)
Watch the video links below of MN BHA members speaking out against HR 1505:
By giving the Department of Homeland Security sweeping control of all federal lands within 100 miles of a federal border, the Border Bill would exclude sportsmen’s input from projects affecting the border lands upon which many of us depend. Some of the more problematic provisions within HR 1505 include:
- Section 2(b) - (b) Would give The Secretary of Homeland Security immediate access to any public land managed by the Federal Government for purposes of conducting activities that assist in securing the border, including access to maintain and construct roads, construct a fence, use vehicles to patrol, and set up monitoring equipment (includes designated wilderness and roadless lands).
- Section 2(c) Would exempt the Department of Homeland Security from 36 federal environmental regulations for the activities listed in 2(b).
For a map of Federal lands impacted by HR 1505, click here. The bill text can be found here and further discussion on HR 1505 can be found here.
BHA Says Goodbye to Dan Heinz
Backcountry Hunters & Anglers bids a sad goodbye to Dan Heinz, a stalwart supporter of
BHA and the ideals the organization stands for. He was as tough as the Nevada backcountry he loved so dearly. Please read on for stories of Dan, written by his friends and fellow outdoorsmen.
MT BHA Receives Conservation Award
Montana chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers was recognized for its outstanding efforts protecting habitat and hunting and fishing opportunities in the Treasure State!
Chapter Chairman Greg Munther accepted the award for the most effective conservation group of the past year, given by the Montana Wildlife Federation. In giving the award, federation president Tim Aldrich praised Munther and the chapter's dedication to conservation, in particular pointing out efforts to protect national forest backcountry from motorized traffic and protecting quiet fishing opportunities on the Blackfoot and Clark Fork Rivers.
MWF President Aldrich said, "For a chapter of a National organization, the Montana Chapter of Back Country Hunters and Anglers has left an incredible mark on the hunting, fishing and conservation summary of recent accomplishments. Their entirely volunteer organization has taken on critically important issues, developed cooperative relationships with like-minded organizations and just been amazingly effective."
The Montana Wildlife Federation is the oldest and largest conservation group in Montana, dating back 77 years. Thanks to MWF, Greg and all our members! Help spread the word -- BHA is making a big difference!
2011 BHA Annual Report
Backcountry Hunters & Anglers annual report shows that there are no shortage of work to do protecting backcountry habitat to ensure that future generations enjoy great hunting and angling experiences. Our campaigns, described in the report, have reached politicians and hundreds of outdoorsmen to deliver the message that YOU have told us is important: keep wild country pristine and quiet!
H.R. 4089: BHA's Position
Dear BHA Members,
You may know that the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on H.R. 4089, the Sportsmen’s Heritage Act, this week.
As a sportsmen’s conservation organization, we felt compelled to comment. While we support numerous parts of this bill, there are specific details that could result in enormous negative consequences for world renowned hunting and fishing destinations, conservation and public lands fish and wildlife habitat.
In a letter to the House this week, BHA asked the House of Representatives to address these outstanding issues.
BHA knows that our members depend on keeping public lands open for hunting and fishing, andwe will defend that legacy with all we have.
However, included in the Sportsmen’s Heritage Act is specific language that would undermine the proud heritage American sportsmen have been defending for generations:
- Section 104(e) (1) in H.R. 4089 would open Wilderness Areas to motorized vehicles, helicopters, road building and any other imaginable tool that is used for hunting or fishing, but is not allowed in Wilderness. This would undermine world class hunting destinations such as the Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana, the Frank Church Wilderness in Idaho and the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico.
- Section 104(e) (2) would allow industrial development of Wilderness areas. Activities such as industrial logging and oil and gas drilling are inappropriate for our nation’s Wilderness areas.
- We have problems with language under 104(1) (b) and 104(1) (c) that would prohibit adequate NEPA review of management decisions. The way the language is written in this section, it could actually result in less hunting opportunity.
As sportsmen who know and use our public lands, we urge our Representatives to fix these major problems with H.R. 4089!