It’s been an incredible year for the Armed Forces Initiative. I cannot thank all our volunteer leaders both new and seasoned for everything they have done in 2022 for the military community and for conservation. There’s much yet to do together and 2023 planning is looking like it’s going to be a great year, but right now I want to focus on all the great events, camps, cleanups and policy initiatives the Armed Forces Initiative took on in 2022.
Commander's Intent:
Instill within the military community a knowledge of conservation practices and theory, a love of wild places, and a desire to elevate America's public wild lands as fundamental components of American freedom.
- 1700 members of the military community introduced to the backcountry in 2022
- 102 events hosted in 35 states and on 26 active-duty installations, including
- Florida deep sea fishing
- Great Lakes duck hunt
- Minnesota ice fishing
- South Dakota pheasant hunt
- North Carolina duck hunts
- North Carolina whitetail hunt
- Montana antelope hunt
- New Mexico antelope hunt
- New Mexico trout fishing
- Washington grouse hunt
- California beach fishing
- Colorado elk hunt
- New England turkey hunt
- 9,800 BHA AFI members across the U.S. and Canada (a 476% increase since 2021)
- Opening 20+ states to AFI
- 18 new installations
Conservation Achievements:
- 63 miles of trails cleared in the Bob Marshall Wilderness
- 12 miles of trail cleared in the Kenai NWR
- 12 bighorn sheep guzzler projects installed
- 15 miles of Chesapeake Bay watershed cleanups
- 3 Fort Bragg drop zones habitat restoration for quail and turkeys
Policy Achievements:
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Accelerating Veterans Recovery Outdoors Act
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Joined VOAG Veterans Outdoor Advocacy group to represent veterans interests in the outdoors in Washington
- https://www.voag.org/voag-coalition
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Veterans In Parks Act
- https://www.outdoorlife.com/conservation/veterans-get-free-passes-to-public-lands/
- Camp Hale Designation
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Joined VOAG Veterans Outdoor Advocacy group to represent veterans interests in the outdoors in Washington
It truly has been an amazing year for the Armed Forces Initiative. We have a year end video in production now to be completed in Jan 2023 that can be distributed to all. Stay tuned for that release!
Remember: Public Lands = Freedom
About Trevor Hubbs
I grew up running hounds on coyotes and raccoons, spent a fair amount of time public land waterfowl hunting, and have hunted upland birds behind my setters across the midwest.