“Public lands habitat is the Titanic that keeps hunting afloat, but it’s sinking, which is why BHA was formed around a southern Oregon campfire in March 2004.”

Freedom and fire were integral to an Army veteran’s idea for a new hunter-angler conservation organization 20 years ago. The human need for freedom and “wild public lands, waters, and wildlife” is the spark that ignited our first (2004) Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA) campfire. Over twenty years later that fire still burns bright and the burning desire to make a difference drives us forward despite formidable obstacles and adversaries.

Although we are in the midst of some potentially epic, if not desperate, public lands battles, that’s what BHA was built for. We know from hard-earned, boots-on-the-ground experience that our public lands and waters are intertwined with our freedom and democracy. Lose one or the other and we’ll likely lose both. In the words of Hal Herring (host of BHA’s Podcast & Blast), “The future of the American public lands is as important to our nation as the Bill of Rights or the Constitution itself.”

“I believe that wilderness and liberty are one in the same. I don’t think you can tear the two apart without losing both, for our American liberty and American wilderness have always been intertwined,” I wrote in a 2002 Whitetales story (“Hunting, Wilderness & Democracy”). “They are the oldest, most deeply ingrained elements of the American experience. As TR said, ‘The movement for the conservation of wildlife and the larger movement for the conservation of all our natural resources are essentially democratic in spirit, purpose, and method.’”

In the Fall 2005 Backcountry Journal BHA founder Mike Beagle (a former U.S. Army field artillery officer) said (in “Wilderness: Reservoirs of Freedom”), “The best hunting and angling opportunities lie in America’s roadless areas and designated Wilderness Areas.” “Benefits pour out of Wilderness Areas, in the form of clean water,” he added. As Mike implies, public lands, wilderness and roadless areas, clean water, and freedom go hand in hand.

Republicans For Environmental Protection

“BHA was conceived at a Republican gathering in Albuquerque in the fall of 2003,” Inside/Outside Southwest editor Ken Wright explained (in “Stalking Wildness,” October/November 2005). “At a meeting of Republicans for Environmental Protection, Beagle and a group of fellow hunters were discussing the works of hunting writer and ethicist (and Durango resident) David Petersen, when the idea of a new kind of sportsmen’s group espousing Petersen-like ideas and ideals was hatched.”

“Backcountry Hunters & Anglers was born six months later, at a meeting in Beagle’s backyard in the spring of 2004,” Ken added. “Back in 2003 (as best old Gramps can recall), I was invited to speak about hunting and politics at a national meeting of Republicans for Environmental Protection (REP), held that year in Albuquerque,” David “Elkheart” Petersen (a former U.S. Marine Corps helicopter pilot) wrote in the March 2014 Huffington Post.

“That evening … I relaxed in the lounge sipping Crown Royal doubles with Mike Beagle, a ‘Roosevelt Republican’ and hunter-conservationist from Oregon who had arranged for me to be there,” David said. “Beginning where my talk had ended, Mike and I soon fell to discussing … a nonprofit organization built firmly upon Aldo Leopold’s ‘land ethic.’”

“The next morning, a bit bleary-eyed from the long evening of barroom campfire philosophizing, Mike and I went our separate ways home,” he added. “And frankly, I figured that would be the end of that, as whisky-inspired daydreams rarely prove to have sturdy legs … To my surprise, a few months later I got a call from Mike … While for me, it had been mere wishful thinking, for Beagle it proved a call to action.”

Backcountry Hunters & Anglers officially started around a March 2004 southern Oregon campfire thanks to seven hunters and anglers, men and women, the “Gang of Seven.” They were inspired by the political activism of Theodore Roosevelt, the Land Ethic of Aldo Leopold, the hunting ethics of David Petersen, and (more recently) the fiery oratory of Hal Herring.”

A year or so later, during February 2005, I joined Backcountry Hunters & Anglers at the behest of Mike Beagle. The BHA introduction letter Mike mailed me referenced a letter I wrote to President George W. Bush after his 2004 election win that was included in the Republicans for Environmental Protection (REP) Winter 2005 newsletter, The Green Elephant.

“I read your excellent and articulate letter to President Bush in the REP newsletter. I have a military background as well … Consider our organization, there are none like it anywhere,” Mike wrote. Later, during 2006, David Petersen recruited me to be his Colorado (the first BHA state chapter) co-chair. Then, during January 2007, I joined the BHA North American Board.

David vs. Goliath

While serving on the North American Board with Mike (2007-2015) and a rotating cast of fellow hunter-angler-conservationists, we watched the organization go and grow from having no employees to eventually hiring our first President and CEO (Jim Akenson, in 2010) and second (Land Tawney, during 2013), along with a tireless core of hardworking hunter-angler-conservationist staffers.

During that time I also helped found the Minnesota BHA chapter (in 2007)—the third state chapter after Colorado and Alaska—and served on their board for 11-plus years (1/11/07 to 9/30/18). In Colorado I started serving on the chapter leadership team during July 2006 and have been at it for going on 20 years now. During June 2013 Denver Post outdoors editor Scott Willoughby (recipient of BHA’s 2014 Ted Trueblood Award) wrote about the Colorado chapter.

“Colorado’s BHA chapter has about 240 members, placing it squarely in the underdog corner for the vast majority of its battles against the motorsports industry, chapter co-chairman David Lien said. BHA is typically outnumbered physically as well as financially as it champions roadless areas, all-terrain vehicle regulation and enforcement, and traditional hike-in hunting and fishing values on public lands,” Willoughby explained.

“‘It’s always a David versus Goliath, which is what I kind of like about it,’ Lien said. ‘It’s always a challenge that you almost can’t win, but the ones you do mean a lot.’ Lien and the rest of the group clearly embody the feisty nature of their founder (David Petersen), a colorful critic with strong views on the importance of habitat and the impacts of motorized recreation, among other causes,” Willoughby said. “His effective campaigning earned accolades from the Colorado Wildlife Federation as well as the national BHA in the past year.”

In 2010 Petersen was honored as Sportsman-Conservationist of the Year by the Colorado Wildlife Federation. In 2012 CWF added to that honor with a Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2013, Petersen received the BHA Chairman’s Award for outstanding service to the group. From the press release for that honor: “David Petersen is a hunter-conservationist who has been actively involved in BHA since the first year (2004) it was formed. David’s many books and other writings related to hunting and conservation form the ethical foundation of BHA.’”

At the 2015 BHA North American Rendezvous in Spokane, Washington, the Colorado chapter received the George Bird Grinnell Award: “For exceptional group dedication and teamwork in boots-on-the-ground conservation of America’s backcountry.” “During the past year, the Colorado chapter worked tirelessly to ensure that policy relating to hunting, fishing, and public lands protection represents BHA values,” BHA President and CEO Land Tawney said.

“Colorado BHA members spearheaded a successful effort to ban the use of drones for hunting, developed and successfully implemented guidelines for OHVs and helped enable conservation of more than 130,000 acres through designation of the Browns Canyon National Monument and passage of the Hermosa Creek Watershed Protection Act,” Land added. “They exemplify the positive influence of which a BHA state chapter is capable—as well as the power of a committed group of individuals to effect good works in the name of sportsmen and conservation.”

Campaign For America’s Wilderness

In Heartsblood: Hunting, Spirituality, and Wildness in America David Petersen asks, “What good are ‘hunter’s rights’ if you find yourself one day without a place to hunt or anything to hunt for?” As David alludes to we are, first and foremost, here to protect public lands and waters habitat wherever, whenever, and however we can. Everything else—albeit important—is just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

As Outdoor News contributor Ryan Rothstein said, “If you raise hell about wolves and guns but can’t be bothered to make minimal effort when habitat is on the chopping block, then we don’t have much to discuss.” Public lands habitat is the Titanic that keeps hunting afloat, but it’s sinking, which is why BHA was formed around a southern Oregon campfire in March 2004.

“This issue is our Second Amendment. Any attack on public lands is a non-starter for us,” former BHA President and CEO Land Tawney said. And as explained by founding BHA Board member/former co-chair Ben Long (author of Hunter & Angler Field Guide to Raising Hell): “To hunt, we need guns and places to hunt. I’ve owned guns since I was 10, and have never had one taken away, yet I’ve lost more hunting spots than I can count. The greater threat is clear.”

“As our primary focus, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers stands guard as the watchdog for our wild public lands, waters, and wildlife,” BHA President and CEO Patrick Berry emphasizes. “Backcountry Hunters & Anglers is here to protect public lands but also to be a conduit for our appreciation of them,” BHA North American Board Chair Ryan Callaghan added. “BHA is a cross section of the outdoor community. If you love being outside you’ve found your group.”

During November 2009—a mere five-plus years after our founding campfire and before we had any paid staff—Campaign For America’s Wilderness (CAW) posted a detailed listing of BHA’s most significant conservations accomplishments to date. For example, in 2005 Mike Beagle joined the staff of Trout Unlimited and went on to help pass the first sportsmen-led wilderness bill in Oregon history (the Copper-Salmon Wilderness) in 2009.

“In all, BHA has played a role in protecting nearly 10 million acres of wilderness and roadless backcountry since 2004,” CAW explained. “Clearly, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers is an organization to watch and support as its power and influence continue to grow.” Again, this was as of November 2009, a mere five-plus years after our founding campfire. We’ve had over fifteen years of additional conservation (and related) accomplishments piled on since then!

What’s BHA’s secret sauce? “We are famously evenly split politically, and we’re younger and more diverse than any other organization in our space,” former BHA North American Board Chair Ted Koch explained (in the Winter 2024 Backcountry Journal). “We’re even more diverse in our mission compared to other organizations that focus on a single species or just hunting and fishing. We’re unique and strong because we have chapters in both the U.S. and Canada. We are special in many ways. BHA in its third decade will be an even stronger force on behalf of conservation.”

Reservoirs of Freedom

During the 2021 BHA North American Rendezvous at Fort Missoula, in Montana, one of the highlights was Hal Herring, BHA’s 2016 Ted Trueblood Award recipient. Hal inspired and reminded us (via a cautionary tale) about what we’ve gained and could very well lose (see 2021 Rendezvous “Campfire Stories” link) without the constant sacrifice and vigilance of public landowners and patriots across the country and continent.

Our Armed Forces Initiative (AFI) servicemembers and veterans are laser-focused on these threats. “As a veteran who served in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), I understand that success often hinges on the small victories. Just as terrorist organizations used violence to spread their ideology during and after the GWOT, today’s battle for our wilderness is fueled by greed, exploitation, and the relentless pursuit of profit,” AFI leader Hunter Owen said.

“This is a different kind of enemy, but it’s no less determined … The fight ahead is not easy, and it won’t be over soon,” Hunter added. “It’s about standing up to those who see nature as something to be exploited rather than protected.” “Our incredible public lands are the finest and most concrete example of this great self-governing democratic experiment,” former BHA North American Board Chair Ryan Busse explained.

“So, would Teddy Roosevelt and Aldo Leopold respect and appreciate our efforts? I think those two men would applaud them, but they would warn us to maintain vigilance and avoid apathy,” former BHA President and CEO Jim Akenson cautioned (in the Winter 2011 Backcountry Journal). “In short, stay involved.” Protecting, perpetuating, and expanding our (in the words of Mike Beagle) “Reservoirs of Freedom” and other public lands requires constant vigilance and taking the initiative whenever and wherever possible.

“I recently came across the book ‘Silent Spring Revolution,’ which delves into the third wave of conservation in the 1960s and 1970s,” AFI leader Garrett Robinson (a U.S. Marine Corps veteran) wrote (in ‘Warriors With A New Mission In Conservation’). “I strongly encourage each and every one of you to read it, for it reminds us that it’s time for the fourth wave, and we can be the leaders who usher it in.” As former AFI Coordinator Trevor Hubbs wrote in Lethal Minds Journal, “Veterans have a powerful card to play. We might as well play that card in favor of conservation.”

Habitat & Advocacy

I had the privilege of shooting my first elk while hunting with David Petersen during a crisp southwest Colorado morning in the San Juan Mountains amidst a backdrop ablaze with bright yellow aspens and russet scrub oak. “The three-part formula for assuring a rich elk hunting future … could hardly be simpler,” David explained in a 2013 Traditional Bowhunter piece (“The Future of Elk Hunting”), “Those three essential elements are: habitat, habitat, and habitat.” But we need volunteers for the formula to work.

“There are countless ways to contribute. Whether it’s writing a blog post, engaging with legislators through emails, or participating in a public land cleanup, every effort counts,” Garrett Robinson adds. “Maybe it’s about mobilizing your local community to join us as members … Perhaps it’s taking people out into the great outdoors—guiding them on a hike, a hunt, or a fishing expedition. It’s about revealing the wonders of our wild places and explaining why it’s crucial to conserve these areas and protect the remarkable wildlife that calls them home.”

One of my core beliefs for volunteers is to ask many people to do one small job. In other words, don’t look at the “big picture.” Just look at the small picture that you are willing to do for a few hours a month, for a limited amount time. With many people each doing small amounts we can go big. How big depends on how many people are willing to do just a little. “When we all do a little, we accomplish a lot.”

Ultimately, to be effective, we must translate our boots-on-the-ground credibility into political influence. “Ariel Wiegard, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever vice president of government affairs, leads advocacy efforts to advance the mission of the habitat organization with lawmakers,” Outdoor News writer Jeff Mulhollen explained. “She’s a lobbyist, and proud of her role. She sees it as essential.”

“‘When we do training for our new employees about what advocacy is and what it means to be an advocate, we always start off by saying it’s actually your First Amendment right,’ Wiegard said. ‘We hear about freedom of speech, the press and religion, but people often don’t talk about the fact that, as citizens, we have a constitutional right to petition the government, whether for yourself or on behalf of a group of people who share common views. And that’s all lobbying is.”

Defending democracy and public lands depends on selfless and determined public servants and public lands advocates taking the initiative. It depends on Wilderness Warriors who understand that freedom and democracy go hand in hand with public lands and public service. To drive the point home, in the words of BHA’s Armed Forces Initiative (AFI), “Public Lands = Freedom.”

Where Hope Lives

During my 57 trips around the sun—in conjunction with visiting all 50 states, 43 countries, and all seven continents, not to mention lofty locales like Mount Everest, Mount Kilimanjaro, and Mount McKinley—I’ve come to the conclusion that finding true meaning in our lives is hard no matter what road or trail we choose, but wild country gives me hope.

Experiencing wilderness, wildlife, and the outdoors in general gives me hope. Encountering over a hundred elk and dozens of sparring, bugling bulls while hunting during the last week of October in southwest Colorado’s high and wild San Juan Mountains gives me hope. Seeing the sun rise against a backdrop of high mountain basins and craggy peaks gives me hope. Watching the sun set over a backcountry lake reflecting the brilliant glow of fall colors gives me hope.

Hope is, for better or worse, what we generally hang our hats on in the always-uphill battles that define protecting and perpetuating “our wild public lands, waters, and wildlife.” “Hope, it is the only thing stronger than fear,” the fictional dictator President Snow observed in The Hunger Games. “A little hope is effective; a lot of hope is dangerous.” And a deep well of hope combined with dogged determination is what makes BHA so dangerous.

“Hope is the exploration of dream, the action plan. You dream of the high mountain lake, perhaps seen only from the space eye of a satellite and you conceive of fish that may or may not swim there,” former BHA North American Board member Tom Reed wrote in Trout (Fall 2019). “Hope shoulders you into the backpack you will carry to its shores. Hope that lake is full of trout. You’ve been dreaming of it.”

“Leave your dens, abandon your cars and walk out into the great mountains, the deserts, the forests, along the seashores. Those treasures still belong to all of us,” David Petersen’s friend and mentor Edward Abbey wrote. “Enjoy them to the full. Stretch your legs. Expand your lungs. Enliven your hearts. And we will outlast the greedy swine who want to destroy it all in the name of what they call growth.”

Many of us come from multi-generational families of hunters and/or military veterans and, as such, we have embraced the immense responsibility of protecting public lands and democracy. Diminishing any wild public lands, waters, and wildlife anywhere speaks to a fundamental disregard for the hunters, anglers, and the servicemembers and veterans of this great nation. Public lands are not a left or right issue, they’re an American issue.

I didn’t spend fifteen years (age 12 to 27) in miliary training and service (i.e., age 12 to 21, Civil Air Patrol; 18 to 22, Air Force ROTC; 22 to 27, active duty U.S. Air Force) to let a bunch of billionaires and oligarchs waltz in and take our public lands without a fight. My oath to our Constitution was not taken lightly and I’ll continue defending it against “all enemies foreign and domestic” until I am physically (or otherwise) unable to do so.

“Hope is not a strategy, but without it we’d be lost. It’s the spark that helps feed our appetite for tackling change and taking calculated risks,” I wrote in a 2020 BHA Blog (“Where Hope Lives: A Brief BHA History”). “When mixed with equal parts Teddy Roosevelt, Aldo Leopold and Crown Royal, you have a combustible combination for conservation, the recipe that helped transform BHA’s founding campfire into a forest fire. Where does hope live? It lives in our burning desire to make a difference, to be the voice for our wild public lands, waters and wildlife.”

David Lien is co-chair of the Colorado BHA chapter, a former Air Force missile launch officer, and author. In 2014 he was recognized by Field & Stream as a “Hero of Conservation.” During 2019 he was the recipient of BHA’s Mike Beagle-Chairman’s Award “for outstanding effort on behalf of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.”

Additional/Related Information

-“Don’t put public lands on the chopping block: American liberty and American wilderness are intertwined.” The Durango Herald: 1/26/25.
-“Public Lands On The Chopping Block: It’s Now Or Never.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 1/24/25.
-“Opinion: Public lands linked to our liberty should not be for sale to corporations.” RealVail.com: 1/22/25.
-“Don’t put public lands on the chopping block: American liberty and American wilderness are intertwined.” Colorado Newsline: 1/22/25.
-“Haunted Elk Hunts.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 12/10/24.
-“6x6 Karma: The Bear Facts.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 11/12/24.
-Kylee Burleigh. “BHA Podcast & Blast, Ep. 178: One of the West’s Most Powerful Voices for Conservation: Tom Reed.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 4/17/24.
-“Hunting For Experience: Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Oral History Project.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 3/28/24.
-“Stalking Wildness: BHA’s Wilderness Warriors.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 2/13/24.
-“2021 Rendezvous Recap-Campfire Stories: Hal Herring.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 9/1/21.
-“Where Hope Lives: A Brief BHA History.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 11/30/20.
-“Looking back, looking forward: A brief history of BHA.” https://www.backcountryhunters.org/about
-“The Jim Posewitz Digital Library: Required Reading For Conservationists.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 4/3/20.
-Ben Long’s Hunter & Angler Field Guide to Raising Hell.
-Kylee Burleigh. “BHA Podcast & Blast, Ep. 180: 20 Years of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers with Ben Long and Patrick Berry.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 5/14/24.
-David “Elkheart” Petersen (founder of the first BHA state chapter, here in Colorado, and a former U.S. Marine Corps helicopter pilot) books. Also see his “On the Wild Edge” documentary at: https://youtu.be/-IE58L4bqEA
-Republican For Environmental Protection (REP): https://rep.org/

-For additional/related information also see: https://muckrack.com/david-lien/articles; https://coloradonewsline.com/author/davidlien/; https://www.realvail.com/author/davidlien2021camphale/; https://community.legendarywhitetails.com/contributors/david-a-lien/

-Mount Everest presentation prep (video) in Hill City, Minnesota (1/24/25): https://www.facebook.com/reel/453989524316829
-All the gear you need (video) to climb Mount Everest (1/24/25): https://www.facebook.com/reel/
-Mount Everest presentation (photos) at the Hill City (Minn.) Public School (1/24/25).
-Marie Nitke. “Taking on Everest: For David Lien, ‘it’s about the experience.’” Grand Rapids (Minn.) Herald-Review: 6/18/06.
-Dave Philipps. “The Client: A local man’s quest for Everest, the top of the world.” The (Colorado Springs, Colo.) Gazette: 8/13/06.
-“Reaching the summit of Mount McKinley.” Grand Rapids (Minn.) Herald-Review: 9/8/04.

-David A. Lien. “Ukraine is another black swan: I was a nuclear missile launch officer in the 1990s. A new Cold War may have just begun.” Colorado Newsline: 4/18/22.
-“A Higher Calling.” Association of Air Force Missileers (AAFM) Newsletter: March 2011, p. 4.
-“Silent Sentinels.” Association of Air Force Missileers (AAFM) Newsletter: March 2009, p. 1. (the article continues on p. 5, not p. 2).
-“Last Alert.” Association of Air Force Missileers (AAFM) Newsletter: December 2005, p. 3.

“Our job today and tomorrow is the same as it’s always been—to be good, to be wise, to stand up for what’s right, to resist what is wrong and evil. Nothing changes that. Nothing exempts us from that. Nothing prevents us from doing that.” -The Daily Stoic

Founded by Mike Beagle, a former U.S. Army field artillery officer, and formed around an Oregon campfire, in 2004, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers is the voice for our nation’s wild public lands, waters and wildlife. With members spread out across all 50 states and 13 Canadian provinces and territories—including chapters in 49 states, two Canadian provinces and one territory, and Washington, D.C.—BHA brings an authentic, informed, boots-on-the-ground voice to the conservation of public lands. The Colorado BHA chapter was founded by David “Elkheart” Petersen (a former U.S. Marine Corps helicopter pilot) in 2005 (the first official BHA chapter.