Paul Painter was named Colorado Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA) Denver Metro Area Work Projects Liaison. Paul was born at Chanute Air Force Base, Illinois, but raised in the little Appalachian coal town of Plumville, Pennsylvania, which is about 15 miles from Punxsutawney Phil. Paul is a graduate of IUP, not Indiana University Purdue, rather Indiana University of Pennsylvania. “I’m a computer geek so being outdoors is my release,” Paul said. “Being raised in Pennsylvania where the first ...

How the growing population of Texas has ignited a fight for more public lands for Texans There’s something special about Texas that draws people here. People have always been magnetically pulled to Texas, with the first mass migration peaking in the 1830s to the present day. From 2020 to 2021, Texas gained over half a million new residents, the most significant population growth of any other state, and currently, an estimated 1,000 people are moving into Texas daily. But this increase in ...

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On May 20th, volunteers from Idaho Chapter BHA and Idaho Trails Association (ITA) worked together to rehabilitate a spring on BLM-managed public lands in the Owyhee Mountains. The spring near the Mud Flat Road was illegally excavated in 2021 and BLM requested help in late 2022 to return the site to its natural contour and flow. Although the work was delayed in 2022 due to weather and hard ground conditions, the Idaho Chapter members and ITA were able to organize a group of volunteers this ...