On January 3rd, 2023 the Rhode Island General Assembly began a new legislative session. With it, opportunities to continue ongoing policy initiatives become available, and new opportunities will arise to engage on issues within BHA’s area of interest. Below you will find the New England Chapter of BHA’s top policy priorities in Rhode Island for the 2023 legislative session. Priority: Protecting Shoreline Access For as long as Rhode Island has been an organized state its residents, and ...

UPDATE: 4/4/23- House Bill 1151 failed to pass with a Senate vote of 26 opposed, 21 in favor.  Likely the most contentious bill of the legislative session for ND BHA, the bill passed the house but was fortunately killed in the senate. The chapter opposed this bill mainly upon the premise that it would have stripped the ND Game & Fish Department of their authority to implement their game management plans. Thank you to our partner organizations and everyone that contacted their Representatives ...

During a lifetime of ruffed grouse hunting (aka, “armed hiking”) in northern Minnesota, I’ve experienced the highs and lows of grouse population cycles and encountered sizable groups of birds, in conjunction with putting my fair share in the freezer, but the most grouse I’ve ever encountered (i.e., in the shortest period of space and time) was completely unexpected.  During the first week of October 2022, I joined Boundary Waters Journal publisher Stu Osthoff (and clients) on his annual ...

Elk hunting is dominating discussions outside and inside the capitol this legislative session. On Jan. 14, eight organizations have announced a conversation concerning elk management at the Delta Colonial Hotel in Helena from 8:30 a.m. to noon. The "Future of Montana Elk Management – A Conversation," will include representatives from the Montana Stockgrowers, Farm Bureau, Property Environmental Research Center, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Montana Wildlife Federation, Montana ...

To be beaten in a game when you’re on the field and playing hard – that’s a defeat you can live with.  To be beaten in a game that you didn’t even know had started – that’s just not fair.  The good news is, we are not beaten yet.  But it’s a bitter pill to swallow knowing that legislators and special interest groups hid behind a tiny piece of legislation aimed at 4H poultry projects to try and pull a fast one on Ohio’s citizens.  Enter the “Chicken Bill” – HB 507.  And yes, all the puns I ...