By Ed Putnam, Co-Chair, Oregon Backcountry Hunters & AnglersWell, Senator Wyden’s O&C Lands Bill failed to hop a ride onto a Defense spending package that’s steaming through Congress on its way to the President’s desk. Seems it was just too hot an issue to make the trip.The bill is a nice balance between conservation and timber harvest, but the timber industry doesn’t like it because it doesn’t cut enough board feet to provide the needed revenue, or provide enough protection from lawsuits. ...

Montana is famous for its blue ribbon trout streams and world-class hunting. That’s not by accident. For more than 100 years, hunters and anglers have worked to conserve and restore our wildlife, access and opportunity. That legacy continues today. Backcountry Hunters & Anglers applauds a historic bi-partisan effort in Congress that has protected more than 800,000 acres along the North Fork of the Flathead River and the Rocky Mountain Front.North Fork Flathead ProtectedThe North Fork of the ...

The following article originally appeared in the Mountain Mail.Journal entry from Browns Canyon on November 29, 2014.“I’ve backpacked a few miles southeast of Ruby Mountain on the Turret Trail, trying to get to a spot flat enough to nail down my tiny shelter and gather firewood before I get caught in the dark.  Getting caught out in the dark in these dry washes and rugged hills doesn’t pose much of a problem though, because there’s a half moon tonight.  It’s late November, and there’s a ...

National Policy/Legislation/Initiatives:Provided input/comments/support of/for full Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) funding and Clean Water Act protections:-A MN BHA letter-to-the-editor (“Sportsmen support Interior’s conservation efforts,” 11/20/13): http://www.grandrapidsmn.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/article_294b4a88-51f0-11e3-987c-001a4bcf887a.html-A MN BHA letter (“Give thanks for public land protection in U.S.,” 11/7/13) in the St. Cloud (Minn.) Times: 11/7/13. ...

Nov. 19, 2014 ��� A new poll shows that sportsmen and women in the heart of greater sage-grouse country want to protect the bird and the sagebrush landscape that supports it, other wildlife and the Western way of life. The results released Wednesday by the National Wildlife Federation show that a majority of sportsmen surveyed in 11 Western states back restrictions in important habitat to save the greater sage-grouse and avoid its placement on the federal Endangered Species List. A listing ...