Jessie Shallow, of Salmon, Idaho, is the partner biologist for the Mule Deer Foundation, working with state and federal agencies to restore mule deer winter range and other habitat in the wake of the last- decades’ massive range fires. Her family and personal roots are deep in the southern Idaho farmlands and wild country from the Owyhee to the Bitterroots. Jessie and Hal discuss the work they’ve done together over the past two years: This season MDF crews planted a record 196,000 sagebrush ...

News for Immediate ReleaseNov. 19, 2021Contact: Katie McKalip, 406-240-9262, mckalip@backcountryhunters.org WASHINGTON – Following months of negotiations, the U.S. House of Representatives today voted to pass a massive, $1.7 trillion spending bill using the budget reconciliation process. The Build Back Better Act makes significant investments in public lands and waters, valuable wildlife habitat and key federal management programs that Backcountry Hunters & Anglers have consistently ...

California BHA comments on the California Coastal Conservancy revised Coastal Access Project Guidelines. View the comment letter: Dear California Coastal Conservancy Board Members, I write on behalf of the California Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, the voice for our wild public lands, waters, and wildlife. We thank you for the opportunity to provide public comment regarding the revised Coastal Access Project Guidelines. Backcountry Hunters & Anglers is a 501c3 non-profit dedicated ...

The word elk is believed to have come from the Greek, alke, meaning strength. This makes sense because the elk is one of the largest members of the deer family. Males are powerful and—fully grown—weigh up to 1,000 pounds.[1] However, few southwest Colorado public lands elk hunters will ever encounter such a behemoth, for multiple reasons. First, southwest Colorado’s San Juan Mountains may be one of the most rugged places to hunt elk in the country. The San Juans claim the title of ...

The Colorado chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers recently appointed Kris Hess to serve as a Habitat Watch Volunteer (HWV) for the Arapahoe-Roosevelt National Forest. Kris was born and raised in Alpena, Michigan. “I grew up in a hunting and fishing family in northern Michigan and started fishing and hunting whitetails at a young age,” he said. “I stepped back from hunting for many years but was reinvigorated in 2015 after my first Colorado elk hunt with my father.”  “I’ve since had a ...