WASHINGTON – Following Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s announcement today of recommendations that would undermine Bears Ears National Monument in Utah – reducing the size of the monument and altering the current management paradigm – Backcountry Hunters & Anglers President and CEO Land Tawney offered the following response: “Over the course of more than a century, the Antiquities Act has proven one of our most potent mechanisms for permanently conserving important fish and wildlife habitat ...

News for Immediate ReleaseMay 23, 2017Contact: Katie McKalip, 406-240-9262, mckalip@backcountryhunters.org White House Budget Strongly Condemned by Public Lands Sportsmen Administration budget would cut Interior funding by 11 percent, gut federal Land and WaterConservation Fund, freeze collaborative sagebrush conservation efforts WASHINGTON – Public lands fish and wildlife habitat, public access funding, and hunting and angling opportunities will face severe negative impacts in the ...

MISSOULA, Mont. – Following comments by Rep. Mark Amodei that he won’t be reviving a controversial bill that would have transferred public lands in Nevada to state ownership, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers celebrated a win for public lands sportsmen and women while acknowledging that the battle over our shared lands and waters continues. Introduced by Amodei last year, the Honor the Nevada Enabling Act (H.R. 1484) would have legislated the transfer of millions of publicly owned acres to the ...

SALEM, Ore. – A victory for public access and hunting and fishing opportunity was achieved this afternoon when the Oregon state land board voted unanimously to keep the Elliott State Forest under state ownership, rejecting earlier proposals to sell Oregon’s oldest state forest and supporting an outcome that Backcountry Hunters & Anglers had been strongly advocating. Jesse Salsberry, BHA Northwest outreach coordinator, provided testimony at the land board meeting today and applauded the vote ...

WASHINGTON – A bill that would inhibit the strategic acquisition of public lands and waters for access, recreation and fish and wildlife habitat is drawing strong criticism from Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. H.R. 2167, introduced last week by Rep. Morgan Griffith of Virginia, would legislate a “no net increase” in the size of the public estate, stipulating that for every acre acquired by the federal government, an equal amount must be sold or divested to state or private interests. The ...