FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 11, 2025  Contact: media@backcountryhunters.org    MISSOULA, Mont. — Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA) is rebuking a sweeping new proposal released by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that would force the sale of up to 3 million acres of public lands under the guise of a solution to the housing crisis. This proposal—led by committee chair Senator Mike Lee (R-UT)—would apply to public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest ...

Alaska BHA Kenai Refuge Canoe Route Clearing Recap     By Neal Koeneman, Jeff Knisley, & Mary Glaves    Clearing the Canoe Portages on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge with Paddling-ton Bear & the Alaska BHA Crew Twenty dusty miles north of Sterling is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife (USFWS) Education Center, the Den. Geographically, It’s in the heart of a mesh of lakes, and trails in the wet flat expanse of the northern Kenai Peninsula. The area is a part of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge ...

At sunset on Saturday, a small and enthusiastic group of BHA volunteers joined up with CDFW's Region 6 sheep biologists at the foot of the Marble Mountains in the Mojave for the annual desert bighorn sheep survey. After camping through a windy night, everyone woke to a mercifully overcast morning. Three teams, each led by one of the scientists, were off not long after dawn, and everyone was at their first glassing location shortly after 6 a.m. It didn't take us long to find sheep as we ...

Texas conservationists welcomed the end of the 89th Legislature on Monday, celebrating a handful of wins and dodging a long list of bad bills that would have undermined the state’s ability to manage wildlife and protect deer herds from Chronic Wasting Disease. Perhaps the most visible victory for wildlife advocates came from the quick and passionate rejection of a bill that would have abolished the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Many other bills, including several supported by deer ...

Everything you will ever need to know to win any argument about the future of our American public lands--special and crucial episode with Walt Dabney. Understanding the background and history of our public lands is critical to safeguarding them for the future. Texas-born Walt Dabney started his National Park Service career in Yellowstone in 1969, worked as a ranger from the Everglades to Alaska, and was the Superintendent of the National Parks in Southeast Utah from 1991-99, completing ...