SALEM, Ore. – The Oregon chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers is commending a decision by the Oregon state legislature to consider a bill that could keep the Elliott State Forest under state ownership, averting the need to sell the 82,500-acre Elliott and securing the valuable fish and wildlife habitat and outdoor opportunities found in Oregon’s oldest state forest. Senate Bill 847 would provide the state of Oregon the mechanism to transfer ownership of the Elliott State Forest from the ...

TODAY: BHA President and CEO to answer questions from media, grassroots on budget proposal, negative repercussions for wildlife, public lands, hunting and fishing MISSOULA, Mont. – Following the release by President Trump of a budget proposal that sharply reduces key agency funding, eliminates important staff positions and cuts programs important to public lands and sportsmen, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers strongly criticized the proposal and called on members of Congress to undertake swift, ...

MISSOULA, Mont. – As the days lengthen and temperatures warm in western Montana, sportsmen from across the continent will be traveling to Missoula in support of our public lands and the outdoor opportunities they represent to attend Backcountry Hunters & Anglers' 6th annual North American Rendezvous, April 7-9. “Backcountry Storytelling” is the theme for the 2017 BHA Rendezvous, with this year’s event featuring a slate of speakers, seminars and hands-on skills sessions that go to the heart ...

  Pictured: Pronghorn at rest, Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge. Tom Koerner, USFWS MISSOULA, Mont. – America’s national wildlife refuges have provided generations of sportsmen with equal opportunity, easy access, public lands hunting and fishing, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers stated today, the 114th anniversary of the National Wildlife Refuge System. “Hunters and anglers are at the heart of our nation’s wildlife refuge system,” said BHA President and CEO Land Tawney. “One of our greatest ...

WASHINGTON – Following today’s vote by the U.S. Senate to withdraw Planning 2.0, updated Bureau of Land Management planning policies affecting 245 million acres of public lands, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers President and CEO Land Tawney offered the following response:   “For years BHA has worked with other sportsmen’s groups to improve planning policies for lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management,” said Tawney. “Planning 2.0 revises outdated regulations, in part by giving ...

WASHINGTON – Following Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s signing late yesterday of a secretarial order expanding public access and hunting and fishing opportunities on U.S. public lands, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers President and CEO Land Tawney offered the following response:   “On his first day as Interior secretary, Mr. Zinke undertook quick action on behalf of our nation’s public lands, the outdoor opportunities they offer and the economic security they provide,” said Tawney. ...

BOISE, Idaho – Sportsmen and other public landowners in Idaho are uniting in support of public lands, joining together to rally at the Idaho Capitol this Saturday and send a clear message about the importance of our shared lands and waters. The rally comes as the Idaho legislature is considering a bill (S. 1065) that would egregiously and unnecessarily limit acquisition by the state of any new public lands, cap private lands donations to a state agency at 320 acres and instruct state ...

WASHINGTON – Approximately 100,000 acres of Oregon public lands backcountry – including riparian wildlife habitat and a unique steelhead fishery – will be permanently conserved if legislation introduced today in Congress becomes law, announced Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. The Frank and Jeanne Moore Wild Steelhead Sanctuary Act, sponsored by Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon, would permanently safeguard the Steamboat Creek basin, a tributary of the North ...

MISSOULA, Mont. – Heather Kelly and J.R. Young have joined the national board of directors of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, bringing passion and expertise in backcountry nutrition, adventure and locavore values to the leadership of the rapidly growing sportsmen's group.   Heather Kelly is an avid hunter, angler, backpacker and outdoor adventurer. Kelly launched Heather’s Choice Meals for Adventuring in 2014 to combine her love of sports nutrition and backcountry packrafting. Her ...

WASHINGTON – Acknowledging years of collaborative, community-driven efforts to permanently conserve valuable backcountry habitat in Colorado’s Thompson Divide, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers welcomed the introduction of legislation in the U.S. Senate that would withdraw the area from future mineral development. Introduced by Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado, the bill would limit future industrial development on approximately 172,000 acres of public lands and waters located just west of ...