Public Testimony given on 10/28/22 at the WDFW Commission Meeting: Good morning, Commissioners, my name is Dan Wilson and I’m the co-chair of the Washington Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. During the wildlife committee meeting on Oct 13, I was disappointed when a commissioner cast doubt on the idea that hunting plays a primary role in conservation and I feel the recurring obligation to clarify the interdependency of hunting and conservation before this body. Of course economic data ...

Public Testimony at the 10/28/22 WDFW Commission Meeting: Good Morning Commissioners, My name is Dan Wilson and I’m the co-chair of the Washington Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. On behalf of our chapter, I would like to strongly voice our support that the Woodland caribou remain listed as state endangered species in Washington. I also feel compelled to state that it is simply insufficient to list them as an endangered species and allow a periodic review to act as a eulogy to this ...

  AFI Director Trevor Hubbs has been hitting the podcast network on a speaking tour for a few months garnering support for the program and building sponsor relationships.   For a list of Podcast episodes please see below links: The Modern Carnivore Podcast https://modcarn.com/ The Hunting Dog Podcast https://thehuntingdogpodcast.com/episodes/armed-forces-initiative-fighting-for-the-usa-and-us/ National Deer Association Podcast https://deerassociation.com/trevor-hubbs/ The Average ...

Early in the year, the Utah Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers was approached by Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) Big Game Coordinator, now Wildlife Section Chief Covy Jones to have a seat on the Elk Management Plan Committee to re-write the long-term strategic plan for elk management in the state. As a chapter, we’ve been working hard to increase engagement with the Division on critical issues such as this, and immediately accepted the seat at the table. We knew we had our work ...

On Election Day ballots will include Constitutional Amendment HCR-5014.  Voting “Yes” for this amendment to our State Constitution would give the Kansas Legislature direct authority over the management of fish and wildlife to the Legislature as opposed to KDWP professionals trained in the fish and wildlife management.  Supporters of the bill will argue this amendment creates a checks and balances to limit bureaucracy, however, KDWP’s internal checks and balances is the Wildlife Commission. ...

The Pennsylvania Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers applauds the passage today of SB431. Now approved by the full legislature, the bill goes to Governor Tom Wolf, who has said he will sign it into law. This legislation will bring our antlerless license system into the modern age by allowing doe tags to be purchased online and at licensing agents and not exclusively via a confusing mail in system using the dreaded pink envelopes.   At least 500 BHA members and supporters have used ...

Ohio BHA helping to improve fishing access along Chagrin Riverby Jacob Pries and Dustin LindleyWhile many anglers in Ohio are getting their last casts in and perhaps embellishing their best fish stories of the season as the temperature drops, fishing for steelhead is just starting to heat up. Those hearty enough to brave the cold Erie tributaries along the north edge of Ohio will not prospect for gold, but for flashing steel cutting through the water, hunting elusive and powerful rainbow ...

The state of Washington, hunting and angling organizations have banned together and created a Washington Fish and Wildlife Conservation Partnership, a new coalition dedicated to protecting the state’s hunting, fishing, and trapping heritage through science-based fish and wildlife management. The WA Chapter has been at the forefront of the new initiative since the beginning as leaders saw the need for organizations to work together out of the recent spring bear decisions by the WDFW ...

The WDFW commission continues to barrel forward into uncharted territory, creating new policies and processes around game management without structure or pre-defined guidelines. Under the current commission leadership hunters have seen the loss of the Spring Bear Season, a lack of concern regarding decreasing elk populations, inflammatory statements regarding hunting ethics and values, and a willful disregard for the impacts of their decisions on disparate communities in Washington. ...

Photo Courtesy of WDFW 2021 marked the first documented case of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in Idaho. A quiet and widely ignored killer, CWD is at the very least, next door. It’s an unfortunate development for wildlife advocates, hunters, biologists, forest health proponents, and those concerned about communicable diseases. If you haven’t been tracking the spread of CWD around the world and in the US, this fatal disease affecting cervids (in Washington, that’s our deer, elk, and moose) is ...