This is your October edition of BHA's State Policy Spotter - a high-level scan of state policy and legislation impacting our wild public lands, waters and wildlife across North America.

Note - this is not a comprehensive list of legislation or issues that chapters are working on, but rather a spotlight in the moment of what is moving. There are many more bills and issues BHA's chapters are grappling with so be sure to check out individual chapter pages for more news and updates.

Illinois stream access is widely misunderstood, a result of the state not mirroring federal law. A stream that would be considered public by federal law is not public under Illinois state law, as private ownership of an Illinois stream includes both the stream bed and the water flowing through that area.  The map depicted shows just how much flowing water in Illinois is considered private. Blue streams are considered public under Illinois law, while red streams are legally private (although ...

“I have never yet found a place that equaled the Kankakee swamps for the variety of game to be found there.” – J. Lorenzo Werich, 1920. Few know the history now. None who experienced it are still alive to tell us the tale. But it was once known as The Everglades of the North, a million acres of marsh and swamp in Indiana and Illinois, with thousands of people living on the wealth of its fish and game, flocks of waterfowl darkening the skies, passenger pigeons, deer and black bear, beaver and ...