Backcountry Hunters & Anglers - Public Waters Access

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Media

30

Apr

2025

BHA Tracking Federal Public Access Closures

Author: Nadia Marji
USACE Photo/Raystown Lake   The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has announced temporary closures of campgrounds, boat ramps, and recreation areas across three districts this summer due to staffing and resource shortages.     These closures will affect public access in parts of Pennsylvania, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Iowa – limiting opportunities for hunters, anglers, and other outdoor users.     Baltimore District: Partial closure of ...
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20

Nov

2024

Senate Committee Advances Final Public Lands and Waters Legislation for the 118th Congress

On November 19, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held its final Business Meeting of the 118th Congress. The record-breaking number of bills on the docket highlights the backlog of public lands legislation and the inability of Congress to properly pass these types of bills. The committee considered six bills supported by Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, four of which would conserve a total of 2.9 million acres and 325 miles of waterways identified by BHA as high-priority ...
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6

Sep

2024

The Fight for Stream Access: Hunters, Anglers, and Boaters Unite for Colorado’s Waters

Author: Bryan Jones
“Colorado’s magnificent rivers and streams are a public trust to be enjoyed by all. Our message to state officials: let our people float and fish.” - Colorado Chapter Co-Chair, Don Holmstrom Colorado’s rivers and streams are at the heart of its wild, public lands. Whether you’re casting a line for trout, floating down a river in a drift boat, or simply enjoying the solitude of the backcountry, water access is fundamental to the outdoor experience. Yet, Colorado remains one of the most ...
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22

May

2024

Local Outdoorsmen Rally to Save the Cutoff

Author: Ryan Buege
In early 2022, a private landowner illegally blocked access to a popular public hunting and fishing destination in East Texas known locally as “The Cutoff”. A group of local sportsmen who hunt and fish there have challenged the move in court, and Texas BHA is rallying behind them. The Cutoff, also called Creslenn Lake, spans 12 miles along the boundary for Navarro and Henderson Counties. Originally part of the Trinity River, the waterway was separated from its main channel by a levee ...
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27

Jun

2023

RI Shoreline Access Bills Become Law

On Monday June 26, 2023 RI Governor Dan McKee signed H5174A & S417A, completing the legislative process for the pair to become State law. The Governor’s signature comes less than two weeks after the RI House of Representatives and Senate passed the bills in concurrence before concluding the 2023 RI Legislative Session. Read the Coalition Letter in support of shoreline access to Governor McKee   As enacted, H5174A & S417A include several provisions that will improve shoreline access in the ...
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23

May

2023

BHA Podcast & Blast, Ep. 156: Florida Backcountry Lawman Bob Lee

You may remember Bob Lee from Free the Ocklawaha River!, where he and Hal first met. Bob is one of the leading voices for the removal of Rodman Dam and the reconnection of the Ocklawaha River to the St. Johns and the Atlantic Ocean. He knows of what he speaks: Bob Lee was the game warden for this part of the American backcountry – the oldest of Old Florida – for over 30 years. He wrote about his adventures in his excellent first book Backcountry Lawman and expanded on that success by ...
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9

May

2023

BHA Podcast & Blast, Ep. 155: Montana Fishing Guide and Writer Chris Dombrowski

Author: Thomas Plank
Chris Dombrowski is a professional fishing guide of over two decades on the rivers of Montana, an acclaimed poet and the author of Body of Water: A Sage, A Seeker, and the World’s Most Alluring Fish, which is about, among many other things, the pursuit of bonefish in the Bahamas. Chris’ latest book is The River You Touch: Making a Life on Moving Water, which manages to be a deeply honest memoir, a celebration of the joys and terrors of family, and a love letter to the landscape and rivers of ...
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23

Mar

2023

BHA Defends Navigable Waters Rule and Secures Access in California

Author: Anonym
Here in California we have a constitutional right to fish, and we have a right to access, hunt and fish the navigable waters of our state - for those waters are to be held in the public trust for the enjoyment of ALL. Occasionally those rights and the definitions that uphold them can be called into question, as was the case last Fall when two anglers were confronted by a warden who claimed they were trespassing while fishing the Truckee River along a section that ran through private land. ...
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24

Oct

2022

The 2022 Public Lands and Waters Photo Contest

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2

Sep

2022

New Mexico Supreme Court Rules in Support of Public Access to Public Waters

Author: Thomas Plank
News for Immediate ReleaseSept. 2, 2022Contact: Katie McKalip, 406-240-9262, mckalip@backcountryhunters.org   Decision confirms the public’s right to walk or wade streambeds that cross privately owned lands SANTA FE, N.M. – The New Mexico Supreme Court has ruled again in support of public access to public waters in a Thursday decision that confirms the public’s right to walk or wade streambeds crossing privately owned lands. The opinion ruling by the court follows its unanimous decision in ...
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