For Immediate Release: 

Sept. 18, 2026 

Contact: 

Media@backcountryhunters.org 

 

Hunting, Fishing and Public Access at Center of New Executive Orders 

Ultimate effects of both orders will depend on how federal agencies interpret and implement the directives in the months ahead. 

Missoula, MONTANA—President Donald Trump on Thursday signed two executive orders addressing hunting, recreational fishing and the management of America’s public lands, waters, fish and wildlife – issues core to Backcountry Hunters & Anglers’ mission. As such, BHA’s Policy team is actively reviewing both orders and their potential implications for public land and water users, fish and wildlife, and the management of these shared resources. 

“Hunters and anglers have an enormous stake in how these directives are implemented, and there is a lot here for our community to understand,” said Chris Borgatti, Eastern Policy and Conservation Manager for BHA. “We appreciate the administration’s attention to hunting, fishing, public access and the future of our fish and wildlife. Many of the goals outlined in these orders reflect priorities BHA and our partners have worked with Congress and federal agencies to advance for years. We’re encouraged to see that work reflected here, and are excited for the opportunity to work directly with the Administration to ensure the details reflect the needs of public land owners.” 

Reinvigorating America’s Hunting Heritage and Restoring American Saltwater Angling and Recreation directs federal agencies to undertake a wide range of actions affecting public access, habitat and wildlife management, hunter recruitment, fisheries science and data collection, recreational fishing and federal permitting. 

Among the hunting order’s provisions are directives intended to: 

• Expand access to federal lands, including difficult-to-access public lands and waters

• Address barriers to wildlife movement and habitat connectivity 

• Reduce invasive species, habitat degradation, disease and other factors contributing to wildlife population declines 

• Expand opportunities for hunting and fishing 

The order also directs the Department of the Interior to restore hunting opportunities within California’s Castle Mountains National Monument and Idaho’s Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve. Hunters worked in good faith to support conservation of these landscapes with the expectation that hunting opportunities would be maintained. When that opportunity was lost, so too was some of the trust that hunters had placed in the national monument designation process. 

“Restoring hunting opportunities at Castle Mountains and Craters of the Moon is an important step toward rebuilding some of that trust,” said Joel Weltzien, California Chapter Coordinator for BHA. “BHA members and the broader hunting community have long demonstrated that conserving important landscapes and maintaining responsible hunting access do not have to be competing objectives. We strongly support restoring these losses of opportunity while continuing to conserve the habitat and wildlife values these landscapes were designated to protect.” 

The saltwater angling order directs federal agencies to pursue: 

• Changes involving recreational fisheries management and data collection, including a review of guidelines implementing National Standards 1 and 2 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 

• Greater incorporation of state-level fisheries data 

• Electronic recreational catch reporting 

• Artificial reef development 

• Efforts aimed at improving depleted fish stocks and habitat 

The breadth of both orders means many of their ultimate effects will depend on how individual agencies interpret and implement the directives in the months ahead. BHA also noted that the administration's ongoing efforts to rescind or alter the Roadless Rule and Travel Management Rule — efforts the nonprofit has urged the administration to either halt or revise only while acknowledging the benefits of both rules to hunters and anglers — are in many areas, at odds with the goals outlined in these orders. Both rules support healthy habitat, responsible use, and balanced access, including high-quality hunting opportunities by helping keep public wildlife on our public lands. 

“Access, opportunity and abundant fish and wildlife are inseparable from healthy habitat and sound, science-based management,” Borgatti added. “Those principles will guide BHA’s review of these orders and our engagement with agencies as the process of implementation takes shape to ensure our members needs are represented in decision making.” 

BHA will provide hunters and anglers with an in-depth analysis in the coming week, including a closer look at key provisions of both executive orders, what they could mean for public lands, waters, fish and wildlife, and potential opportunities for the public to engage as implementation moves forward. 

---

Backcountry Hunters & Anglers seeks to ensure North America’s outdoor heritage of hunting and fishing in a natural setting through education and work on behalf of wild public lands, waters, and wildlife. To learn more about issues important to BHA’s membership, visit https://www.backcountryhunters.org/get-involved/issues.