Welcome to 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: The Policy Spotter is not a comprehensive list of legislation or issues that BHA 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.
August 2026
Alaska: Before the Road - Dispatch from the Middle Fork of the Koyukuk. News.
The proposed Ambler Industrial Road would cut roughly 200 miles across Alaska’s Brooks Range to provide industrial access to mining prospects in the Ambler Mining District. While the road has not been built, Alaska BHA recently traveled the Middle Fork of the Koyukuk River, where staff and members witnessed helicopter traffic, field crews, monitoring sites and other activity associated with evaluating the proposed corridor.
The trip offered a firsthand look at a landscape that could be dramatically changed by industrial development and the impacts to access that comes with it. BHA continues to oppose the Ambler Industrial Road because of its potential impacts to fish and wildlife habitat, hunting and fishing opportunities, and the wild and remote character of the Brooks Range.
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New Mexico: Rallying to Conserve the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. News.
As national monument protections face renewed threats across the West, more than 100 public land supporters gathered in Embudo, New Mexico, for the 2nd Annual Rally for the Rio Grande del Norte. The gathering brought hunters, anglers and other public land users together in support of keeping Rio Grande del Norte National Monument intact and conserving the important fish and wildlife habitat and public access it provides.
The rally comes amid renewed efforts to roll back national monument protections, including recent reductions to Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah. BHA continues to advocate for durable protections for national monuments while demonstrating our commitment to their management on the ground—including through a volunteer project following the rally that improved more than 1,300 acres of wildlife habitat within Rio Grande del Norte.
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Oregon & Washington: Finding the Balance Between Access and Elk Security. News.
The U.S. Forest Service is seeking public input on new management plans covering nearly 5 million acres across the Malheur, Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman national forests. The plans will guide how these public lands are managed for decades, including decisions affecting forest health, wildlife habitat, roads and motorized access. Hunters and wildlife managers have raised concerns that the current proposals do not adequately address science-based road density standards developed through decades of research that are essential to providing the secure habitat elk need to remain on public lands.
BHA supports active forest management that improves habitat and forest health while ensuring management decisions account for the impacts of roads and motorized use on elk and other wildlife. As the Forest Service works to finalize the plans, hunters and anglers have an important opportunity to weigh in on the future of some of the most important elk country in the Pacific Northwest.
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Vermont: Primitive Camping Regulations on State Lands. News.
The New England Chapter’s Vermont Team is preparing formal comments on the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation’s proposed update to the primitive camping rule for state lands. This long-overdue revision, the first since 1993, aims to address modern challenges like campfire safety, water source protection, and enforcement. The proposed rule, which proposes stronger setbacks from waterways and improved fire management, is an important step toward balancing sustainable public use with the long-term health of Vermont’s forests and wildlife. Public comment remains open until October 9, 2026.
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