Celebrating Public Lands Month gets to the heart of what Backcountry Hunters and Anglers stands for. We live and thrive on public land, and those of us who are members of the Tennessee Chapter take the health the lands we hunt, fish and recreate on very serious. Therefore we are very grateful that, in addition to the benefit of cleaning up our local WMAs, First Lite offered to pitch in this year and donate to the BHA, based on the number of trash bags filled.
Here in Tennessee, we hit it hard, and decided to include tires, broken TVs and anything else we could find that didn’t belong! Three different groups organized and cleaned up three separate WMAs, with good turnout all around, even when the weather was less than cooperative. Groups set out to clean up Bogota and Thorny Cypress WMAs, Natchez Trace State Park and Yanahli WMA.
The West Tennessee Group set out on September 5th, and a group cleaned up Natchez Trace on September 12th. Both saw good turnout and support from folks they encountered.
Folks in the Nashville area came down to Yanahli WMA on September 13th. They were lucky to have folks in the group familiar with the area who could direct them to some of the worst spots (spots we will target in future clean-ups). All together, they packed out 30 trash bags and 3 tires. More importantly, some cars stopped while they were cleaning to personally thank them.
All of us with the Tennessee Chapter of the Backcountry Hunters and Anglers are so grateful to everyone who came out and helped us pack out trash! Not only does this act alone better protect our shared resources, but the money raised will help the BHA continue to advocate for public lands across the USA.
We are looking forward to scheduling more pack outs once hunting season is over! Please reach out if you are interested in attending a future pack out or know of a WMA in need of some love and attention!
About Josh Kaywood
Chapter Coordinator For the Southeastern States.