April 2025 Federal Policy Roundup

This month, BHA continues to elevate the voice of hunters and anglers in defense of our public lands and waters as high-level decisions emerge that would fast-track their privatization and development – ranging from housing development to prioritizing mining and weakening protections for national monuments. Meanwhile, Congress continues to introduce a wide range of legislation with major implications for conservation and access. While BHA supports several of these efforts, the outlook for their success over the next two years remains murky.

President Trump Announces Intended Elimination of National Monuments

On Mar. 15, California’s newest national monuments, supported by hunters and anglers, were targeted, though there may be a window to avoid unprecedented action to eliminate them. The Trump administration shared a factsheet with the following language intended for an Executive Order: 

“President Trump’s latest action targets some of Biden’s most damaging executive orders and policies, including…Terminating proclamations declaring nearly a million acres constitute new national monuments that lock up vast amounts of land from economic development and energy production.” 

It was reported that this was in reference to the Chuckwalla and Sattitla Highlands national monuments. This factsheet was later taken down, and no Executive Order has been issued of record.

Not only would this action strip protections from nearly 850,000 acres of public lands with intact fish and wildlife habitat, but it would also undermine Theodore Roosevelt’s conservation legacy and our hunting and fishing heritage by eroding the Antiquities Act, which has been used for more than a century by 18 presidents – nine Republicans and nine Democrats – to safeguard millions of acres of exceptional public lands and waters.

As early as 1908, the Antiquities Act was used by Theodore Roosevelt to designate more than 800,000 acres of public land as the Grand Canyon National Monument to protect the region from mining claims. The United States Supreme Court upheld that designation in a 1920 decision, establishing the precedent that the conservation of large landscapes was within the authority of the Antiquities Act.

Eliminating these national monuments, an action never before done by any president and one that the president does not have the legal authority to take, is not in the best interest of those who value and want to conserve some of our best remaining habitat for hunting and fishing on public lands.  

The Trump administration has yet to take any official action leaving a window to push back on this intended Executive Order.

• Take action here to show your support for national monuments and the Antiquities Act, along with the incredible hunting and fishing opportunities they provide. 

Legislation Reintroduced to Protect Public Lands and Waters in Southwest Oregon

On Mar. 11, the Smith River National Recreation Area Expansion Act was reintroduced by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Ron Wyden (D-OR). This legislation would extend critical safeguards to 58,000 acres of public land in southwest Oregon’s Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest and add 74 miles of waterways to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

“The Smith River watershed provides a wide variety of outdoor activities in a unique landscape including hunting, fishing, rafting, swimming, hiking, and camping,” said Justin Gindlesperger, Southwest Regional Director for the Oregon Chapter of BHA. “The expansion of the Smith River National Recreation Area would provide an essential safeguard to the watershed so future generations can experience a remarkable and truly wild landscape here in Southwest Oregon. The Oregon Chapter of BHA continues to stand with the sportsmen and women of Oregon for the protection of the wild lands and waters of the State and we fully support the effort to protect such a valuable resource.”

• Read BHA’s press release here.
• Take action here to support conservation of public lands and waters in Oregon!

Reintroduced Legislation Would Protect Public Lands in Southern Nevada

On Mar. 12, the Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act was reintroduced by Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Jacky Rosen  (D-NV). This legislation would, among other provisions, would conserve approximately 2 million acres of public lands in Clark County, Nevada through the expansion of five Wilderness Areas and the designation of six new Wilderness Areas spanning a total of 1.6 million acres, establishing nine Special Management Areas encompassing 359,000 acres, and the expansion of two National Conservation Areas by 65,000 acres. Chief among the proposed wilderness is the designation of the nearly 1.3-million-acre Southern Paiute Wilderness Area within the Desert National Wildlife Refuge, critical to conserving the largest intact habitat for desert bighorn sheep in the Mojave Desert and continuing public access for hunters as military operations in the refuge continue to expand.

Joint Task Force on Federal Land for Housing

On Mar. 17, the Department of the Interior Secretary Burgum and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Turner announced the creation of a new Joint Task Force on Federal Land for Housing in an op-ed. While certain existing authorities allow the targeted use of public lands to address housing in Western communities, BHA opposes the broad streamlining of authorities to privatize public lands with habitat value, and that provide access for hunters and anglers, for new housing development.

We also recognize that as communities surrounded entirely by public land grow, there may be cases where limited, carefully planned transfers of public land for housing development could make sense, but under strict conditions and through existing authorities. Some parcels – particularly small, isolated tracts surrounded by existing development – may have low habitat value and provide little public access. In these rare cases, a well-planned land exchange or limited transfer could serve the public interest without harming our hunting and fishing traditions. But this must be the exception, not the rule. 

Such a decision must be made in concert with robust resource management planning, migration corridor mapping and public input, including from hunters and anglers. The resulting transfer should be accompanied by land conservation measures that provide equal or greater benefits, such as securing new public access, funding habitat restoration, or strengthening the conservation of public lands with higher ecological value. 

• Read more here on BHA’s blog.
• Read more here in Outdoor Life.

Legislation Would Improve Habitat Connectivity through Farm Bill

On Mar. 18, the Habitat Connectivity on Working Lands Act was reintroduced by Reps. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM) and Ryan Zinke (R-MT). This legislation would emphasize voluntary landowner conservation of wildlife corridors through multiple Farm Bill programs at no cost. This would include increased research and incentivization of virtual fencing.

“Working lands are critical to ensuring the connectivity of wildlife habitat and migratory corridors,” said Kaden McArthur, Director of Policy and Government Relations, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. “As hunters we rely on healthy, intact habitat in our pursuit of game species – which don’t recognize public or private land in their movement. We applaud Representatives Vasquez and Zinke for their leadership on the Habitat Connectivity on Working Lands Act which will improve Farm Bill programs to better support these private land conservation efforts.”

Executive Order on American Mineral Production

On Mar. 20, President Trump issued another executive order with sweeping implications for the management of our public lands, Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production. While the order sets out to do many different things among the most important language within the order is the following:

“Sec. 5.  Land Use for Mineral Projects.  (a)  Within 10 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Interior shall identify and provide the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs with a list of all Federal lands known to hold mineral deposits and reserves. The Secretary of the Interior shall prioritize mineral production and mining related purposes as the primary land uses in these areas, consistent with applicable law. Land use plans under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act shall provide for mineral production and ancillary uses, and be amended or revised as necessary, to support the intent of this order.

(b) Within 30 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Energy shall identify as many sites as possible on Federal land managed by their respective agencies that may be suitable for leasing or development pursuant to 10 U.S.C. 2667, 42 U.S.C. 7256, or other applicable authorities, for the construction and operation of private commercial mineral production enterprises”

BHA strongly opposes the policies that this order would enact, making the mineral production the primary purpose for all public lands holding any mineral deposits over all other uses including conservation and recreation. There remains ambiguity over whether public lands with a statutorily defined primary purpose such as the national wildlife refuge system or wilderness areas would be exempt from this. Regardless, at a minimum, all multiple-use lands stewarded by the BLM and USFS would have groundbreaking changes regarding their management should they hold any amount of mineral reserves, regardless of the habitat value or public access implications.

This executive order invokes wartime powers granted by the Defense Production Act which allows the streamlining and evading of environmental reviews and regulations. It also aims to expand the ancillary use of public lands for mining (associated roads, buildings or waste/tailings storage) by announcing new recommendations to Congress which follows a similar legislative push opposed by BHA last year.

• Read more here on BHA’s webpage: Sensible Mining: Balancing Habitat and Industry.
• Read more here in Outdoor Life.

Legislation Reintroduced to Share Renewable Energy Revenue with Conservation, Access

On Mar. 24, the Public Land Renewable Energy Development Act was reintroduced by Rep. Mike Levin (D-CA). This follows the recent reintroduction by Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) on Mar. 11 of a more narrowly tailored bill which would distribute revenue collected by the federal government from bonus bids, rentals, fees, or other payments under a right-of-way, permit, or lease for solar and wind energy projects on public lands.  A portion of that revenue would be directed to a newly established Renewable Energy Resource Conservation Fund for the benefit of fish and wildlife habitat, migration corridors, and to improve recreational access for public lands.

Rep. Levin’s more comprehensive legislation would also incentivize responsible development, creating more rigorous conservation standards that consider fish and wildlife — something that doesn’t currently exist for any energy development sector. This bill provides the opportunity to codify policies that promote conservation and mitigate the ecological impacts of renewable energy projects. It would adopt smart siting and identify areas with high energy potential, but where impacts to fish and wildlife habitat would be minimal, such as previously disturbed or degraded landscapes.

No development is without impact, and while many of us would prefer that our public lands remain undeveloped, the reality is that our resources are managed under a multiple-use mandate. That does not mean every use in every place, however, so it is our collective obligation to ensure that we are advocating for responsible development practices and elevating considerations for fish and wildlife and our hunting and fishing traditions.

• Read more here from BHA.
• Take action here to support PLREDA.

Kaden McArthurKaden McArthur

A western hunter and angler, my passion for wild places and wildlife brought me to Washington, DC to work on conservation policy.

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Full biography

A western hunter and angler, my passion for wild places and wildlife brought me to Washington, DC to work on conservation policy.

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