Roadless Rule Rollback On June 24 Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA) posted a statement (“USDA Rescinds Near Quarter Century Old Protections for 58.5 Million Acres of National Forest Lands”) strongly opposing the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s recent decision to roll back the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule—removing long-standing protections for 58.5 million acres of national forest lands across 39 states.[1] “For 24 years, the Roadless Rule has provided bedrock safeguards some of ...

By Don Rank HARRISBURG, PA, July 9, 2025 – This morning, at a small ceremony near the state capital, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro signed into law House Bill 1431. At last the ban on Sunday hunting has been lifted in Pennsylvania – a hard-earned victory for which Backcountry Hunters & Anglers and its Pennsylvania Chapter should take pride. History The inability to hunt on Sundays in Pennsylvania dates to the days when Ulysses S. Grant was president. Back then, it was one of many “Blue ...

Nine months after Hurricane Helene ripped through the Southern Appalachians, contractors hired by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continue to rip through critical aquatic habitats in the name of storm debris removal. The most recent victim of this ongoing and unwarranted natural disaster, a .75-mile stretch of Little Rose Creek, located within the Pisgah Gamelands in Mitchell County. Originating up near the Blue Ridge Parkway, Little Rose is a known site for native Southern Appalachian ...

This is your July edition of 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 - this is not a comprehensive list of legislation or issues that 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 ...

Russian River Fencing Project 2025 Recap“Ahhh yes, the great Friday evening Kenai migration,” my wife joked as we headed south along the Seward Highway. In front of us stretched a seemingly endless line of cars and campers clogging the road. Like salmon responding to ancient instinct, the rising temperatures and longer days must have triggered something deep inside Southcentral Alaskans - suddenly, everyone had the same idea. It was late May, and in the coming weeks, the first red, or ...

TAKE ACTION NOW!  A rare opportunity has presented itself during this legislative session for recreational anglers in North Carolina to support a ban on inshore, bottom-disturbing trawlers from our vital marine habitats. North Carolina is the only remaining state where this destructive commercial fishing method is still permitted. The state Senate is expected to vote THIS AFTERNOON (6/18/25) on HB 442, and the House of Representatives just a day or two later, so there is no time to delay ...

For the last several years the New England Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers has advocated to reform Rhode Island’s Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC). After first weighing in in 2022, BHA’s Rhode Island team elevated the issue as a top policy priority in 2024 and 2025 and has participated in every public input opportunity related to the Council’s structure since then. During their 2025 legislative session several CRMC reform bills have been considered by RI’s General ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 11, 2025  Contact: media@backcountryhunters.org    MISSOULA, Mont. — Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA) is rebuking a sweeping new proposal released by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that would force the sale of up to 3 million acres of public lands under the guise of a solution to the housing crisis. This proposal—led by committee chair Senator Mike Lee (R-UT)—would apply to public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest ...

“Privatization of Public Lands.” Colorado Springs (Colo.) Gazette: 6/5/25 Public lands, and hence hunting, are under threat like never before. From states such as Utah (and 14 others) laying claim to Bureau of Land Management lands — which was shot down by the Supreme Court — to Congress attempting to sell public lands using the budget reconciliation process to the Trump administration proposing selling public lands under the guise of promoting homebuilding to rolling back national monument ...

At sunset on Saturday, a small and enthusiastic group of BHA volunteers joined up with CDFW's Region 6 sheep biologists at the foot of the Marble Mountains in the Mojave for the annual desert bighorn sheep survey. After camping through a windy night, everyone woke to a mercifully overcast morning. Three teams, each led by one of the scientists, were off not long after dawn, and everyone was at their first glassing location shortly after 6 a.m. It didn't take us long to find sheep as we ...