A request for appropriation (RFA) called “Wildlife Highway Mitigation” was approved by the Utah Legislature in the 2023 Legislative Session budget. This funding request was for $20M of State funds to be allocated to the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) explicitly for wildlife highway mitigation efforts including the construction of wildlife overpasses, underpasses, and fencing. The Utah Chapter of BHA was very supportive of this RFA during the Session, and was even featured on a KUTV ...

The Colorado chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers recently appointed Lewis French as an Assistant Regional Director for the Central West Slope Group. Lew was born in Long Island, New York, and raised in West Newbury, Vermont. “I started hunting at age 12 protecting our vegetable garden from wood chucks,” Lew said. “No one in my family hunted but there was a vintage copy of ‘Camping and Woodcraft’ by Horace Kephart in the house that I read many times.” He attended college at the ...

I spent a portion of my childhood pursuing adventures on lands and waters within what is now known as the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument; however, the history of the land and its cultural significance to the people of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation can be traced far beyond that. The Berryessa Snow Mountain region is the crown jewel of Northern California’s wild Inner Coast Range. These public lands stretch nearly 100 miles from the shores of Lake Berryessa to the flanks of Snow ...

On Thursday, February 22, hundreds of hunters and anglers gathered on the steps of the State Capitol in Helena, Montana. Huddled around propane heaters amid subzero temperatures, we’d come to protest a slew of newly-introduced bills that threaten the state’s hard-won culture of fair-minded access to hunting, fishing, and public lands. If passed, the legislative measures would restrict entry to public lands, siphon money away from critical conservation programs, threaten the state’s cherished ...

This 2023 Legislative Session, H.B. 208 “Criminal Trespass Amendments” was passed. Sponsored by Rep. Scott Chew, H.B.208 assigns a defined penalty for wading and walking on stream beds and banks of non-navigable waterways that flow through privately owned property by authorizing law enforcement to issue a class B misdemeanor for offenses. Currently, this type of activity is already characterized by existing law as trespassing. However, there are no specific criminal repercussions specified ...