The Utah Legislative Session commenced January 18, 2022 and will extend through March 4, 2022. During this time, members of the Utah State Legislature convene to revise old or consider new state laws. The volunteer chapter leaders of Utah Backcountry Hunters & Anglers actively engage in the legislative session by monitoring emerging bills on the Utah Legislature’s website relevant to BHA’s mission, meeting with representatives to discuss sponsored bills, and attending the Hunting and Fishing ...

With all this madness surrounding elk management in Montana lately, and with likely more to come in the days ahead, we keep hearing the director at Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Hank Worsech, explaining his rationale for the flurry of changes proposed by the department. His repeated line of reasoning goes something like this: why would a landowner open up land to the public hunter, if he or she can’t even get a permit to hunt elk on their own land? You can hear this for yourself in a ...

The Following is a press release by the Washington BHA Chapter and the Inland Northwest Wildlife Council. On Monday, January 24th Washington’s Office of the Governor announced three new commissioners, two of whom will fill five-year terms to oversee the Department of Fish and Wildlife. The appointments fill two open seats and also replace the current Chair, Larry Carpenter, whose term had expired. The appointments came as a surprise to conservation organizations who have been actively ...

Photo Credit: Idaho Fish and Game Just four months from the addition of new rules to help prevent CWD from entering Idaho, the news that Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) had been found in western Idaho--making it the 28th state with CWD, came as a bigger surprise, than the news would have been, had it come from the various locations closer to western Montana. Shockingly, the news that CWD was found close to the Oregon border, has Washington and Oregon wildlife agencies concerned. Neither ...

#whyBHA This month’s #whyBHA is from Ted Krueger, NYBHA Board Member: I had heard of BHA after moving to Idaho in 2015. It sounded like a cool organization but I just didn’t get around to joining. My wifeand I moved west to experience what the Rocky Mountains had to offer in terms of hunting, fishing, and backpacking. I quickly realized that all of our recreation was taking place on public land. In the fall of 2016 I went on my first mule deer hunt and killed a nice buck. It was a goal I ...