MISSOULA, Mont. – The winter 2018 issue of Backcountry Journal is arriving in BHA members’ mailboxes in time for the holidays. Here are some highlights from this issue: Required Reading: We asked our staff, board and some literary friends about their favorite books and why they matter. The result is a “best of” list of works critical to the sportsmen-conservation movement and understanding the people and ideas behind it. It also offers some top-notch fireside reading this winter…and gift ...

New Mexico anglers know all too well that the Land of Enchantment has precious few fishable streams, and that many sections of those rivers and streams are closed to the public. What most anglers don’t know is that they have a constitutional right to fish in any stream that they can reach without crossing private land. This right was enshrined in water law when was New Mexico was a territory and written into our state Constitution. The New Mexico Supreme Court upheld and clarified these ...

Backcountry Hunters and Anglersc/o P.O. Box 10294, Airdrie, Alberta, T4A 0H6 December 13, 2017 Honorable Shannon Phillips,Minister of Environment and Parks,208 Legislature Building10800 – 97 AvenueEdmonton, ABT5K 2B6 Re: North Central Native Trout Recovery Plan Dear Minister Phillips, Alberta Backcountry Hunters and Anglers (ABHA) members attended a workshop (in Calgary)hosted by various AEP fisheries biologists on Dec. 12, 2017 to understand the rationale behindthe forthcoming North Central ...

Comments for wildlife and habitat protection on the Rio Grande National Forest The Rio Grande National Forest is remote, wild, and largely undeveloped. In 2015, monitoring found that hunting and fishing were the second and third primary participation activities for forest visitors. With all major game species present and large areas of primarily undisturbed habitat, this forest is ideal location for a backcountry hunting or angling experience. Your help is needed to keep it that way.   The ...

The following article was originally published in the Winter 2017 issue of the Backcountry Journal in response to the a bill (s. 3205) introduced by Utah Senators Lee and Hatch that would have opened up Wilderness areas to mountain bikes and other forms of mechanized travel.  The current version of this bill (HR 1349) is currently moving through the House and threatens the solitude, challenge and opportunity to slow down that Wilderness provides.  BHA opposes this legislation and a copy of ...