The following article was first published by The Virginian-Pilot on 15 August 2023.   It is an op-ed I wrote in support of an ongoing collaboration with the LWCF Coalition on behalf of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers.  In doing so, I represented the Capital Region Chapter where I serve as the vice chair and the Armed Forces Initiative where I now serve as the policy chair on the national advisory board.  Opinion: The Land and Water Conservation Fund benefits our nation, so let’s build on ...

On Sunday, September 30th the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), one of our country’s most successful outdoor conservation tools, is set to expire and BHA needs you to take action to prevent it from happening.  Since its bi-partisan inception in 1964, the LWCF has contributed close to $4 billion for federal, state and local governments to sustain important lands, waters, conserve fish and wildlife habitat, and to enhance public access to those very same lands and waters.  As BHA-NY ...

Almost equidistant between International Falls, Hibbing and Grand Rapids lies a wide expanse of privately owned working forestland within a patchwork of state and other public lands. The area – which comprises almost a half million acres of forest – is a critical part of Minnesota’s booming $16.7 billion annual recreational economy. The private and public timberlands here are a sustainable and healthy source of both jobs and  timber, with forest management practices that create near-perfect ...

Many people call the Tongass National Forest “America’s Salmon Forest” because so much of the pristine freshwater that feeds the vast salmon spawning grounds of Southeast Alaska originates in the high country here and is filtered through the dense coastal forests. Admiralty Island, a part of the Tongass National Forest, was designated a national monument in 1978, in part because the island – it is huge, 90 miles long and 35 wide – is sacred to the Angoon Tribe of the Tlingit people. With ...

In the mountains just east of Missoula, Montana, in and around the Lolo National Forest, lie 6,140 acres of private lands owned by a timber company that has allowed public access for hunting, fishing and other recreation. The private lands are part of the Western lands “checkerboard” that dates back to the opening of the frontier, when the U.S. government awarded sections – square miles, or 640 acres – to various private companies (such as the railroads) to log and develop, while keeping ...