WVBHA 2024 State Legislature Update   The 2024 West Virginia state legislative session is about two-thirds done. Your local chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers has been monitoring the session for issues that impact our public lands, waters, and wildlife. After a quiet start, there are a few bills to watch. Legislative action will accelerate as the session winds down, so stay tuned to this blog for more updates.  CLICK HERE TO TAKE ACTION NOW! We can start with the good news! Senate Bill ...

West Virginia sportsmen and women stand to lose more ground as the State Legislature moves forward. Senator Mark Maynard's new Outdoor Recreation Committee seems to have a singular mission in mind: making sure that off-highway vehicle (OHV) use is the main focus and the new direction for recreation on West Virginia’s public lands.  Currently, Senate Bill 468 seeks to make permanent OHV trails on Cabwaylingo State Forest. Proposed changes to the bill include the potential to expand OHV trail ...

West Virginia Backcountry Hunters and Anglers needs you to stand up for our public lands! A series of bills have been introduced for a comprehensive motorized recreation program on our public lands under the pretense of a “wildlife viewing” stamp that would provide off-road access on our Wildlife Management Areas, State Forests and State Parks from Memorial Day to Labor Day each year. This disguised motorized recreation program would turn West Virginia’s public wildlife habitat and hunting ...

Quality public hunting and fishing access consistently tops the list of issues outdoorsmen and women expect Backcountry Hunters & Anglers to help tackle.  The need for recreational access only continues to escalate as the supply of open lands is strained by changing land use patterns and growing development pressures for undeveloped lands and waters.  Limits on supply are being coupled with exploding demand as the pandemic-induced participation increases in hunting, fishing, shooting and ...

Despite our efforts to educate lawmakers about the importance of the New River Gorge National River to hunters, we were unable to guarantee permanent protection for hunting access. As of last night, hunters now worry about the uncertainty of accessing 4,385 spectacular acres in the lower gorge area of the New River Gorge in West Virginia. The debate around a designation change of the New River Gorge National River began in the summer of 2019. Spurred on by other recreation users, the move to ...