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Jackson Fence Pull Event Recap

On a ridgeline at 8,000 feet in the west Pioneer mountains outside of Jackson, Montana, 13 volunteers from Montana BHA spent their summer solstice rolling up barbed wire and hauling it out of the...
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Utah BHA Volunteers Show Their Grit in Paunsaugunt Fence Pull

If you haven’t had the opportunity to drive north to south following the geological shift from the alpine zones of the Panguitch area down along Highway 89 to the red rock desert of Kanab, Utah,...
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Alaska BHA Kenai Refuge Canoe Route Clearing Recap

Alaska BHA Kenai Refuge Canoe Route Clearing Recap     By Neal Koeneman, Jeff Knisley, & Mary Glaves    Clearing the Canoe Portages on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge with Paddling-ton Bear &...
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Stinking Springs Fence Pull and Wildlife Friendly Re-build

On May 9-10, BHA volunteers teamed up with the BLM biology department of the Upper Snake Field office to improve fencing around riparian areas in Stinking Springs Canyon Idaho. The removal of...
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Public Land Stewards on the Taos Plateau

    The Taos plateau is a high elevation basalt filled valley in north New Mexico.  It is bordered by the Tusas mountains to the west and the Sangre de Cristo in the east.  It sits at 7,000'...
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BLM & BHA Tackle Water Site Inspections to Prioritize Repair

The Carlsbad Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages over two million acres in southeast New Mexico, providing unmatched public recreation opportunities. Everyone can find...
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Backcountry Stewardship in the Bootheel of New Mexico

  The Bootheel region of New Mexico is normally viewed from inside a car speeding down I-10.  From the interstate it appears desolate and dry.  Large wide expanses of creosote bush and mesquite...
Media Chapter News State Issues

California BHA 2024 Recap

With 2024 coming to an end, we would like to take the opportunity to reflect on California BHA's engagement and accomplishments that were made possible by the support of our dedicated members and...
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Beers, Bands, and Bitterbrush Stands - Public Land Stewardship with the California & Nevada BHA Chapters

  Our second Annual Beer, Bands, & Bitterbrush Stands event gathered BHA community members from Santa Barbara to Elko and everywhere in between to restore habitat for mule deer, pronghorn, upland...
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Summer Recap - Fence Pull with RMEF at Pumphouse

    Here comes Jerry and yes, he has sandwiches. The midday heat does little to dampen the appetite we have worked up after a morning of unburdening the local hillside of outdated fencing. There...
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US Marines Provide Helicopter Support for Bighorn Sheep Habitat Improvement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Nov. 15, 2024 Contact: Devin O'Dea 415-246-5329, odea@backcountryhunters.org | Scott Gibson 909-210-0548, scottygibson@gmail.com Backcountry Hunters & Anglers and the...
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Battle at Bellyache Ridge

Battle At Bellyache Ridge Fence Removal  By Briant Wiles   It was the end of May 2024, and the BHA stewardship team was riding high after victories at Meeker, Rabbit Mountain, Perins Peak, and...
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Villa Grove STL Fence Removal

Villa Grove State Trust Lands  Fence Removal By Briant Wiles   Looking up from the fence our eyes are drawn to a solid wall of mountains that sweep south lining the bathtub of sediment that is...
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San Isabel National Forest Fence Removal

  San Isabel National Forest Fence Removal By Briant Wiles   “The fence just disappeared” was the overheard remark of one of the participants at the recent Salida fence pull event. 16 motivated...
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Howe Ranch Fence Removal

Howe Ranch Fence Removal By Briant Wiles   With the elk bugling and the temps starting to come down in the mountains of central Colorado my mind drifts back to the heat of the summer and one of...
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BHA Volunteers Expand Elk Habitat on BLM lands in Northwest CA

On a still morning in Humboldt County, BHA volunteers gathered at the Lacks Creek Management Area for the second year in a row to expand elk and deer habitat by reducing encroaching conifers on...
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Two Miles of Sheep Fencing Removed in New Mexico

                                               Domesticated sheep arrived with the early Spanish conquistadors and explorers in the 1500's.  Sheep herding was a lucrative venture for many people...
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Snowmass Falls Ranch - A new beginning.

Snowmass Falls Ranch  A New Beginning By Briant Wiles   When it comes to opportunities to help improve habitat on a newly acquired piece of public ground in the mountains of Colorado, it...
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Success at Miramonte

Miramonte Fence Pull  Dan Noble State Wildlife Area  By Craig Grother   During the weekend of August 9 through 11, West Slope BHA members teamed up with Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff to...
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New Mexico BHA Volunteers Remove 6 miles of Fencing on the Marquez/ L Bar WMA

Summer thunderstorms built up on the horizon of the Marquez/L Bar Wildlife Management Area.  This years monsoon season has been a memorable one.  It's rare that the landscape of New Mexico stays...
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Stewardship Recap - 6th Annual Salmon River Clean-up Float

The Idaho Chapter recently hosted the 6th annual Salmon River Cleanup Float near Challis, Idaho. This fun summer event brings volunteers together to float the famous Salmon River to pick up trash...
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Fence Modification on the Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument

                                On July 20, 2024, NM and CO BHA members, BLM staff, a Pheasants Forever intern and multiple non BHA members joined Habitat Stewardship Coordinator Bard Edrington V...
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Indiana BHA Chapter Assists Willow Slough WMA

On Saturday, July 13th and Sunday, July 14th, the Indiana chapter put in some serious work at the Willow Slough FWA, a 10,000 acre property near Morocco, Indiana. This property borders Illinois,...
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Recap: Western NY Allen Lake Trail Project

On June 1st volunteers from the New York Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers assisted NYS DEC West Almond Foresters with the construction of a new foot trail around Allen Lake. The trail...
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North Dakota BHA Inventories 50 Miles of Fence on BLM

Last weekend, North Dakota BHA board members spent the weekend inventorying nearly 50 miles of fence using ATVs on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Big Gumbo represents the last...
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New Mexico BHA: Fence Removal on the Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument

The Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument was established in 2013 and comprises 242,500 acres with an additional 3,700 acres recently added.  It lies in northern New Mexico and is bisected by the...
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NM BHA Repairs Trick Tank Fencing Alongside USFS

On May 18, 2024 New Mexico BHA Vice Chair Mark Zschoche led a group of BHA volunteers on yet another spring work project. The exclosure fencing around the Sargent KV Trick Tank had been damaged...
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Utah BHA Leads Miles for Muleys Project for Paunsaugunt Mule Deer Herd

Well, here we go!' I thought, standing in the sunny Southern Utah desert, watching the convoy of trucks, Jeeps, and OHVs slowly depart from the campsite to their assigned destinations in the...
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EVENT RECAP: North Dakota BHA Hosts Work Day

Last weekend, ten BHA members, including three kids, spent their Saturday removing old tree guards and picking up trash at Pipestem Reservoir. After a day's hard work, the group managed to fill...
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Habitat Stewardship in Idaho's Swan Valley

Look Near Before You Look Far One of the lessons I have learned over and over while elk hunting is ‘look near before you look far.’ In other words, make sure there are no animals right in front of...
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Volunteers Restore Habitat for Rio Grand Cutthroat Trout

The Kirtland AFI club and New Mexico Chapter had an incredible time at the Annual Lincoln National Forest stream restoration project on April 20th! Our crew worked diligently to repair two small...
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RECAP: Maine BHA Skowhegan Fence Removal

It was a very successful day at the Maine Skowhegan Fence Removal Project last Sunday April 28th.  A small but feisty crew removed +1500’ of fence that was wrapped in invasive plants!  The Maine...
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EVENT RECAP: ND BHA Supports U.S. Forest Service Sheyenne National Grasslands Stewardship Project

On April 14th, six BHA members (plus three kids!) helped clean up Hankinson Hills, a U.S. Forest Service property about an hour southwest of Fargo. The 2800-acre property is a beautiful rolling...
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VT Recap: Maintenance Day at Dead Creek WMA April 2024

The Vermont team of the New England Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers held a Maintenance Day at Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area  on April 13th, removing brush and trees on the West...
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Volunteers Improve New Public Land in Kansas

Seven volunteers from Kansas BHA and two Pheasants Forever Habitat Specialists joined staff from Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks at Lovewell Wildlife Area to assist with an on-the-ground...
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Kansas Volunteers Create Habitat for Lake Olathe

The Kansas Chapter of BHA teamed up with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, the Bishop Miege Fishing Club, a local Boy Scout Troop, and other individuals February 22, 2024 to build new...
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Indiana BHA Grassroot Impact at J.E. Roush Lake FWA

The Indiana BHA Chapter had a great day of stewardship at J.E Roush Lake Fish and Wildlife Area in Huntington on Saturday, 1/27.  We had 22 awesome volunteers show up to assemble 24 wood duck...
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TN BHA joins TWRA for Wood Duck Boxes

The Tennessee BHA Chapter had an awesome turnout this past Saturday January 14th, at the Wood Duck Box build event with the TWRA on the Percy Priest WMA. As soon as we arrived, Mark Vance with...
Media Chapter News State Issues

California BHA 2023 Recap

With 2023 in the books and some meat in the freezer (hopefully), we would like to take the opportunity to reflect on California BHA's engagement and accomplishments that were made possible by the...
Media Chapter News State Issues

Peninsular Bighorn Sheep Get Another Boost from U.S. Marine Corps Helicopter Squadron

ANZA-BORREGO DESERT STATE PARK, Calif - For the third year in a row the brave men and women of the U.S. Marine Corps Helicopter Squadron HMLAT303 have stepped up to provide aerial support for bold...
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Calls, Quacks, and Barbed Wire Hacks

Shining headlamps over the lake, the beams are refracted in a million different directions in the dense fog. The marsh bottom isn't as boot sucking mud as it has been in the past years, so decoy...
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Wisconsin BHA Donates Christmas Trees to Families in Need- Helps Improve Public Land Habitat

Wisconsin Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, in partnership with Okayest Hunter, is thrilled to announce a donation to Waukesha County Land Conservancy (WCLC), supporting their mission to “protect and...
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Beers, Bands, and Bitterbrush Stands - Public Land Stewardship with the California & Nevada BHA Chapters

   When the event welcome speech closes with “one more question, does anyone want to help blood trail a bear?” you know you’re in for a great weekend. Beer, Bands, & Bitterbrush Stands  brought...
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UT BHA's Miles for Muleys: Paunsaugunt Fencing Project

Situated between Southern Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Dixie National Forest, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park, the Paunsaugunt Plateau is home to one of the West’s...
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New Mexico & Texas BHA Receive USFS Prairie Partner Award

The New Mexico & Texas Chapters of Backcountry Hunter & Anglers are honored to receive the USFS’s 2023 Prairie Partner Award! This award is for external partners that have demonstrated resource...
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Whiskey Dick Part 2: Stewardship Recap

--- Last Saturday, October 7th, Washington BHA volunteers joined staff and volunteers from WDFW for some boots on the ground conservation efforts in the Whiskey Dick Wildlife Unit. Situated...
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Idaho BHA Supports Next Phase of Sawmill Canyon Project

On Saturday, September 23rd, 16 volunteers gathered in the Pahsimeroi Valley to complete a phase of the Sawmill Canyon project for National Public Lands Day. The volunteers represented Idaho BHA,...
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BHA Enters into New Partnership with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

News for Immediate ReleaseSept. 20, 2023Contact: Katie McKalip, 406-240-9262, mckalip@backcountryhunters.org  USFWS will invest in restoration and fence removal, inventory and modification work in...
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NMU Student Represents BHA on Collaborative Project to Improve Grouse Habitat

This summer, Northern Michigan University student Michael, participated in the Collegiate Program's first stipend-based stewardship project opportunity. Stipends were offered to students to...
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BHA Volunteers Help Expand Elk, Deer & Bear Habitat in Northwest California

On a hazy, smokey Friday evening in Humboldt county, BHA members and volunteers gathered at Mad River Brewing Company to toast to the upcoming B1 deer and bear season opener and to put finishing...
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Public Lands Month Kicks Off with Projects in Iowa!

Iowa BHA kicked off Public Lands Month with a bang!   IA Chapter volunteers gathered at Heritage Hills Wildlife Management Area for a Public Lands Packout- presented by OnX Hunt. Volunteers...
Media Chapter News State Issues

Press Release for Hallelujah Junction Wildlife Area Public Land Planting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 6, 2023 The California Department of Fish & Wildlife and BHA plan to host a huge public land planting event and community gathering to restore winter range for mule...
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West Virginia BHA Chapter Leads Habitat Stewardship Work

  Like-minded people working toward a goal is an amazing thing to witness!  To see individuals take ownership of their public lands and genuinely care about solid conservation work is awesome! ...
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KY BHA & US Army Corp of Engineers partner for Fish Habitat in Buckhorn Lake

On June 3, 2023, several Kentucky BHA members joined up with some professional Buckhorn Lake Park Rangers from the US Army Corps of Engineers at Buckhorn Lake to create some much-needed fish...
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Missouri BHA and Mark Kenyon Partner for the Working for Wildlife Tour

Missouri — August 2023 The Missouri Chapter of BHA knocked out a host of public land improvement projects in just one day this month in partnership with Mark Kenyon of MeatEater and Wired to Hunt...
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Illinois BHA and US Army Corps Create New 3D Archery Park

The Illinois Chapter of BHA partnered with the US Army Corps of Engineers over the past year to development of a public 3-D archery trail at Lake Shelbyville in Central Illinois. Lake Shelbyville...
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Kansas BHA helps prep new walk-in area for public hunting access

Leaders and members of the Kansas Chapter readied a newly enrolled 7,700 acre property for participation in the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks’ Walk in Hunting Access program in late...
Media Chapter News Press Releases

Sego Trailhead Expansion Joins Public, Private Forces to Expand Access for Backcountry Users

News for Immediate ReleaseJuly 19, 2023Contact: Katie DeLorenzo, 505-410-6284, delorenzo@backcountryhunters.org SALT LAKE CITY, UT. — In a multi-agency and organization collaboration, Utah...
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Utah BHA & Partners Complete Trailhead Improvements at Sego Canyon

On June 7th-9th, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR) working with the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, Utah Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Sportsmen for Fish and...
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Whiskey Dick Fence Pull Recap

July 1st - BHA members from western, central, and eastern Washington met up in the Whiskey Dick WIldlife Area to roll up our sleeves and lend our friends at WDFW a hand with some much-needed...
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AZ BHA Supports Adopt-A-Ranch Program with Cleanup

Last month The Arizona Chapter gathered volunteers for a clean up on the Perrin Ranch in Northern Arizona. The 2 day project had volunteers spread out across the ranch to clean up campgrounds,...
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Improving and restoring pronghorn habitat in the Texas Panhandle

2nd Annual Rita Blanca Fence Project and Chapter Campout Dallam County, Texas – The Texas Chapter of BHA held the 2nd Annual Rita Blanca Fence Project and Chapter Campout June 2-4. Initially...
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Alaska BHA Partners with Stream Watch Program to Mitigate Bank Erosion on the Famed Russian River

Of the many things that I remember wanting as a young kid, but not among the few that I never obtained, living in Alaska was in the top two. Early in my military career and after garnering...
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Derby Canyon Clean-Up Recap

On Saturday June 3rd, a group of Washington Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and Wenatchee Sportsman Association members did a road and shooting area clean up in Derby Canyon in Central Washington...
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Beers, Bands, and Barbed Wire Strands: A Stewardship Event in Gunnison, CO

Photographer: Travis Bradford  When it comes to preserving our natural environment and ensuring the longevity of wildlife habitats, few efforts are as impactful as volunteering for conservation...
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BHA recognizes USMC Squadron with Plaque and Ram Skull

BHA and partner organizations recognize U.S. Marine Corps Squadron HMLAT 303 and Major Johnny "CONGO" Zimmer for their critical role in support of desert bighorn sheep during the extreme drought...
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NMBHA Funds Pronghorn Habitat Improvement

Drink. Eat. Keep watch. You’d be forgiven for boiling down pronghorn behavior as such. If you observe their daily samba across the New Mexico plains they always seem to be partaking in one of...
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NMBHA Improves Riparian Habitat & Hunts Spring Gobblers

Our first project partnering with the USFS in the Lincoln National Forest was a success in many ways. After kicking off the weekend with a Pint Night at the Downshift Brewery's Hidden Taproom in...
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Northwest Colorado Fence Pulling & Greater Sage Grouse Leks Viewing

Project Description Over the weekend of April 22 & 23, Colorado's Habitat Stewardship Coordinator, CPW Biologist Brian Holmes, and BHA volunteers ripped out one mile of fence that was impacting...
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TX BHA Cleans Up Grapevine Lake

Grapevine, Texas - The Texas Backcountry Hunters & Anglers chapter held a public land clean-up day on March 11th at Lake Grapevine Wildlife Management Unit (WMA) with nineteen volunteers. Austin...
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Kiowa National Grasslands - 2023 Project Recap

I originally joined BHA, because I wanted to be outside, doing cool things with like-minded folk. I quickly found BHA was the perfect Reese’s peanut butter cup of getting guidance to advance my...
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More good news on wildlife crossings in California

The Brightline West high speed rail project plans to connect Los Angeles to Las Vegas along Interstate 15 and would have created a massive barrier to movement for desert bighorn sheep, mule...
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I-8 Peninsular Bighorn Sheep Crossing Project

Winding double yellow lines twist and turn through a boulder strewn canyon of Interstate 8 close to the border with Mexico. A federally endangered Peninsular bighorn ram lays motionless on the...
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Public Lands Day Stewardship Recap in Colorado

"We've seen elk calves tangled up in this fencing multiple times." - local hunters In partnership with Colorado Parks & Wildlife, BHA and volunteers removed 1.75 miles of fencing in the rugged...
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Public Lands Month Stewardship Recap in California

The golden state was buzzing with activity this Public Lands Month, and it wasn't just the dove and deer season openers getting folks out in the field. California BHA hosted several public land...
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Capital Region Celebrates Public Lands Month with Pack-Out Work Days

For the third year in a row, Capital Region BHA held a Public Land Pack Out at C.F. Phelps Wildlife Management Area in Hartwood, Virginia as part of its Public Lands Month celebrations. After...
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Alaska BHA Clears Fuller Lakes Trail- Kenai National Wildlife Refuge

Alaska BHA and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) staff joined forces on National Trails Day to clear downed trees, brush, and encroaching vegetation from the Fuller Lakes trail in the Kenai...
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BHA Partners with BLM to Improve Riverine Habitat & Fisheries in CA

Volunteers from all over California convened last weekend to work on wildlife-friendly fencing along the South Fork of the Kern River in order to improve riverine habitat for deer, turkey and...
Media Chapter News State Issues

BHA Awarded $165K for Post-fire Rehabilitation and Connectivity in California

  The California Chapter of BHA is thrilled to receive over $165,000 in funding from the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation for our Hallelujah Junction Wildlife Area Post-Fire Rehabilitation and...