Protecting Public Land

[Brian1986]

I was listening to the WK Public Land Podcast Recap Show #2 & on it the guys were discussing how we can protect our public lands from being sold. I am uninformed on this topic & hadn't realized this was taking place. Dan suggested we need a unified group of bowhunters to send a message to leadership. I really liked the "Once Public Always Public" idea. Is there a group out there advocating for public hunting land protection? What would be a way we as hunters could unify to send this message?

[sureshotscott]

There's a group out there that claims to do this. They throw parties where they drink craft beer and talk about how awesome they are and how terrible Trump and Republicans are. The head honcho wrote editorials 10 yrs ago about how Obama would be a great president. I suspect this group was formed to wedge some sportsmen away from the ONE party that protects gun rights.

I'm sure someone will be along shortly to tell you how great they are.

[HunterBob]

I think in reality there are alot of groups that try to do this at local, state, and national levels. I would like to be more aware myself, but I think it takes work on our end to see who we can connect with and to stay informed.

[dan]

I think we need a group thats sole purpose is to stop the sale of public land without throwing political bias into it, or CWD crap into it... Just "once public, always public" and it needs to be a big enough entity to gather attention from the media and get enough signatures to get law makers involved. If other aspects ( like political bias and CWD) are left out it should easily get bipartisan support... I mentioned this idea to a person I look up to who has the platform to do this and wants to find ways to give back to the hunting community. Hopefully he likes the idea.

For now, who likes the idea of "ONCE PUBLIC, ALWAYS PUBLIC" ? Would you sign the petition?

[Dpierce72]

I think we need a group thats sole purpose is to stop the sale of public land without throwing political bias into it, or CWD crap into it... Just "once public, always public" and it needs to be a big enough entity to gather attention from the media and get enough signatures to get law makers involved. If other aspects ( like political bias and CWD) are left out it should easily get bipartisan support... I mentioned this idea to a person I look up to who has the platform to do this and wants to find ways to give back to the hunting community. Hopefully he likes the idea.

For now, who likes the idea of "ONCE PUBLIC, ALWAYS PUBLIC" ? Would you sign the petition?

Love it ...and in a HEARTBEAT!

[Josh_S]

Yes "once public, always public" sounds good to me. And I know many non-beast members who would get involved as well.

Those of us who actually care about hunting public land need to step up. I went to one of these local "craft beer nights" and honestly came away a little disappointed by the lack of passion and interest, it seemed more like a social gathering. I was expecting a room full of enthusiastic public land hunters but that was not the case. It made me appreciate this site even more, as we are a smaller percentage than I think I realized. In speaking with one of the hosts of the event I mentioned that I like to hunt deer out of state. He asked me if I had a lease

In addition to signing a petition, I think getting small local groups together once or twice a year and picking up trash in public land parking lots would be a good gesture to let others know we are serious. As they say, actions speak louder than words.

[kdawg_901]

On board with once public always public.

[Horizontal Hunter]

We have a land stamp program here where each sportsman “buys” a $5 land stamp and those funds go to buying more land for sportsman access through either land purchases or conservation easements. The state is prohibited by law from selling them or using them for any other purposes.

There are “hunters” here that protect our public land by posting it to keep other hunters off of it.

Bob

[matt1336]

I drink Busch light. A portion of the proceeds of every box of beer goes to preserving nation forests But seriously this is going to be a huge issue in years to come as hunter numbers decline as do license sales as do dollars to protect public lands and wildlife habitat. That money is going to have to come from other places than license sales pretty soon.

[Killemquietly]

definitely

[sureshotscott]

For now, who likes the idea of "ONCE PUBLIC, ALWAYS PUBLIC" ? Would you sign the petition?

This sounds great as a concept. I support this concept.

But....

These folks you send to Madison, or Lansing, or St Paul, or Springfield, or Des Moines, can't print money. Washington DC can print money. State leaders have to run state governments on tax revenues, and whatever else they can scrounge up. Many states are totally screwed because past "political leaders" gave away generous pensions or other goodies, and those states are obligated to fulfill those promises. Selling lands is a funding source that eases the pain. It's certainly easier for those leaders to sell land than to cut off pensions for LARGE GROUPS OF RETIREES THAT VOTE.

Again I support the concept. But it's a THORNY PROBLEM.

[Eddiegomes83]

Id sign

[tbunao]

Backcountry hunters and Anglers is what y’all are talking about the “pint night group”. You might want to look into their contributions into the western public preservation before bashing them to much. Unfortunately whitetail hunters don’t have the numbers that hunt public as western hunters do. Therefore the interest isn’t there, until now. I’ve said this about the Adirondacks, which over the past 4 years have been selling off 15-30 acre chunks on the edges but yet no one cares it seems other than the BHA. Are they into it for the right reason? Idk but at least they are making the attempt. No I am not a member

I’m glad this is seeing interest finally here

[jwilkstn]

I'd 100% be in support.

Im a former member of BHA, and everything that has been said about them so far in this thread is dead on. I tried to influence the local leadership and get them to see that they were alienating the vast majority of hunters that agree with their main stated goal, but despite being one of the very first members in my state my concerns fell on deaf ears. In the end I decided to put my support toward other conservation groups that didn't make everything political and spend the majority of their time and effort on "pint night" events in big cities.

[jwilkstn]

Unfortunately whitetail hunters don’t have the numbers that hunt public as western hunters do. Therefore the interest isn’t there, until now.

I don't know how the numbers compare, but there are a TON of us in the east that DO hunt public land. We have more hunters in the east... it's just that the % of eastern hunters that hunt public is lower than the % out west. This, again, is why I so adamantly pushed for BHA to take an approach that would better serve the majority of hunters.