In a recent article, representatives of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers made the dubious argument that any changes to public-lands management policy will end hunting and fishing in America as we know it (“Lines blur between state, fed lands,” Herald, April 7). Similar dire predictions have become the mainstay of BHA and other groups that are opposed to state-land management. But sportsmen should not be fooled by these doomsday prophecies: BHA has another agenda at heart, and access to public lands is just a ruse. BHA is funded by anti-energy environmentalists who simply see it as easier to lock away land under the friendly Obama administration and Byzantine federal bureaucracies than to let states have control and potentially lease some of it for economic development. Its care for sportsmen is fleeting.
“Federally managed” does not necessarily mean “accessible.” A lawsuit brought by two counties, associations and individuals currently underway in U.S District Court alleges that the U.S. Forest Service has illegally shut down access to the Plumas National Forest. An official for one of the plaintiff counties said, “This lawsuit is about freedom to access public lands.” The federal-government shutdown in 2013 also affected millions of acres of public lands. Headlines such as “Hunters, Fishermen Howl as Federal Lands Are Closed” and “Federal lands closed: Waterfowl production areas, national wildlife refuges” were common in news outlets across the country. Meanwhile, governors were fighting to keep the public lands in their states open and accessible.
The debate about management of public lands has understandably stirred passion. But it’s also brought out political trickery. In order to avoid becoming unwitting camouflage for left-wing environmental foundations, sportsmen should be aware of groups like Backcountry Hunters and Anglers that have ulterior agendas and are using the access issue to try to divide and co-opt the sportsmen community for their own gain.
Will Coggin, Environmental Policy Alliance
Washington, D.C.
