08. March 2017 · Comments Off on Back Country Hunters & Anglers · Categories: Around The Campfire

http://www.backcountryhunters.org/

OUR MISSION

Backcountry Hunters & Anglers seeks to ensure North America’s outdoor heritage of hunting and fishing in a natural setting, through education and work on behalf of wild public lands and waters.

A Vision for Backcountry Conservation

Our freedom to hunt and fish depends on habitat. While many of us enjoy hunting and fishing on a range of landscapes, including farm fields and reservoirs, there is something special – even magical – about hunting deep in the backcountry or fishing on a remote river.

Wilderness hunting and fishing deliver a sense of freedom, challenge and solitude that is increasingly trampled by the twin pressures of growing population and increasing technology. Many treasured fish and wildlife species – such as cutthroat trout, grizzly bear and bighorn sheep – thrive in wilderness. Others, like elk and mule deer, benefit from wilderness. From the Steens Mountain Wilderness in Oregon to the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness in Idaho and the Boundary Waters of Minnesota, BHA members treasure America’s wilderness system and strive to add to it.

We take the advice of Theodore Roosevelt: “Preserve large tracts of wilderness … for the exercise of the skill of the hunter, whether or not he is a man of means.”


We are the Idaho chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, a grassroots group of sportsmen and -women. We are united by a passion to protect and conserve public land forests, mountains, prairies, streams and lakes that support our hunting and angling traditions. Idaho BHA members are deeply concerned that the traditional backcountry values — solitude, quiet recreation, personal challenge, physical fitness, adventure — that make Idaho hunting and fishing so special are being compromised.

Habitat destruction, disturbances stemming from development, and abuse and overuse from irresponsible motorized recreationists are threatening the very things that we hold dear. We respect the crucial role that all species play in our diverse ecosystems and seek to ensure that species and habitat management decisions are based on sound science instead of politics. We believe that undeveloped, unspoiled public lands are irreplaceable and must be managed, along with the fish and wildlife they supports, as a sacred public trust.

Idaho BHA supports and promotes natural resource management policies based on sound scientific principles. By extension, the Idaho BHA chapter is involved in educating hunters and anglers about proposals and current policies that are unsustainable and detrimental to the landscape, wildlife populations and our ability to pass on our values and traditions to future generations.

To accomplish our objectives, the Idaho BHA membership contacts policy makers and federal resource managers, gives public testimony at stakeholder meetings and legislative hearings, communicates our views through public media, and participates in outreach activities at sportsmen shows. Some members sit on collaborative advisory boards and travel planning committees, giving BHA a seat at the table as grassroots advocates for habitat, wildlife and traditional outdoor activities.

Idaho BHA is committed to the long-term conservation of the wild, unspoiled public lands on which Idaho’s world-class game and fish resources depend. Wild, unspoiled habitat is essential to the future of traditional-values hunting and angling in our state. Together, we volunteer our time to ensure the following:

Future generations of Americans will have the same opportunities to enjoy and protect the wild public commons that we and previous generations have embraced as a national birthright.
That our public lands backcountry will continue to exist intact, with healthy ecosystems that include balanced populations of predators and prey.
Idaho BHA works hard at protecting the things we value. We also play hard. Many of us enjoy some of the most spectacular roadless areas in the lower 48; Idaho supports some of the best hunting and fishing opportunities anywhere. If this describes where you want to be, you need to be with us! To see what Idaho BHA is working on, please explore our website. If you like what you see and want to get involved, please join us!
North America’s public lands and waters are the lifeblood of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.

These are the cherished wild places that restore our spirits and provide the solace of solitude. They’re where we go to challenge ourselves in pursuit of adventure and game. They are strongholds of important wildlife habitat and fisheries, providing places where a range of species – everything from elk and mule deer to grouse, waterfowl and native trout – can grow to maturity and thrive.

Every citizen owns a share of public lands and waters in the United States. It is up to us to defend this heritage and ensure that our legacy of stewardship is handed down to future generations intact. We work to maintain our longstanding sporting traditions through hard work and a focus on the following:

Habitat Conservation
Conserving Priority Landscapes
Responsible OHV Use and Management
Defending Our Public Lands Legacy

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