One of the outdoor groups we've grown to admire is Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. At the Duluth news Tribune, outdoor writer John Myers has crafted a strong profile of the group in Backcountry group draws young Minnesota hunters, anglers.
You can read the entire article at Forum News Service chain newspapers in addition to the News Tribune with a subscription
Here's Myers' passage on the group's policy work that's could our attention at the Minnesota state capitol:
The group's motto is simple: “The Voice for Our Wild Public Lands, Waters and Wildlife.” Without wild places, ample habitat and public access, the group says, the future of hunting and fishing in the U.S. is doomed. . .
Minnesota issues
On Dec. 1, the Minnesota state land exchange board approved the sale of 80 acres of western Minnesota farmland owned by Jo’s Family Farm LLC to the state Department of Natural Resources to increase the size of a wildlife management area open to public hunting. The board's vote ended a three-year battle by the landowner to sell his land to the state of Minnesota.
The DNR and the farmer reached an agreement on the land’s sale in 2018, but the Lac qui Parle County Board of Commissioners voted in February 2019 to block the sale. The farmer appealed the County Board’s decision in Lac qui Parle County District Court, and won a ruling allowing the farmer to bring the matter to the state Land Exchange Board.
Backcountry Hunters & Anglers provided both written and oral testimony in support of the sale and expanding the state wildlife area, a small but important victory for hunters who use public lands, especially in agricultural areas where so much wildlife habitat has been plowed under.
The Minnesota chapter of BHA also has been active in the battle to keep chronic wasting disease out of the state’s wild, publicly owned deer herd. They have testified in favor of a state law to close all deer farms, buy out the farmer’s herds and then ban the movement of tame deer which many wildlife officials blame for the rapid spread of the fatal disease.
“We have this fantastic public resource in the whitetail deer population that is beloved by thousands and thousands of people, yet we are letting a coupe hundred deer farmers risk the entire thing,” Adams said.
Backcountry Hunters & Anglers also has taken a strong stand for protection of the BWCAW, opposing copper mining projects that could impact the wilderness in any way.
“I did a grouse hunt and duck hunt in the Boundary Waters this year, it’s the first time I tried it and it was a blast,” Adams said. “I’m going to make it an annual thing now. We absolutely need to protect that place.”
And there's this after the article:
Pint Night at Bent Paddle
The Minnesota chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers is holding an informal get together Saturday, Dec. 18, from 5-7 p.m. at Bent Paddle Brewing, 1825 W. Michigan St. in Duluth’s Lincoln Park district. It’s free (except for your beer.)
The event is open not just to members but anyone who wants to learn more about the group or anyone who just wants to tell stories about this fall’s hunting seasons or the upcoming ice fishing season.
Walk-ins welcome. For more information, contact Chance Adams at [email protected] or go to backcountryhunters.org/minnesota.
More on Backcountry Hunters & Anglers
There are state BHA chapters in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The group’s headquarters are in Missoula, Montana. The group receives a Four Star (out of four stars possible) rating from Charity Navigator, scoring 92% on how it spends its money raised on its goals. Individual memberships are $35 annually. College students and active duty military can join for $15 per year. Membership includes a quarterly magazine.
For more information, go to backcountryhunters.org/join.
Image: the BH&A logo. Submitted to the Duluth News Tribune.
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