It all begins and ends with habitat. Without functioning, unfragmented habitat, there is no wildlife, without wildlife there is no hunting. Despite most Republicans who claim to support hunting, they are usually entirely unable to connect those three, simple dots.
What's worse is most of the critical habitat (read: winter habitat) occurs at lower elevations on BLM and private land. BLM is the most resource extraction oriented federal land agency of all. And this is where most energy extraction occurs.
I agree with you about politicians generally not connecting the dots with the habitat. But, I'm not so sure oil extraction hurts the wild life per se, unless it damages the water. I hunted on a ranch where the owner had done a deer helicopter survey that revealed most of the deer were just below the cap rock areas where there were three active drilling rigs going 24/7.
My concerns about public land sales is the LDS wanting it state control so LDS judges and jury can oversee the outcomes.
