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Some claim that BHA ‘s mission is more environmentally guided preservation than hunting preservation. Their donors are often large corporations like patagonia and some others with questionable views on hunting’s role in conservation. Maybe Dave Skinner will be along to add to this, I know he was doing some questioning about their donor info a while back. To me they seem like a cloaked environmental outfit with a catchy name. Maybe I’m wrong.

Timbermaster,

I believe in these folks, having been a member since BHA was founded. These folks are the real deal. Tell you what, I'll put skin in the game. PM me your name & address and I will set you up as a BHA member and pay your first years dues. This will give you an up-close look.

Just found this relating to the BHA. Read it for what its worth.

https://www.greendecoys.com/decoys/backcountry-hunters-and-anglers/

"Most prominent is BHA executive director Land Tawney, who ran the liberal political action committee (PAC) calling itself the “Montana Hunters and Anglers Leadership Fund” (MHA). In 2012, this pop-up PAC spent $1.1 million against Republican U.S. Senate candidate Denny Rehberg, who was challenging Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester. The liberal MHA also spent $500,000 in support of the libertarian candidate as a strategy of drawing votes away from the Republican. MHA received several hundred thousand dollars from the League of Conservation Voters, a liberal environmentalist group. Tawney is also a member of the Montana Sportsmen for Obama Committee and previously served as the National Grassroots Coordinator for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, which, like BHA, is an environmentalist front that poses as a hunter and fisher group."

Well stated. I joined early and I've been to their get togethers here when they're in town. I didn't see any tree huggers, just hard core hunters.

Guys like Skinner can't stand BHA because it advocates for roadless and wilderness areas which are anathema to them. BHA doesn't advocate for roadless areas because Patagonia does, we do it because roadless areas are the best places to hunt and fish. Period.

I'd like to hear what BHA's stance is on the Second Amendment, the whole enchilada, semi auto's, Ar15's. And please don't tell me they are single issue and avoid 2nd Amend. discussions.
The enviro-angle is find and dandy but when you have Patagonia in your corner, that is not conducive to constitutional values.

I was a member in WA for two years. I would say they are more a fraternal organization than anything. I think they overstate their power/effectiveness, and play the scare game a little too much. They have created a sort of "public land puritanism" whereby hunters are often "litmus tested" whether an animal was killed on public lands or not. If not, they are ridiculed. This happens on social media like mad. They have exhumed poor old Roosevelt to the point it's nauseating, and I don't think they are as transparent in their spending as they should be. BHA pays Tawney about 100K, spends another 100K on travel (?), and gets about 1.1 mil in contributions. Would like to see those detailed out. This would go a long way allay fears of the green decoy bit. Listening to Land in interviews, I'm weary of how often the "just being there' line is brought up. Yes, just being there is important, but that does nothing for fishers and hunters. And I think an unintended consequence of being a single-idea org is that while voting in public-land friendly people might help pubic lands, those same people are not as sympathetic to the interests of hunters. I think BHA needs to focus more on working with pro-hunting people who need to be more pro-public lands than the obverse. I can convince a more conservative person to be pro-public lands, than a big gov't liberal to be pro-gun or pro-hunting. I think this is why they get labelled green decoys as well. And I think it's shortsighted on BHA's part not to recognize that. Tawney has often said, "The name of the org is hunters and anglers," but forgets that the actions speak louder than words. They have yet to fully realize the enemy of your enemy is NOT your friend.