A Lowbagger Profile: Backcountry Hunters and Anglers Group Hopes To Bring Voice of Pro-Wilderness Hunters Into the Conservation Fray By Mike Beagle

Since the days of Theodore Roosevelt and Aldo Leopold, hunters and anglers have been a driving force behind the conservation of wilderness. They understand that wilderness is a reservoir of freedom, solitude, tradition, challenge and health.

So where are the hunting and angling groups in contemporary wilderness debates? Too often, they’re nowhere to be seen or heard. So a group of dedicated outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen has decided to change that. We created Backcountry Hunters and Anglers to represent dedicated hunters and anglers who cherish the peace, solitude and challenge of the backcountry experience.

Where do we stand on the issues? Here’s a sample:

Wilderness: Our freedom to hunt and fish depends on habitat. While many of us enjoy hunting and fishing in human-altered environments such as farm fields or reservoirs, there is something special, even magical, about hunting deep in the backcountry or fishing on a remote river. Wilderness hunting and fishing delivers a sense of freedom, challenge and solitude that is increasingly trampled by the twin pressures of growing population and increasing technology. Treasured fish and mammals like the cutthroat trout, grizzly bear and bighorn sheep thrive best in wilderness. Many more flexible species, like elk and mule deer, benefit from wilderness. We adhere to 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.”

 Wildlife: As students of nature, hunters and anglers know that predator and prey are all part of the same web of life. Animals such as mountain lions, wolves and bears add beauty, excitement and mystery to our time in the field. In the long term, predators cull the weak, wounded and sick prey animals, influencing the land in ways scientists are only beginning to understand. North America without its large carnivores is as unimaginable as Africa without lions and leopards. We support restoring predators to landscapes that can support them, while respecting they may cause hardships on some individuals. Managing predators as big game can be effective, as demonstrated with the expansion of the mountain lion in recent decades. We reject the idea that there are “good” and “bad” wildlife as obsolete and destructive. We support the North American tradition of wildlife management that places wildlife as a public trust, owned and enjoyed by all.

Fire: Like predators, fire is neither entirely good nor bad. Certainly, there is no place for fires that destroy homes or put people’s lives in danger. As people who know the land intimately, we understand that fire also has many benefits. Huckleberries, aspen and lodgepole pine, for example, all need the restorative powers of fire. Fire restores shrubs and other browse for many game animals and generally restores the productivity of grassland. We support the careful use of fire in land management, both fires set by judicious land managers and fires sparked by lightning. In remote areas, allowing lightning fires to burn naturally can be the best thing for the land and saves tax dollars, while putting no one’s life or home in danger.

Free-flowing rivers: From the headwaters to the ocean, free-flowing rivers support human health, prosperity and our way of life. The salmon and steelhead runs of the Columbia River Basin are a classic example, feeding Native cultures for thousands of years and remaining valuable for anglers, tourist business and rural communities from Astoria, Oregon, to Stanley, Idaho. These ageless fish runs are threatened by unbalanced uses of the rivers, particularly excessive hydropower exploitation. We all use electricity, so we all share responsibility to not allow our demands for energy destroy priceless natural resources, such as salmon. The tradition of catching wild, ocean-running fish on the big rivers of the Pacific Northwest is part of our social fabric that we must pass on to our children and grandchildren. There is no substitute.

ORVs: All Americans have a right to enjoy our public lands and waters – but no small minority has a right to damage those public treasures or ruin the experience of others enjoying the Great Outdoors. We agree with Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth when he says unmanaged motorized recreation is one of the great threats to our National Forests. Hunters and anglers are acutely aware of how the abuse of off-road vehicles scars the land, pollutes water, spreads weeds, frightens wildlife and destroys solitude. Many of us can tell stories of stalks ruined, peace and quiet shattered and pack strings spooked by illegal off-road vehicles. All wildlife needs security provided by habitat. Excessive motorized access destroys habitat security, degrading opportunities and the experience of the majority of hunters and anglers. We support reasonable rules, and swift enforcement, that stop motorized abuse of public lands.

Backcountry Hunters and Anglers strives to be a pragmatic problem-solver, working hard to leave our children a natural legacy they too will cherish. If you hunt and fish, and would like to learn more about us, please visit our website at www.backcountryhunters.org.

Mike Beagle is chairman of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. He is a former U.S. Army officer, high school teacher and coach. He lives in Eagle Point, Oregon.