Are we about to lose public land to mining and development?

Herd of migrating Caribou -Envato image.

We stand at a crossroads

MISSOULA, Montana, May 21, 2025. — Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA), North America’s leading public lands advocacy group, is celebrating a significant win: the withdrawal of provisions in the House budget reconciliation bill—the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1)—that would have authorized the sale of nearly 500,000 acres of public lands in Utah and Nevada.

U. S. House passed the Oxymoronically named Big Beautiful Bill 215 to 214. It is in the Senate now, and still smells terrible to those who find that their future depends on clean air and water, and that Public Lands are too good an idea to dismantle.

What is still on the Big Beautiful Bill chopping block- read more here.

Henry Clement, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, August 2023.

By Henry Clement

The vast wilderness of forests and water landscapes, carefully managed by professional public lands personnel, is crucial for the survival of thousands of acres of hunting lands and miles of streams that support thriving populations of trout, salmon, game birds, and other species. Without dedicated management, these vital ecosystems risk deterioration and collapse.

The aforementioned aligns with the MAGA agenda, which promotes the idea of allowing public parks and lands to fail by withholding funds, thereby causing them to collapse.

Imagine choosing canyons made of glass and concrete, with asphalt roads leading to gated communities that lack trees, featuring perfectly manicured lawns treated with Round-Up. Will we be inspired to pray in mega-churches dedicated to neon gods created by unscrupulous preachers? Should we continue to vote for dishonest individuals who lack vision, are driven by revenge, and are motivated primarily by money?

The loss of the wild will be tell-tale, said Stegner

Something will be lost in us as a society if we allow the remaining wilderness to be destroyed. If we permit the last untouched forests to be transformed into gated communities with chemically treated lawns; if we drive the few remaining members of wildlife to extinction or into zoos; if we pollute the last clean air and contaminate the remaining pristine streams; and if we pave our roads through the last quiet places, then we will never again experience true freedom in our own country—free from the noise, exhaust, and odors of human and automotive waste. Amended from Wallace Stegner’s Wilderness Letter

Higher Power

If there is a higher power in our lives, it has instilled in a 71% majority the understanding that environmental health is closely linked to the greater good. This understanding encompasses the well-being of all people, including future generations. Laudato Si’, the new pope’s encyclical, states that we are all integral parts of ecology, emphasizing the interconnectedness of human, social, and environmental issues.

Angling treasures in the award-winning watercolorist Thom Glace’s illustration show rainbow trout, brown trout, and brook trout. Used with permission.

The belief in interconnectedness is a core principle among Indigenous peoples

It also reflects the commitment of men and women guides and offshore sport fishing captains, who serve as living stewards of the natural world. As hunters, anglers, hikers, and campers, we must actively defend the environment against the encroaching mindset of those who take without regard for sustainability.