Backcountry Hunters & Anglers released its Sportsman's Pledge in an attempt to garner signatures and comments from sportsmen and women who support keeping public lands in public hands.
There has been a push by a number of western state legislators, and federal elected officials to transfer ownership of federal public lands to state control. Their logic is that the federal government is not living up to expectations with regards to the management of those lands and that the states could do a better job. It is no secret that without federal funding, the states would be unable to manage the newly acquired federal lands, firefighting costs alone would bankrupt the states, and they would be forced to sell them off to the highest bidder.
“Backcountry Hunters & Anglers is adamantly opposed to the transfer/sale of our federal public lands and has released this pledge to illustrate to state and federal legislators that the sportsmen's community depends on federal public lands for access to hunting and fishing,” said Executive Director Land Tawney. “Additionally, the economies and livelihoods of hundreds of western communities depend on keeping public lands public.”
The Sportsman's Pledge can be found on Backcountry Hunters & Anglers' website atwww.backcountryhunters.org. One must simply click on the “Sportsman's Pledge” on the right side of the screen to leave a signature and a comment.
