What If You Could Level Up on Hunter Education to Get Better Access?

March 28, 2018

A new certificate program in Montana helps hunters understand more about conservation, ethics, and respect for private land in order to gain access to more of it

Asking permission to hunt on someone’s land is a vulnerable proposition. There’s a tremendous upside for your access close to home, but it all depends on the landowner taking a bet on you, your skills, and how you’ll treat their property. And we all know that one bad actor can make this ask even more challenging for others.

That’s why a Montana non-profit with an eye toward improving sportsman-landowner relations and hunting access has created a program to certify sportsmen and women that they can vouch for with private landowners—some of whom have never opened their gates to hunters before.

“Landowners might not know what they’re going to get—it really makes a difference when someone comes to your property with an understanding of your needs, respect for your land, and respect for the wildlife,” says George Bettas, project coordinator for One Montana’s new Montana Hunter Advancement Program, which was created to promote safe, ethical, and responsible hunting on enrolled private lands through its Master Hunter certification course. “Our goal is to send out skilled, ethical hunters who landowners know they can trust, to hopefully create new opportunities on properties that have provided little to no access for hunters in the past.”

The certification program has a core curriculum with three parts: A history of conservation and hunting ethics, a section on the value of agriculture and the landowner’s perspective, and a field session for testing and improving competency with a rifle or bow. They will accept 30 applicants into the pilot course for rifle hunters this spring. The cost is $200, which covers a weekend worth of instruction, ammo, provided lunches, and facilities—but scholarships are available. Program leaders are looking for a diverse range of ages, backgrounds, and skill levels for the pilot course.

Part of the process is generating an awareness of a visiting hunter’s impact on the farm or ranch, and what kinds of activities may be happening on private land at certain times of year. Bettas hopes this will help create a bond between landowners and sportsmen, who will know enough to avoid crossing freshly seeded winter wheat or tearing up an access road with tire chains just to get closer to a downed animal. He believes more educated, ethical hunters are less likely to put themselves in danger, take a shot where they can’t recover the animal, or give up on a critical contract with the landowner—to help manage wildlife that damage crops or property.

“I’m confident that when we send the first 30 graduates out to hunt the available properties, they will be great ambassadors for hunting, and the landowners are going to want them back again,” says Bettas.

Two hunters at a BLM annual pheasant hunt to learn safe hunting techniques while enjoying traditional pheasant hunting.

Certified Montana Master Hunters will be able to access an online reservation system for enrolled properties made possible by Huntable.com, an Airbnb-like service that allows landowners to approve certain dates and know who is going to show up when.

There has been some criticism on the group’s Facebook page about the course being “elitist,” but Bettas stresses that anyone with some hunting experience can apply and potentially receive assistance with the fee. “Overall the response has been tremendous, and we hope to eventually make some of the coursework available online for anyone who is interested,” he says.

With the decline in hunter participation and a wave of out-of-state and urban buyers taking over properties that have traditionally been open to hunting and fishing, sportsmen’s access and landowner certainty about who they are letting use their property are as critical as ever in Montana. The TRCP has been supportive of the Hunter Advancement Program and certificate course, because it enhances access, promotes conservation ideals, and helps to retain active hunters who keep the $887-billion outdoor recreation economy flourishing. And farmers and ranchers who believe the best of hunters and anglers can often have an outsize impact on the health of fish and wildlife habitat, too.

Of course, you don’t need to be certified to build a relationship of mutual respect with a private landowner. But it’s pretty cool to see this example of a solution that brings both sides together to find common ground.

Montana residents can apply for the program here until April 1. For the pilot course, just 30 rifle hunters will be selected, and scholarships are available. Visit mtmasterhunter.com for details and to watch for future courses.

5 Responses to “What If You Could Level Up on Hunter Education to Get Better Access?”

Steve Doherty March 28, 2018

I would like to enroll.

March 28, 2018 at 6:39 pm

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Bill Crumrine March 28, 2018

Is anything like this exist in Colorado or in the planning stages of this same state?

March 28, 2018 at 10:42 pm

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Glen Carlson March 29, 2018

I would do this in a heartbeat if it meant my sons and I had access to more land to bird hunt on or rifle hunt on. In Washington we have a tremendous amount of posting private land it makes this difficult. We have a master hunter program here in WA, but to my knowledge it does not include increased access to bird hunting.

March 29, 2018 at 2:54 pm

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Justin April 10, 2018

Love this idea!! I would do this in a heartbeat if it were in my state of PA.

April 10, 2018 at 5:31 pm

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Jonny Fox April 18, 2018

Fantastic idea. Lack of available land to hunt is a primary reason non-hunters give me when they indicate interest in hunting but haven’t made the first step. Especially in the eastern states (MO resident), where public land is available but in much smaller allotments than what is available in western states.
That being said, I have been fortunate enough to have taken many individuals on their first hunt on public land, and have sort of gotten their feet wet in the sport, enough at least to catalyze interest in further trips. Accessibility of additional private lands, commensurate with an increased awareness of how to treat the experience/land/landowner, would be a great bridge across the “I don’t have anywhere to hunt and public lands seem fairly packed with other hunters” gap.
Great idea!!

April 18, 2018 at 2:30 pm

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by: John Cornell

posted in: Hunting & Fishing Access

March 20, 2018

Local Sportsmen Rebuilt the Gateway to 40,000 Acres of Public Hunting Land

Members of a local sportsmen’s group helped to open up 40,000 acres of state trust land in New Mexico by providing materials, volunteers, and a little elbow grease

In central New Mexico, 40,000 acres of state-owned public hunting land can be found beyond a two-track road that, until recently, dead-ended at a fence. This state trust land—home to mule deer, cougars, oryxes, pronghorns and more—is surrounded by private land, and was all but inaccessible after a gate between a ranch and state trust lands was removed and fenced over.

For a long time, all we could do was point to this spot on a map and wish we could get there. Until a group of sportsmen and women joined state officials to create a DIY solution.

A Little Background on State Trust Land

There are state trust lands in 32 of New Mexico’s 33 counties. When New Mexico became a state, it was stipulated that such lands, totaling 13.4 million acres, were to be held in trust for the benefit of public schools, universities, and other beneficiary institutions. And each acre of land is designated to a specific beneficiary.

The New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands, an elected official, is charged with generating and optimizing revenue from state trust lands to support public education and other institutions, while simultaneously working to protect, conserve, and maintain these lands for future generations. The State Land Office leases lands for grazing, agriculture, commercial use, renewable energy, oil and gas drilling, mining, and other surface and subsurface activities.

Because hunting, fishing, and trapping are key tools of fish and wildlife management, sportsmen and women are granted access to most state trust lands through easements purchased by the New Mexico Game Commission. But being allowed to hunt and fish on public land is only meaningful if we can access it.

Recently, the Commissioner of Public Lands ordered that the State Land Office make it a priority to identify and restore vehicular access to New Mexico state trust lands within the Chupadera Mesa Area, which are largely surrounded by private property and have historically been inaccessible to public land hunters. One particular pinch point was created when a gate between state trust lands and a ranch was removed, and the only entry point large enough for vehicular access was fenced over.

The project improved hunter access in Unit 18, and the State Land Office’s maps will be updated on April 1. Click here to learn more.

Collaboration Was the Key

The State Land Office first approached the Doña Ana County Associated Sportsmen about the project in October 2017. Our group has forged positive relationships with government agencies and helped with hundreds of volunteer projects since the organization was founded in the early 1970s. They appealed to the club to purchase materials and provide volunteers to help complete construction of a gate that would reestablish opportunities to hunt and trap in the state land beyond the ranch.

So, in December, I went along with other members of DACAS, our families, and representatives of the State Land Office and the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish to get the job done. Fortunately, DACAS was left a generous endowment by one of its founding members to be used for scholarships in the Wildlife Department of New Mexico State University and to benefit future hunting, fishing, and trapping anywhere in New Mexico. This project was a perfect place to invest these funds to help make a difference. It took two months to coordinate volunteers and materials and three days to construct and finish the gate. And when we were done with our part, we all gathered to fire up the disco for an elk burrito lunch and stories of past hunts. A weekend afternoon is a small price to pay for access to 40,000 acres that will allow the next generation of sportsmen and women to have their own stories to tell.

Find Your Gateway to Conservation

It seems that when local hunters and anglers get involved and put our weight behind a solution, success is nearly always possible. The Chupadera Mesa Hunter Access Project has successfully enhanced hunting opportunities in eastern Socorro County, and I couldn’t be more proud of what our crew accomplished. But I know that a project of this scale may seem daunting to others out there, even those who truly want to make a difference.

Start small. As access to our public lands becomes increasingly pressured across the West, it is even more critical that we be willing partners with our state and federal agencies to ensure that we have quality places to hunt, fish, and trap for the foreseeable future. But we should keep an eye on the shots being called—locally and nationally.

Sign up for our updates, and we’ll let you know how to get engaged in a meaningful way. Then, sign the Sportsmen’s Country petition to let lawmakers know that we won’t take access promises over balanced management of our best fish and wildlife resources.

by: Chris Macaluso

posted in: Hunting & Fishing Access

March 7, 2018

Finally, Federal Fisheries Management for Us

The Modern Fish Act would allow updated management approaches that acknowledge the difference between recreational and commercial fisheries, and it’s nearing the finish line

Saltwater anglers celebrate this time of year, knowing that the bulk of winter has passed and warmer temperatures, calmer seas, and lines stretched by sportfish of all sorts are likely just a few weeks away.

But the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee recently gave anglers another reason to be optimistic about March’s arrival—last week, they approved the Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act of 2017, also known as the Modern Fish Act, by a wide margin. A bipartisan contingent of 22 out of the 27 committee members voted to approve the bill and advance it to the Senate floor.

This is great news for America’s anglers, because the bill contains a host of provisions aimed at improving federal management of recreational fishing, specifically by acknowledging in federal law—finally—that recreational and commercial fishing have fundamentally different approaches and management should be “adapted to the characteristics of each sector.”

Modernizing Management for Better Fishing

The Modern Fish Act allows regional fisheries management councils to maintain conservation measures and explore approaches that update management to better serve anglers. This includes strategies that have been very successfully used by state agencies to manage coastal and inland fish species.

The bill also calls for NOAA to work with the National Academies of Sciences to examine and improve data collection programs for recreational fisheries. More state-collected stock assessment and recreational harvest data could be used by federal managers under the Modern Fish Act, as well. More precise harvest data could result in longer, more stable recreational seasons.

Under the bill, NOAA will need to take a hard look at commercial and recreational fishing allocations in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic to determine if current allocations are based in the best available data and meet the economic and cultural needs of the entire fishery—not simply the commercial side. This could mean more fish allocated to recreational or commercial harvest, depending on how conditions have changed, but the updates are critical. Many current allocations are based in information from three decades ago or more and have not been examined with an eye toward meeting both sectors’ needs.

Finally, the Modern Fish Act calls for a thorough examination of the social and economic impacts of implementing additional limited-access privilege programs, also known as individual fishing quota systems, in fisheries shared by commercial and recreational users. While individual fishing quotas have worked well in the Alaskan crab and Pollock fisheries, which are entirely commercial, they aren’t suited for recreational fisheries where the fish must continue to support every American’s opportunity to fish.

Sportsmen would never suggest that private companies and individuals own ducks, deer, or largemouth bass—and private ownership of saltwater sportfish should not be tolerated either.

Widespread Agreement

It is important to note that this bill has garnered broad bipartisan support since being introduced by Mississippi Republican Roger Wicker and Florida Democrat Bill Nelson last July. Twelve co-sponsors have added their names to the bill over the last eight months, split almost evenly between Democrats and Republicans.

Help also came from both Republican and Democratic staff on the committee, who worked extensively with recreational fishing conservation groups over the last year or more to ensure that the bill accomplishes the targeted fixes to federal law that anglers are seeking, while making sure that resource conservation isn’t compromised. “This is the Commerce Committee at its best,” said Wicker after the February 28 committee hearing.

Since the bill was first introduced, the TRCP and a coalition of partner and non-partner groups—including the American Sportfishing Association, Coastal Conservation Association, Center for Sportfishing Policy, National Marine Manufacturers Association, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, Yamaha Marine Group, and others—have worked tirelessly with staff from Senate offices on both sides of the aisle to address concerns and make reasonable amendments to the bill. Many concessions were made in the last 10 months to bring the Commerce Committee a bill that is a source of pride for Republicans and Democrats, and, more importantly, the sportsmen and women who have always been leaders in resource conservation.

“The Modern Fish Act represents five years’ worth of input from our community and will increase the level of trust between America’s 11 million saltwater anglers and federal fisheries managers,” said Whit Fosburgh, president and CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “We’re extremely encouraged to see these updated management approaches tailored to meet the unique needs of recreational fishing, rather than forcing recreational seasons into a management scheme designed for commercial fisheries.”

Certainly, when congressional staff is helping to write legislation with cooperation from recreational angling conservation groups, and both Republicans and Democrats are willing to compromise to improve legislation, it represents the best of our country’s lawmaking process. Hopefully we can expect to see this level of agreement and cooperation extended to other efforts to improve law and policy.

No Time to Lose

But even a popular bill isn’t necessarily a done deal—there are many demands competing for our lawmakers’ attentions, and we need to continue to engage Senate and House members to move the Modern Fish Act to passage as soon as possible. Saltwater angling and the management of our most important fisheries are closer than ever to getting well-deserved recognition from the federal government.

We can’t let another Congress go by without addressing the very real differences between recreational and commercial fishing—or improving fisheries management to rebuild trust between anglers and federal fisheries managers.

by: Joel Webster

posted in: Hunting & Fishing Access

February 27, 2018

Cuts to LWCF Could Undermine Zinke’s Public Lands Access Agenda

Proposed cuts to land acquisition funding would prevent agencies from enhancing public hunting and fishing access—the most widely celebrated part of DOI’s public lands agenda

Ryan Zinke completes his first year in office as Secretary of the Interior this week, on the anniversary of his March 1, 2017 confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

I think everyone can agree that a lot has changed in this time. While some actions have been met with scrutiny, Secretary Zinke has also initiated processes that are laudable: These include directing public land management agencies to increase public access through Secretarial Order 3356 and steps taken to protect big game migration corridors through Secretarial Order 3362.

The process to identify and conserve migration corridors appears to be off to a good start, but there is a real risk that the agency’s celebrated access directives could fall by the wayside unless Zinke works with Congress to support funding for land acquisition in the federal budget. Here’s why.

Strategic Acquisition Opens Access

Back in September, Secretary Zinke directed the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to produce plans to expand access for hunting and fishing AND identify lands where access is currently limited. This might include areas that are currently impractical or impossible to access via public roads or trails, but where there may be an opportunity to gain access through an easement, right-of-way, or land acquisition. The agencies were asked to provide a report to the Deputy Secretary of the Interior detailing such lands.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund is the federal program that funds nearly all public land acquisition and easement projects to open public access. Enacted in 1965, the LWCF is America’s premier conservation and recreation program. It has helped to conserve parks, forests, shorelines, farms, ranches, refuges, and trails in nearly every state and county in the U.S. It doesn’t cost taxpayers a cent—LWCF helps invest in America’s public lands using a small portion of federal offshore oil and gas drilling fees.

But if this program is allowed to lapse or if it doesn’t receive strong funding, the Department of the Interior would not be able to expand public access to public lands in most circumstances.

Possible Effects of Shrinking or Raiding the Fund

While Secretary Zinke has long expressed support for the LWCF, President Trump’s 2019 budget has nearly zeroed out the Department of the Interior’s proposed LWCF budget from $154 million in 2018 to eight million dollars in 2019. If enacted, this drastic reduction in funding for the Department’s would make it difficult, if not impossible for the agency to achieve the expanded access goals created by Secretary Zinke just last fall. (More on the president’s budget and infrastructure proposals here.)

Loss of access is commonly cited as the number one reason people stop hunting, and millions of acres of BLM public lands are currently landlocked across the West, specifically in places like eastern Montana, southwest Oregon, and northeast Nevada. Secretary Zinke has an opportunity to leave a positive legacy for public access by helping to open many of these lands to the public, and the sporting community is ready to be a partner in this effort. But we can’t get it done without funding.

Top photo courtesy of Bob Wick/BLM via flickr.

by: Alex Maggos

posted in: Hunting & Fishing Access

February 26, 2018

Five Places Where Nutrient Pollution Could Prevent You from Fishing

Largescale algal blooms lead to fish kills, beach closures, and loss of your fishing access, but Congress has a chance to do something about them right now

Last week in D.C., we caught just a glimpse of spring, with 80-degree weather punctuating the February doldrums. Soon thoughts of bass and trout fishing were creeping into my head during the mid-morning meeting.

I’d like to think that there will be a certain payoff for all my anticipation, but nutrient pollution and—the pea-soup-colored water that is often the cause of large fish kills, beach closures, and shortened seasons—are increasingly problematic for anglers across the country.

The primary cause of algal blooms—as well as the record-sized dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, for that matter— is an excess of nutrients in the water that feed rapidly reproducing algae. In turn, the algae sucks vital oxygen out of the water, killing fish and plant life. (Here’s more on how that works.) In other instances, the algae can also be toxic to humans and pets.

The good news is there are conservation programs and funding meant to create solutions to our water quality and fish habitat issues—and many of them are up for debate right now as Congress works to draft the 2018 Farm Bill. Programs like the Agricultural Conservation Easements Program (ACEP) and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) provide financial and technical assistance to landowners to help conserve agricultural lands and wetlands, while ground enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) can serve as a natural filter for runoff before it washes downstream. On a much larger scale, the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) tackles landscape- or watershed-sized challenges through creative partnerships and requires one-to-one matching of federal funds to double the impact of Farm Bill dollars.

While Congress decides the fate of the Farm Bill and its effective conservation programs, it’s important that sportsmen and lawmakers consider what’s at stake. Here are five fishing destinations across the United States where recent algal blooms have thrown a wrench in anglers’ plans.

Ohio River

The Ohio River is home to more than 160 species of freshwater fish, including largemouth and smallmouth bass, catfish, pike, and trout. In the summer of 2015, the Ohio River suffered a 650-mile-long algal bloom—with affected waters running through six states. As a result, fishing and other recreational activities were shut down in order to limit human exposure to the toxic algae.

Photo courtesy of Chris Zoeller, Globe Gazette

Crystal Lake

Crystal Lake, home to the world’s largest Bullhead, is a one of Northern Iowa’s top fishing destinations. In July 2015, the shorelines of Crystal Lake were covered with thousands of fish- killed off by a large algal bloom.

Photo courtesy of Utah Department of Environmental Quality

Utah Lake

A 2017 algal bloom covered 90 percent of Utah Lake and made more than 100 people ill. This particular bloom was a blow to the local economy as it hit just before the July 4 weekend, reducing tourism traffic by 60 percent.

Photo courtesy of the Vermont Department of Health

Lake Carmi

Lake Carmi is the fourth largest natural lake in Vermont and a hotspot for northern pike and walleye fishing. Last year, the lake’s recreational season was cut short by three weeks due to an algal bloom.

Red Cedar Watershed

Home to Lake Menomin and Tainter Lake, the city of Menomonie, Wisconsin, loses out on an estimated $36.1 million in tourism revenue due to the frequency of lake closures and recreation restrictions caused by algal blooms.

Are you on algae watch where you live and fish? Let us know in the comments section so we can represent your water quality concerns in Washington, D.C.