Part II: Conservation, Access, and Public Land Management in Nevada

February 9, 2026

Understanding how targeted, conservation-driven decisions can strengthen wildlife habitat and hunter and angler access in Nevada

The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, and many Nevada-based conservation organizations, oppose large-scale public land sales and approach any land management discussion through the lens of conservation outcomes and public access. This blog includes a breakdown on how current legislation could impact the future of public land management in the Silver State.

In my last blog, you read about my 2025 pronghorn archery hunt on public land. I am so grateful to live in a state that affords me these hunting opportunities.

Like me, most hunters who are lucky enough to draw a big game tag in Nevada will likely hunt on public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management. At 48 million acres, Nevada has more BLM-managed lands within its borders than any other state in the West.

Public lands uniquely define our country and so many American lives.

These millions of acres of public lands are a big part of why I love Nevada and call it my home. Our public lands provide space to roam freely, hunt, fish, hike, and recreate, and that is what Nevada, and the American West, is all about. Public lands uniquely define our country and so many American lives. Our public lands are not just places to hunt and fish, they are working landscapes that support wildlife, sustain our access, and supports local economies. That is why the TRCP, our partners, and most Nevada-based sporting and conservation groups remain firmly opposed to large-scale public land sales and believe that any discussion about public land management must prioritize long-term conservation, public access, and transparency above all else.

With these principles in mind, there is room for thoughtful discussion about how Nevada can address growth, conservation, and access challenges without sacrificing the public lands that define our hunting and fishing heritage. A few such targeted exchanges have taken place in Nevada. These efforts were well recognized as bipartisan, collaborative efforts between lawmakers, state and federal agencies, conservation groups, and sportsmen and women.

While the vast majority of public lands should remain public, there are a small number of cases where the sale or transfer of carefully vetted parcels would make sense, so long as the funds generated from those sales are directed back into conservation efforts on public lands in the states that they were sold. These select acres tend to be lands close to existing communities that no longer possess quality wildlife habitat or offer hunting and fishing opportunities. When conducted properly, these transactions can convert low-quality parcels with poor habitat and low recreational value into conservation wins by reinvesting the proceeds into public lands with high-quality habitat, recreational opportunities, and securing access to the places that matter most to hunters, anglers, and outdoor recreationalists.

The important discussion now is how to distinguish between public lands with the greatest habitat, wildlife, recreational, cultural, and conservation values and those lands that are suitable for disposal to achieve responsible growth. We need tools like the recently released onX map, which identifies BLM lands marked for potential disposal through a formal administrative process. We must also ensure public engagement with state and federal agencies and lawmakers throughout the decision-making process.

Our public lands are not just places to hunt and fish, they are working landscapes that support wildlife, sustain our access, and supports local economies. That is why the TRCP, our partners, and most Nevada-based sporting and conservation groups remain firmly opposed to large-scale public land sales and believe that any discussion about public land management must prioritize long-term conservation, public access, and transparency above all else.

Current Legislation for Nevada’s Public Land Management Future

The Northern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act 2025 (H.R. 2317), introduced by Representative Mark Amodie, the Pershing County Economic Development and Conservation Act 2025 (S.1195) and the Truckee Meadows Public Lands Management Act (S. 462) both introduced by Senator Jackie Rosen, and the Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act (S.1005) introduced by Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto are four examples of legislation aimed at reshaping public land management in northern Nevada. These bills encourage economic development, cultural land use, and wildlife conservation.

The two bills specifically related to my 2025 hunting season in northern Nevada—H.R. 2317 and S. 1195—will help address the public and private land ownership issues of checkerboarding. By allowing the sale of some carefully vetted public land parcels and the exchange of others, large sections of public and private lands will become contiguous, allowing for greater economic development and greater public access to once-landlocked public lands.

Additionally, H.R. 2317 and S. 1195 would remove land management constraints that have made needed habitat restoration efforts more difficult, while setting aside roughly 136,000 acres for conservation and wildlife habitat. While S.1005 and S.462 primarily focus on Washoe and Clark counties, they are examples of how major conservation wins can be achieved through small well-vetted transfers of public lands. These two bills would conserve nearly 1,700,000 acres through new or expanded Wilderness areas. This would represent one of the largest conservation gains in Nevada benefiting hunters and anglers.

Public lands management must prioritize transparency, long-term conservation, and public hunting and fishing access.

The bills include the requirement that proceeds from public land sales would be dispersed similar to the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act, keeping the proceeds in Nevada to help fund public schools (5%), infrastructure (10%), and the future conservation restoration of public lands and wildlife habitat (85%).

H.R. 2317, S. 1195, S. 462, and S.1005 all represent bipartisan, conservation collaboration between lawmakers, invested stakeholders, NGO’s, and the public. They emerged from a multi-year collaborative process involving local governments, developers, hunting/fishing groups, and Tribal governments dating back to 2016. They all mirror the structure of the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act, but with clear parcel-by-parcel selection for additional transparency. Supporters praise the balanced inclusion of development, conservation, and Tribal equity. As written and unamended, the conservation language, Wilderness designations, and revenue structure have earned these bills support from several Nevada sporting and conservation groups that have worked closely with Representative Amodie, Senator Rosen, and Senator Cortez-Masto.

The foundation of these four pieces of legislation can inform future discussions in other states about public lands management and how those conversations must prioritize transparency, long-term conservation, and public hunting and fishing access.

Learn more about TRCP’s commitment to public land HERE.

Read Part I of this two-part series on public lands in Nevada, as TRCP’s Nevada field representative shares a spot-and-stalk archery pronghorn hunt.

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by: Kris Coston

posted in: Hunting & Fishing Access

Part I: A Nevada Public Land Pronghorn Hunt

In Part I of this two-part series on public lands in Nevada, TRCP’s Nevada field representative shares a spot-and-stalk archery pronghorn hunt and focuses on the personal connection hunters have to public lands

The Nevada archery season opens early and hot on August 1 when the grass and brush is crunchy, the temps are triple digits, and the relative humidity is in the teens. This time of year, water holes are shallow and scarce, providing an excellent opportunity for the patient archery hunter to sit in a blind and wait for the perfect buck to walk within bow range.

Unfortunately, I am not a patient hunter. I am a plodder, a hiker, a let’s-go-have-a-look kind of hunter and the soles of my boots pay the price. Though in 2025, I was determined to make myself sit down and not move—for at least two days.

I built a sagebrush blind in mid-July above a little seep that trickled off a hill creating a few muddy puddles. I prepped for success with a fan, snacks, ice water in a small cooler, and a bandanna to soak and wrap around my neck. I also had about four years of hunting and kid pictures on my phone to organize.

Coston’s home for two days: the pronghorn blind.

I persevered for those two long, hot days despite a severe bout of restless leg syndrome. I saw my target buck early on the first morning watering out of bow range and a couple nice bucks that came right in but never presented a clean, clear shot. Even with all my preparation and planning, I couldn’t bring myself to sit still any longer.

I went back to basics, back to what I know, to what I like to think I am good at: finding animals, reading the terrain, anticipating their movements, then working in undetected.

After driving home for the week, I was back late Friday night to break down my blind, and early Saturday morning I was watching a group of eight bucks feed across a grassy bowl.

It was a perfect set up. I dropped off my glassing knob and ducked down into a coulee running uphill alongside the bench they were feeding toward. There was a good band of rocks about 100 yards above the bench, and I made it behind them just as the bucks fed into the open below me.

I sat in the rocks as they chased each other, sparred, played, and browsed until eventually spreading out and bedding down. I had a buck picked out and started scooting my way out of the rocks, slowly inching down the hill two feet at a time. I would have to stop and wait, then inch down two more feet, then stop and wait. This went on for a couple hours until I was almost in range of the buck I wanted.

The group of pronghorn Coston spotted from the rocks.

Suddenly, one of the other bucks in the group left his bed and began feeding up the hill toward me. Opportunities like this in archery are sometimes a blessing and sometimes a curse, most of the time they are just what you make them. I slowly sat up and ranged him as he fed inside of 60 yards, slightly quartering toward me. I dialed in my sight, drew back from a seated position, and let my arrow go.

The mix of emotions after this moment are always deep and complex. The two that are usually the strongest are gratitude and appreciation. Gratitude for the life taken and appreciation for the land that fostered and nurtured that life.

I sat there taking in the moment, looking out at the stark beauty of the land and the rest of the job that lay before me. The August heat demanded I worked quickly to break down the animal. A short time later I shouldered my pack bulging with the meat, head, and hide, and started hiking toward my truck. As I made my way down the hill weaving through the rocks and brush, I found myself reflecting on the fact that the public land that I was hunting had recently been proposed for sale.

The result of a successful hunt on public lands.

That fact reinforced why safeguarding these places matters so deeply to me and to hunters and anglers. Any discussion about public land management must begin with a commitment to conservation, public access, and opposition to large-scale land sales.

With those principles in mind, Part II of this blog series looks at how Nevada has approached complex land management challenges and why safeguards and public processes are essential to conserving what matters most.

Read Part II of this blog that details how targeted public land transfers in Nevada can benefit hunters and anglers, conservation, and access.

by: Chris Macaluso

posted in: Hunting & Fishing Access

February 5, 2026

All Eyes On The Atchafalaya Basin

The Lower Mississippi River Comprehensive Management Study moves forward despite slashed budget

More than 50 fisheries biologists, hydrologists, foresters, engineers, private landowners, wetland ecologists, recreational and commercial fishermen and state and federal agency staff from Wildlife and Fisheries, Army Corps of Engineers and the United States Geological Survey gathered in Lafayette in April 2025 to discuss how to improve the Atchafalaya Basin.

Organized by the non-profit habitat conservation organization The Nature Conservancy and the Corps of Engineers, the group was selected to find some consensus on ways to help improve fisheries, tree health and water quality in the Atchafalaya while limiting sedimentation and the spread of invasive species in the lower river’s largest swamp.

The timing of the meeting was perfect, considering the Corps was in the middle of a Congressionally-mandated project called the Lower Mississippi River Comprehensive Management Study. The study, authorized by Congress in 2020 with extensive support from Louisiana lawmakers, told the Corps to look at issues affecting the Mississippi River from Missouri to the Gulf, everything from flood control and shipping to fisheries and wildlife habitat and wetland restoration.

Those who went to the two-day workshop left feeling like real progress was made. The wide-ranging opinions in the room didn’t always align, but there was general agreement that changing how much water was sent from the Mississippi River down the Atchafalaya River at certain times of the year could improve fisheries. Sediment traps could limit the silt that is clogging bayous and canals. Strategic cuts could be made in some canal and bayou banks to allow water to move into stagnant backwaters. It felt like a big step in the right direction.

Then, a month later, it was revealed the Lower Mississippi River Comprehensive Management Study had stopped. The remainder of the $25 million appropriated by Congress was an unceremonious victim of the broad, sweeping federal budget cuts applied with a chainsaw rather than a scalpel.

An important Study

In general, the last thing anyone advocating for habitat restoration in the Lower Mississippi River wanted to see was another lengthy study. Large parts of Louisiana’s coast have washed away in the last 50 years while study after study dragged on and the costs of that land loss and the projects needed to slow and repair it exploded.

However, significant changes, and even slight tweaks, in management of the lower Mississippi River and its swamps, floodplains, fisheries, navigation channels and flood protection will require scientific support, public buy in and the backing of sound engineers. Perhaps more importantly, the money to make any of those changes comes only after public engagement and studies show it is needed.

In the case of the Atchafalaya Basin or any floodplain or swamp connected to the Lower River, it will literally take an act of Congress for changes in authorizations and the money needed to dredge sediment and change the operation at the Old River Control Structure to allow more water from the Mississippi to move down the Atchafalaya River.

Stopping the study didn’t just slow progress in Louisiana. Mississippians, Tennesseans and Arkansans wanted results as well. They’ve all seen habitats along the Mississippi River and its tributaries decline, leading to a loss in fisheries and waterfowl production over the last half century. They’ve also dealt with historic floods and periodic droughts and increased sedimentation that has limited access to the river for recreation and commerce.

What’s Next?

The guarded optimism shared by those who participated in meetings conducted by the Corps throughout 2024 and early 2025 quickly turned into frustration. It seemed this could be another federal study started with promise and good intentions that would be shelved and produce no tangible improvements to fish and wildlife habitat and flood control.

However, thanks to Congressmen Troy Carter of Louisiana and Mike Ezell of Mississippi, both recreational fishermen, and four of their congressional colleagues, there may be hope the study continues towards its completion in 2027.

Carter and Ezell were the lead authors of a July 2, 2025 letter to the chairman of the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee urging it provide $7.5 million to continue the study, calling it “a pivotal opportunity to align navigation efficiency and safety, flood control systems, and restoration efforts to foster a healthier, safer Lower River system that benefits all stakeholders and river communities.”

Appropriators responded by releasing a budget in early January of this year that has $5 million directed to the Corps to continue working on the study Congressmen Carter and Ezell called “indispensable.” While not the full amount requested, it is certainly enough for the Corps’ New Orleans District to resume work.

Wading and weaving through federal bureaucracies and budget cuts and dealing with the frustrating timetables of Corps of Engineers studies is not something 99 percent of hunters and fishermen want to consider. They’d rather rig rods and reels and gas up boats, toss out decoy spreads and spend time with buddies and family on the water.

Reality is, though, if they want great places to hunt and fish along the Mississippi River and want invasive fish and vegetation controlled and, maybe, a well-maintained boat launch here and there, dealing with studies and budgets and state and federal agencies is part of the process.

Thankfully, there are a few elected officials in Washington willing to make the priorities of hunters and anglers throughout the Lower Mississippi River their priorities as well.

Top photo courtesy The Nature Conservancy

(Note: This story originally appeared in the January 2026 issue of Louisiana Sportsman.)

by: Dan Morgan

posted in: Hunting & Fishing Access

Deer Season: Hunting & CWD – Lessons Learned and What Comes Next

Six stories from the field reveal how hunters across the country are navigating CWD – and why staying informed matters.

Over the course of the 2025 deer season, TRCP shared six stories from three hunters across three states – Minnesota, Montana, and Pennsylvania – each offering a window into how Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is shaping modern deer hunting.

Taken together, these reflections reinforced a simple truth: while landscapes, regulations, and traditions may differ, hunters across the country are grappling with the same questions about herd health, responsibility, and the future of the resource.

Catch up on the Deer Season – Hunting & CWD posts HERE

Minnesota: Learning in Real Time

Our Minnesota stories captured what it feels like to hunt in a state where CWD is no longer theoretical – it’s something hunters must actively account for each season.

In A Season of Firsts in Minnesota, TRCP’s Aaron Field described the challenge that comes with navigating new testing requirements, rethinking long-held routines, and confronting uncertainty in moments that once felt automatic. Those early decisions required slowing down and asking questions in the effort to seek out reliable sources and evaluate new information.

Later, in A Minnesota Season Revisited he looked back on that experience with added perspective – showing how awareness and familiarity can replace hesitation with confidence, and how informed hunters become more comfortable stewards of the resource.

Takeaway: Staying informed doesn’t just encourage participation – it builds confidence. When hunters understand the why behind testing and management, stewardship becomes part of the hunt, not a disruption to it.

Montana: Tradition, Family, and the Long View

Montana’s stories focused on something deeper than data alone: how CWD conversations fit into family traditions and the act of passing hunting on to the next generation.

In A Hunting Journal: Found, and New Hunters in the Making, TRCP’s Ryan Chapin reflected on discovering old hunting journals while introducing young hunters to the field – connecting past, present, and future. That theme continued in Reflections From Our Family’s Montana Hunting Season, in which he emphasized that healthy herds are foundational to keeping those traditions alive.

Takeaway: CWD isn’t just a challenge for wildlife managers – it’s a generational one rooted in our hunting traditions. Decisions made today shape the opportunities available tomorrow.

Pennsylvania: Preparation and Perspective

In Pennsylvania, the series followed TRCP’s Jim Kauffman’s season from start to finish – beginning with preparation and ending with reflection.

In Prepping for the Pennsylvania Season, he highlighted the importance of understanding local regulations, disease management zones, and best practices before opening day.

Later, in Reflections From a Pennsylvania Deer Season he underscored how preparation pays off – leading to informed choices in the field and greater trust in the system designed to safeguard healthy deer herds.

Takeaway: Responsible hunting starts well before the season – and informed hunters are essential partners in effective wildlife management.

A Shared Set of Lessons

Midway through the season, we paused to take stock in A Mid-Season Check-In. By season’s end, those early observations only rang truer.

Across all six stories, several themes stood out:

CWD is already influencing how, where, and why hunters make decisions

Hunters play a critical role in surveillance, testing, and curbing the spread.

Clear information builds trust and participation

Science-based management works best when it reflects lived experience

One lesson came through clearly across all six dispatches: staying informed is one of the most important tools hunters have. CWD regulations, testing protocols, and management strategies continue to evolve, and understanding how – and why – they change helps hunters make confident, responsible decisions in the field. For those looking to dig deeper, TRCP has compiled science-based resources and practical information on Chronic Wasting Disease at trcp.org/chronic-wasting-disease.

What Comes Next

One message we heard consistently – both in these stories and in feedback from hunters across the country – is that this conversation is needed, valued, and far from over, and that hunter voices are essential to it.

CWD remains one of the most serious long-term threats to deer herds and the hunting traditions tied to them. Addressing it requires continued investment in research, monitoring, and education – and an ongoing commitment to keeping hunters informed and engaged.

Because of the strong response to this series, Deer Season: Hunting & CWD will continue. We’ll keep elevating hunter voices, sharing real-world perspectives, and connecting those experiences to the science and policies that safeguard the future of deer hunting.

Stay tuned – more stories from the field are coming soon. In the meantime, staying informed remains one of the most important ways hunters can contribute to healthy deer herds. As research, regulations, and management strategies continue to evolve, TRCP will keep sharing perspectives from the field alongside the science behind them. Learn more about Chronic Wasting Disease here.

Catch up on the Deer Season – Hunting & CWD posts HERE

by: Noah Davis

posted in: Hunting & Fishing Access

January 28, 2026

The Origins, Wins, and Future of Modernizing Public Access Legislation

The future of access looks bright in 2026 and beyond

In December 2025, the Modernizing Access to our Public Waters Act was signed into law by President Trump. This legislation was a primary focus for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership in 2025 as we continued to work to guarantee all Americans quality places to hunt and fish.

The MAPWaters Act directs federal agencies to digitize water and fishing access and recreational use information on federal waterways such as restrictions on motorized propulsion, horsepower, or gasoline fuel; types of watercraft permitted on certain waters; the location and boundaries of fishing restrictions, and more.

As the MAPWaters Act is implemented, federal agencies will digitize water and fishing access and recreational use information on federal waterways.

“As the MAPWaters Act is implemented, anglers and hunters across America will be able to easily find public access and navigation information on their phones or computers at home instead of trying to look for a kiosk in the dark at the boat ramp,” said Joel Webster, chief conservation officer for the TRCP. “We again thank the representatives and senators who advanced this legislation and showed that access to our nation’s public waters and lands is a bipartisan priority.”

The clarity and accessibility of regulations for both the public and the agencies entrusted to manage these waters—as well as lands—will result in more Americans confidently accessing and enjoying their public waters.

This win for modernizing public access is just the latest step in TRCP’s commitment to helping increase and simplify access to quality places to hunt and fish for all Americans.

Where We Started

As blessed as American hunters, anglers, and other recreationists are with public land and water resources, we are not free from difficulties and confusion when it comes to public access. That’s why the TRCP is working to solve the most pressing public land and water access challenges.

In the 2010s, GPS units and smartphone applications began showing precise ownership boundaries, equipping average Americans with the tools to navigate public land and water parcels. In doing so, this technology alleviated the risk of trespassing or committing a regulation infraction, such as fishing over a protected marine boundary.

Modernizing public access information will increase the power of GPS mapping apps commonly found on smartphones, such as onX.

Using GPS technology, hunters and anglers also came to realize that many public lands, and some public waters, are unreachable, either through being landlocked, or improperly marked access points such as trailheads or boat ramps causing confusion and wasted hours traveling.

To address the challenge of landlocked public lands, the TRCP teamed up with onX to quantify the scope of the problem and offer solutions that would open access to these acres. Since 2018, the team has found an overwhelming 16.43 million acres of inaccessible public land across 22 states.

In 2022, the TRCP-led Modernizing Access to our Public Lands Act was signed into law. This act requires federal land management agencies to digitize their paper maps and records. This includes permanent access easements across private lands, as well as detailed road and trail use information on public lands. The MAPLands Act increases the power of GPS mapping apps commonly found on smartphones, such as onX, but this information must be implemented before public users will benefit.

Follow the progress of MAPLands implementation HERE.

The MAPLands Act requires federal land management agencies to digitize their paper maps and records.

Where We’re Going

With two landmark pieces of access legislation signed into law in just three years, the TRCP will continue to capitalize on this momentum to help clarify the challenges of public access.

The Modernizing Access to our Public Oceans Act—introduced to Congress in 2025—is a saltwater companion to the MAPWaters Act and would direct NOAA to digitize navigation and recreational use rules for marine waters and federal fisheries and make those resources readily available to the public.

The MAPWaters Act and would direct NOAA to digitize navigation and recreational use rules for marine waters and federal fisheries.

The Modernizing Access to Public Roads Act—also introduced in Congress in 2025— would establish a $20 million, 5-year pilot grant program through the U.S. Department of Transportation to address the mapping shortfalls and improve public access on the rural road systems across America, resulting in reduced confusion for hunters and anglers. The MAP Roads Act would not create any new road authority, or alter any legal status, ownership, or jurisdiction of roads.

Stay Informed

The road to improved public access cannot be walked alone. TRCP needs your voice to ensure that future generations can access our nation’s public lands and waters. Stay informed on opportunities to speak up for public access by signing up for the Roosevelt Report through the link below. 

Feature Image Photo Credit: Jessica Delorenzo

The TRCP is your resource for all things conservation. In our weekly Roosevelt Report, you’ll receive the latest news on emerging habitat threats, legislation and proposals on the move, public land access solutions we’re spearheading, and opportunities for hunters and anglers to take action. Sign up now.

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