We have updated our Privacy Policy. Please review to learn more. By continuing to use our services, you agree to these updates.

Policy & Legislation (Page 2)

The latest news on policy & legislation that is most important to hunters, anglers, and conservationists.

Latest in Policy & Legislation

A bull elk in the backcountry.

Policy & Legislation

Roadless Areas Provide 10 Times Better Elk Hunting and Support the Best Trout Streams in the West, Study Shows

Dan chops firewood in the BWCA.

Policy & Legislation

Podcast: We Lived in the Boundary Waters for an Entire Year

Close up of coyote fur.

Policy & Legislation

Colorado Advances Fur Ban, Contradicting Public Opinion and Biologist Recommendations

a photo collage of high fence animals idaho

Policy & Legislation

High-Fence Ranches in Idaho Promised Biosecurity. Then Elk Started Escaping, and Wild Deer and Moose Broke in

By Christine Peterson

A sign that says entering public lands.

Policy & Legislation

Podcast: Randy Newberg’s Forecast for Our Public Lands Has Some Surprising Good News

By Natalie Krebs

Policy & Legislation

The Interior Just Gutted a Bedrock Conservation Law That Will Affect Public Lands Everywhere

By Christine Peterson

A composite image of the BLM nominee Stevan Pearce

Policy & Legislation

What’s So Bad About Stevan Pearce, Trump’s Pick to Run the BLM? For Starters, His Public-Land Track Record

By Andrew McKean

An aerial view of sockeye salmon swimming in a lake.

Policy & Legislation

Trump Administration Defends the Pebble Mine Veto in a Win for Wild Salmon

An entry sign in the Superior National Forest.

Policy & Legislation

The Forest Service Wants to ‘Streamline’ How Your Public Lands Are Managed by Giving You Less Opportunity to Comment

A male white-tailed deer with antlers, Odocoileus virginianus, walks across a field in Indiana. High quality photo

Policy & Legislation

Indiana Lawmakers Move to Abolish Natural Resources Commission, Allowing Regulations to Be Made Without Oversight

By Andrew McKean

A bison grazes with snow flurries.

Policy & Legislation

‘Affirmative Action for Cattle.’ Tribes Challenge Fed’s Plan to Revoke Bison-Grazing Leases on Public Land

Two anglers on a flats boat in Florida.

Policy & Legislation

‘These Are Billionaire Executives Looking to Silence Public Criticism.’ Proposed Florida Law Would Limit Conservationists from Disparaging the Sugarcane Industry

Animal rights activists hold a sign that reads "go vegan." Activists in Oregon are pushing for a ballot initiative to ban all hunting, fishing, livestock production.

Policy & Legislation

Animal-Rights Activists Are Attempting a Ban So Absurd That It Would Affect ‘Every Oregonian’

By Natalie Krebs

A hunting rifle with a suppressor on it

Policy & Legislation

South Dakota Is Preparing for Suppressor Deregulation. These 16 States Should Follow Suit

By Natalie Krebs

A herd of bison graze on a hillside in Montana.

Policy & Legislation

BLM Says American Prairie’s Bison Can No Longer Graze on Public Lands

Canoeists in the Boundary Waters.

Policy & Legislation

House Votes to Strip Critical Boundary Waters Protections in a Blow to Sportsmen and Public Lands

By Christine Peterson

A bald eagle on a post.

Policy & Legislation

Feds Announce Plan to Overhaul the Endangered Species Act. It Throws Out Science and Adds (More) Red Tape

By Christine Peterson

A public health sign advising fishermen not to consume the fish in a contaminated pond.

Policy & Legislation

The EPA Is Gutting the Clean Water Act, Which Has Protected Fish and Game for 53 Years

By Christine Peterson

A haul of pollock aboard a factory trawler.

Policy & Legislation

This Mind-Boggling Commercial Fishing Practice Is Robbing Alaska’s Anglers

Ryan Callaghan behind a spotting scope

Policy & Legislation

Outdoor Life Podcast: Is Ryan Callaghan the Optimist Our Public Lands Need?

By Natalie Krebs

Policy & Legislation

Congress Throws 166 Million Acres of BLM into Limbo by Upending Decades of Local Compromise

By Christine Peterson

mike lee just introduced a bad border bill

Policy & Legislation

Senator Lee Is Back with His Attack on Public Lands. This Time He Wants to Butcher the Wilderness Act Under the Guise of Border Security

By Christine Peterson

Policy & Legislation

More Than 99 Percent of Americans Disapprove of Roadless Rule Rollbacks, According to New Analysis

hunting southeast alaska

Policy & Legislation

Why the Roadless Rule Is Important for Hunters and Anglers

A cow grazes on BLM rangeland.

Policy & Legislation

Just a Year After It Was Implemented, the BLM Plans to Rescind the Public Lands Rule

By Andrew McKean

A photo of pronghorn on BLM land with oil and gas infrastructure.

Policy & Legislation

Americans Already Agreed How to Balance Energy Development on Public Land in Their States. The House Just Voted to Undo It

By Andrew McKean

Grading a road in the wilderness.

Policy & Legislation

You Have Just 3 Weeks to Object to the Roadless Rule Rollback, Which Will Affect 45 Million Wild Acres Across the U.S.

By Andrew McKean

A land for sale sign in the Western U.S.

Policy & Legislation

A Sneaky Way Lawmakers Can Sell Your Public Land, and 3 Other Things Insiders Won’t Say on the Record

By Christine Peterson

boundary waters canoe area wilderness

Policy & Legislation

Podcast: “This Type of Mine Has Not Been Done Without Polluting.” Why the Boundary Waters Mine Is a Bad Trade

By Alex Robinson

A meandering river flowing through a meadow.

Policy & Legislation

Robbing the LWCF Would Hurt America’s Public Lands. Maybe That’s the Point

A waterfowl production area sign.

Policy & Legislation

Podcast: Are Conservation Groups Spending Our Money Wisely?

By Natalie Krebs

A large white-tailed deer in the woods

Policy & Legislation

Pennsylvania Officially Repeals Its Centuries-Old Ban on Sunday Hunting

A pair of whitetail deer stand in front of a farm in Pennsylvania.

Policy & Legislation

Pennsylvania Is Finally About to Legalize Sunday Hunting. Here’s Why Some Lawmakers Are Still Opposed

Take me fishing programs are canceled

Policy & Legislation

DOGE Cancels ‘Take Me Fishing,’ Even Though It Was Funded by Anglers

By Natalie Krebs

Mike Lee is still trying to sell public land

Policy & Legislation

Mike Lee Shoves Another Bad Land Sale Provision into the Senate’s Final Budget Bill

By Andrew McKean

Suppressors on rifles. The Hearing Protection Act was stripped from the senate budget bill

Policy & Legislation

Silencer Deregulation Plan Fails in the Senate

By Natalie Krebs

A big old tree in Tongass NF.

Policy & Legislation

USDA Revokes Roadless Rule Nationwide to Increase Logging Efforts

By Natalie Krebs

Senator Mike Lee public land sales

Policy & Legislation

Breaking: Mike Lee’s Plan to Sell Public Lands Fails to Pass Budget Rules. He Promises to Try Again

By Alex Robinson, Andrew McKean

A bull elk looks across grassy plains.

Policy & Legislation

More Details Emerge Around the Public Land Sale Bill — and It’s Worse Than You Think

By Andrew McKean

BOUNDARY WATERS CANOE AREA WILDERNESS, MINNESOTA- SEPTEMBER: Outdoor enthusiasts travel by canoe through several of the hundreds of fresh water lakes that make up the Boundary Waters in September of 2019 in the northern woods of Minnesota. Motor boats are banned in this protected area of the Superior National Forest wilderness. Environmentalists are worried that recent permits given to mines on the edge of the Boundary Waters might threaten the pristine waters of the region. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

Policy & Legislation

Trump Administration Moves to Kill Boundary Waters Protections, Make Way for Proposed Mine

Senator Mike Lee on senate land sale

Policy & Legislation

The Senate Is Considering Selling Public Land. It Could Be About 2 Million Acres

By Andrew McKean

Boundary Waters lake

Policy & Legislation

The House Kills Its Plan to Open Mining Near the Boundary Waters

By Natalie Krebs

The arctic national wildlife refuge

Policy & Legislation

While Public Land Advocates Celebrate House Bill Victory, Several Troubling Provisions Were Passed

By Andrew McKean

A composite image of Ryan Zinke and some quotes about the public land sale

Policy & Legislation

House Republicans Kill Provision to Sell Public Lands

By Andrew McKean

Houses with mountains in background.

Policy & Legislation

Public Land Sales Proposal Could Advance at 1 A.M. Tomorrow

By Andrew McKean

A house bill has earmarked federal public land for sale

Policy & Legislation

An Amendment to Sell Thousands of Acres of Public Land in Nevada and Utah Just Slipped into a House Budget Bill

By Andrew McKean

The sun sets on a perfect September day of paddling and fishing in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.

Policy & Legislation

House Committee Weighs Budget Bill That Would Allow Boundary Waters Mine, Approve Ambler Road, and Mandate Massive Coal Leases

By Andrew McKean

A bull elk stands on a hill side

Policy & Legislation

Idaho Hunters Want Restrictions on Drones, Thermals, and Cellular Trail Cams

By Andrew McKean

Black hills utah

Policy & Legislation

Congress Is Seriously Considering Public Land Sales as Part of Its New Budget

By Andrew McKean

A USFWS employee runs an airboat across Tule Lake.

Policy & Legislation

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to Rehire Fired Employees with Backpay

A sweeping view of the Grand Canyon

Policy & Legislation

Hundreds of Elected Officials Out West Urge Feds to Protect Public Lands

By Alice Jones Webb

A barred owl flies through the trees.

Policy & Legislation

Lawmakers Ask Trump to Stop the $1.3 Billion Plan to Shoot 450,000 Non-Native Barred Owls

By Alice Jones Webb

national wildlife refuge USFWS employee

Policy & Legislation

As Trump Attempts to Reform Federal Government, Hunters and Anglers Face ‘Unintended Consequences’

By Andrew McKean

A hunter glasses for game from atop a snowy ridge.

Policy & Legislation

Utah Wants to Prevent Anti-Hunter Takeover by Requiring All Wildlife Board Members to Have a Hunting License

A grizzly bear walking through the woods in the snow.

Policy & Legislation

The Endangered Species Act Has Been ‘Warped by Decades of Radical Environmental Litigation,’ Says Lawmaker Who Wants to Overhaul It

By Natalie Krebs

A BLM firefighter works a line.

Policy & Legislation

Federal Judge Rules Firing Public-Land Workers Was Illegal, Agrees It ‘Will Inflict Immediate, Foreseeable Harm’ to Habitat and Wildlife

A mountain lion feeding on a dead deer.

Policy & Legislation

Wyoming Lawmakers Tried to Declare Open Season on Mountain Lions. Local Houndsmen Shut It Down

By Christine Peterson

A wolf in the snow in Wyoming

Policy & Legislation

A Bill That Would’ve Outlawed Running Over Wolves, Coyotes with Snowmachines Failed in Wyoming

By Christine Peterson

Great Lakes wolves

Policy & Legislation

Wisconsin, Colorado Lawmakers Move to Delist Gray Wolves Across the Lower 48

By Natalie Krebs

Two hunters walk up a canyon trail.

Policy & Legislation

Wyoming Senators Demand 50 Million Acres of Federal Land. It’s Part of a Coordinated Land-Grab by Western States

Doug Burgum is sworn in as DOI secretary

Policy & Legislation

North Dakota Governor and Retired Software Exec Doug Burgum Confirmed as Interior Secretary

By Andrew McKean

Caribou with antlers feeding on snow-covered tundra with oilfield pipeline in background

Policy & Legislation

Trump Orders Resource Development on Alaska Public Lands ‘to the Fullest Extent Possible,’ But May Also Restore Hunting Opportunities

By Natalie Krebs

A herd of mule deer, likely about to bolt.

Policy & Legislation

Trump’s Order to Pause Federal Grants Causes Chaos in the Conservation World

By Andrew McKean, Natalie Krebs

A road with public land BLM sign

Policy & Legislation

Here’s What Hunting and Conservation Groups Are Asking of the Trump Administration

By Andrew McKean