State Action Alerts
Key Issues
On November 20th, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced a new proposed rule to clarify the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act. The proposal aims to implement the Supreme Court’s 2023 Sackett v. EPA decision to limit the federal government’s authority under the Clean Water Act. In doing so, this proposed rule adopts narrower definitions of “relatively permanent” and “continuous surface connection” to determine whether waters fall under federal Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction. In practice, these restrictive definitions would remove protections from thousands of miles of streams and vast acres of wetlands- particularly those that are seasonal, intermittent, or ephemeral. The rule was published in the Federal Register on November 20, 2025, and public comments will be accepted through January 5, 2026.
Although the full impacts remain to be seen, the proposed rule would sharply limit the federal government’s ability to regulate pollution and conserve fish and wildlife habitat. Analyses of the EPA’s Regulatory Impact Analysis indicate that only about 19% of wetlands listed in the National Wetlands Inventory would remain protected. And with just 13 states maintaining laws comparable in scope to the CWA- and only about half of states having any statewide water protections- this proposed rule would significantly reduce oversight of pollution, dredging, draining, and development across the country.
For anglers, small streams, ephemeral waterways, and wetlands serve as the lifeblood of healthy fisheries. Headwater streams nurture trout, salmon, and other game fish, while wetlands and seasonal waterways provide critical spawning and rearing habitat. Without protection for these waters, water quality declines, spawning grounds are lost, and fish populations that anglers rely on face increased risk.
For hunters, wetlands, prairie potholes, and ephemeral streams provide essential habitat for waterfowl and other game species. These areas offer breeding grounds, feeding areas, and migratory stopovers for ducks, geese, and other birds that hunters pursue. Reducing protections for these waters threatens the habitats that sustain healthy populations and reliable hunting opportunities.
Join BHA in opposing these changes to WOTUS and supporting clean water and aquatic habitats across the country.
Across the nation, we rely on predictable, science-based land management plans to guide access for hunters and anglers, habitat restoration projects, and resource use on our public lands. These plans are developed through years of public input, environmental review, and local collaboration—and they form the foundation for how more than 160 million acres of public lands are managed for multiple uses, from grazing and energy development to hunting, fishing, and habitat conservation.
But Congress has now taken an unprecedented step. Using the Congressional Review Act (CRA), lawmakers have voted along party lines to overturn Bureau of Land Management’s resource management plans in Montana, North Dakota and Alaska—the first time the CRA has ever been used to nullify resource management plans.
This will bar agencies from issuing similar plans in the future, throw decades of science-based planning into chaos, and jeopardize hunting access and habitat protections across the country.
An Unprecedented Risk:
Never before has Congress used the CRA to target a land management plan. Doing so sets a dangerous precedent—casting doubt on nearly every BLM plan adopted since 1996 and undermining the public process that ensures balance between access, development, and habitat.
Confusion for Managing Multiple Use:
If these rollbacks stand, grazing, energy development, habitat restoration, and even hunting and fishing access could be thrown into legal limbo, reverting to outdated plans and conflicting management protocols.
Blocked Improvements:
Under the CRA, agencies will be prohibited from issuing any “substantially similar” plan in the future—even if changes are needed to expand access, restore habitat, or respond to shifting conditions on the ground.
Alaska Spotlight:
The Central Yukon Resource Management Plan (CYRMP) safeguards habitat and access while supporting hunting, fishing, trapping, recreation, and responsible development. This plan in particular has built-in special area management for iconic species like Dall sheep, caribou, and moose, showcasing and conserving Alaska's most iconic species. Built through years of public input and environmental review, it reflects the voices of Alaskans who depend on these wild lands. Similarly, overturning the 2022 Integrated Activity Plan for the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska (NPR-A) would erase years of public input—over 228,000 comments—and compromise both habitat and hunting opportunity in the Western Arctic.
Take Action. Tell your elected officials to support public processes for management plan amendments and not to use the CRA to roll them back. Our wild public lands and waters deserve long-term, science-based management that involves balance and compromise, not confusion and outdated science.
In February 2025, BHA launched an action alert opposing sweeping firings of federal staff who manage our public lands, waters, and wildlife. While some staff were later reinstated, many chose early retirement through the administration’s Deferred Resignation Program, resulting in an approximate 10-15% reduction of federal land management personnel.
In July, Secretary Brooke Rollins of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued memorandum SM 1078-015 outlining reorganization plans to further reduce USDA’s workforce. The plan consolidates the Forest Service’s nine Regional Offices into five USDA hubs and merges five stand-alone Research Stations into a single location in Fort Collins, Colorado.
The Department of the Interior (DOI), home to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Park Service (NPS), and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS), has been hit just as hard. DOI has already lost more than one in ten employees through firings, retirements, and attrition, and is now preparing additional workforce reductions. The loss of biologists, law enforcement officers, and refuge and range managers will directly undermine habitat restoration, migratory bird and fisheries programs, and recreational access on millions of acres of public lands and waters.
Now, with the federal government shut down, the White House and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) are going further — directing agencies to use this lapse in appropriations to prepare reductions in force (RIFs). What once would have been a temporary furlough could now become a permanent layoff for thousands of civil servants at the very agencies charged with safeguarding habitat, sustaining wildlife, and maintaining public access. On October 20th, DOI revealed a plan to cut over 2,000 jobs across the department, including major reductions to the U.S. Geological Survey, BLM, and the Office of the Secretary, according to court documents filed with the Northern District of California.
The loss of local expertise and the hollowing out of agencies like the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service will undermine conservation for decades. As a result, hunters, anglers, and the local communities who depend on science-based management of public lands and waters will pay the price.
Join BHA in standing up for our wild public lands and waters today. Contact your members of Congress and tell them to support fully staffed public land management agencies to ensure our outdoor heritage endures for generations to come.
For more than half a century, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) has been America’s most successful conservation and access program safeguarding fish and wildlife habitat, protecting clean water, and expanding public access for hunters, anglers, and all who love the outdoors. LWCF has delivered high-priority, bipartisan projects across the country. During President Trump’s first term, the Great America Outdoors Act (GAOA) was signed into law, providing permanent, dedicated funding of $900 million for LWCF.
The GAOA also authorized $1.6 billion annually through 2025 to address the deferred maintenance backlog on public lands. That funding is set to expire on September 30th, 2025 with the total deferred maintenance backlog currently estimated at $43.9 billion. There have been some positive signs from the administration and some congressional leaders to maintain full funding for LWCF at $900 million annually and to reauthorize $2 billion to address the deferred maintenance backlog on our public lands through S.1547 the America the Beautiful Act.
However, the bipartisan conservation legacy of the Great American Outdoors Act is at risk of being eroded.
On September 4th 2025, Department of Interior Secretary Bergum announced Secretarial Order 3442 which restricts LWCF’s mission and sidelines stakeholder-led acquisitions from willing sellers that have historically provided access for hunters and anglers. The order:
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Inserts political veto power by requiring written approval from both governors and local county officials before acquisitions can move forward— even when they involve willing sellers and enjoy broad local support.
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Narrows eligibility for acquisitions by restricting Bureau of Land Management projects that have historically expanded access and improved habitat across the West.
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Opens the door to land transfers by allowing states to use LWCF funds to purchase “surplus” federal property, setting a dangerous precedent that could pave the way for public land disposals if existing safeguards are bypassed.
Take Action: Encourage your senators and representatives to pass the America the Beautiful Act that reauthorizes funding for our ballooning deferred maintenance backlog—without siphoning any funding from LWCF—and encourage them to push back against subversive provisions in Secretarial Order 3442. LWCF must remain a program that expands access, conserves habitat, and strengthens communities—not one that that slowly erodes our federal public lands legacy.
Wild horses and burros are a powerful symbol of the American West—but their unchecked populations have pushed western rangelands, native wildlife, and public land budgets past the breaking point. Tell congress to get back to the original text of the Wild Horse and Burro Act —remove the appropriations riders that have cost the American taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars, caused significant damage to ecosystems and displaced native wildlife like deer, elk, pronghorn and more.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) now estimates more than 73,000 wild horses and burros on the range, nearly three times the congressionally established Appropriate Management Level (AML) of 25,556 horses. Another 62,853 animals are in holding, costing taxpayers approximately $101 million annually to feed — that’s over 70% of the Wild Horse & Burro Program’s entire budget, which over the last 6 years has cost American taxpayers over $786 million without addressing the root cause of the problem.
This crisis has been created and perpetuated by annual riders in federal appropriations bills since 2005 that block the BLM from fully implementing Section 1333 of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act—tools like sale without limitation and humane euthanasia (as a last resort for unadoptable animals over 10 years old). Without these tools, the agency has been forced to warehouse animals instead of managing populations.
At the current pace, holding facilities will reach capacity within a year. Without space to place newly gathered animals, BLM will be forced to halt gathers, and it’s likely that wild horse populations will double on the range in as little as 4 years. The already devastating ecological consequences of a booming wild horse population would be amplified, requiring significant remediation and years of concentrated investment to restore stripped vegetation, repair dysfunctional riparian areas, and mitigate for loss of habitat that elk, deer, antelope, and sage grouse rely on.
The law is clear: the Secretary “shall” manage wild horses and burros to maintain a thriving natural ecological balance. But without the authority to use every tool Congress provided in 1971, the agency is set up to fail—and so is our landscape. We have to get back to the Act, before it’s too late.
Since 2001, the Roadless Area Conservation Rule has safeguarded some of our nation's most wild and intact national forest lands. The implementation of the Roadless Rule followed 600 local meetings as well as 1.6 million public comments, with 95% in support. Today 58 million acres of backcountry landscapes across 39 states are designated as Roadless Areas. The Roadless Rule did not close existing roads or trails, and exceptions to roadbuilding include access to inholdings and mineral leases. Additionally, select timber harvest is permitted within Inventoried Roadless Areas to reduce fire risk or to improve fish and wildlife habitat.
On August 29, 2025, The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) published a Notice of Intent to rescind the Roadless Rule and to open 45 million acres of public lands to new roadbuilding and commercial timber harvest. There was a 21-day public comment period from August 29, 2025 to September 19, 2025, during which time public land owners could voice their opinion on the Notice of Intent to rescind the rule. In the Spring of 2026 there will be another public comment period on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement.
The National Forest System already contains approximately 370,000 miles of roads. That’s twice as many miles of roads than the entire U.S. National Highway System and enough to circumnavigate the globe more than 14 times! Repealing the Roadless Rule will directly result in an expansion of that development network across currently unfractured fish and wildlife habitat. Further, nearly 85% of wildfires are human caused, and approximately 90% of wildfires start within half a mile of a road. Repealing the Roadless Rule will only increase fire risk on our public lands.
Join BHA in opposition to rescinding the Roadless Rule in its entirety and ask your member of Congress to instead support the Roadless Area Conservation Act, legislation that would codify the Roadless Rule as law.
Where the road ends, the adventure begins.
The Farm Bill is an opportunity to reaffirm – and even increase – our investment in VPA-HIP. The Voluntary Public Access Improvement Act, led by Sens. Steve Daines (R-MT), Roger Marshall (R-KS), and Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and Dusty Johnson (R-SD), would reauthorize this Farm Bill program and increase funding from $50 million to $150 million over the next five years.
VPA-HIP operates by extending competitive grants to state and tribal governments – grants that are used to incentivize private landowners to voluntarily allow public access. The Voluntary Public Access Improvement Act would triple the impact of this popular and widely utilized program. Since most sportsmen and women cite insufficient access as the biggest obstacle to getting afield, the impact of this increase would be incalculable.
Join BHA in advocating for increased public access by contacting your member of Congress today!
Our Issues
A new effort is underway in Congress to reverse the 20-year mining ban in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. On January 8, 2026, the Interior Department formally noted this initiative, and Representative Pete Stauber introduced HJ Res. 140 on January 12 to advance it using the Congressional Review Act (CRA).
This approach is concerning. Using the CRA in this manner is unprecedented and could weaken future protections for public lands across the country.
The Boundary Waters is a national treasure, home to world-class fishing, hunting, and outdoor recreation. Its watershed supports thousands of jobs and sustains local communities that depend on a clean, healthy environment.
We urge you to contact your representatives and ask them to oppose HJ Res. 140. Now is the time to stand up for responsible stewardship of our public lands and ensure places like the Boundary Waters remain protected for future generations.
Alaska's Brooks Range, one of the last truly wild landscapes in North America, is under threat from the development of the Ambler Road — a 211-mile-long private industrial mining road. This project would compromise iconic hunting and fishing opportunities, the health of the 110-mile-long Kobuk River, a National Wild and Scenic River with world-class sheefish fishing, and result in irreversible impacts on the declining Western Arctic Caribou Herd.
The Ambler Road Project has been described by federal officials, as a project that would bring prosperity to Alaska and to the nation. In reality, it will cost the nation.
The Ambler Road would cost Alaskans an estimated $2 billion in public funds to construct and maintain, and its primary beneficiaries are two foreign mining corporations — Trilogy Metals of Canada and South32 of Australia. This is not a project rooted in America First values. The hunting and fishing economies in Alaska are already a stable and long-term economic resource, that provide for a way of life for all Alaskans.
In June of 2024, after rigorous and extensive public process, the Bureau of Land Management denied the right-of-way permit, halting the road. A collection of executive orders and secretarial orders, skirting and discrediting previous public processes, laid the groundwork for the Ambler Road. On October 6th, President Trump approved the appeal of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA), directing his Administration to promptly issue authorizations necessary for the establishment of the Ambler Road Project.
Federal agencies including the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have reissued the right-of-way and construction permits necessary to move the project forward. The Department of the Interior also transferred roughly 23,600 acres near Ambler to the State of Alaska, completing the state’s land selections and paving the way for industrial development. Officials have called these steps “supporting local control.” But in truth, they shift control from Alaskans and American citizens to foreign mining companies whose profits will flow overseas.
The Ambler Road will cut through wild country that defines Alaska’s outdoor heritage — land that supports local economies built on hunting, fishing, guiding, and recreation, not land suitable for industrial mining.
Support the continuation of the last great expanse in North America and ask your members of Congress to oppose legislative and administrative actions that would advance the Ambler Road, which carries major financial and natural resource risks to Alaska's fish, wildlife, and outdoor heritage.
In a move that has sparked significant concern among conservationists, the Department of the Interior (DOI) announced a formal proposal to rescind the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, commonly known as the Public Lands Rule. The announcement, made by DOI Secretary Doug Burgum on September 10, 2025, was published in the Federal Register on September 11, 2025, initiating a 60-day public comment period.
The Public Lands Rule, established under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, establishes conservation as a legitimate and vital use of public lands, placing it on equal footing with activities such as energy development, timber harvesting, grazing, and recreation. The rule also promotes innovative partnerships aimed at restoring and protecting the health of these landscapes for future generations.
The Public Lands Rule was shaped through an extensive public engagement process that garnered input from thousands of hunters, anglers, and other stakeholders. More than 90 percent of the feedback expressed strong support for the rule, underscoring the broad recognition of conservation’s role in safeguarding opportunities to hunt and fish, as well as protecting clean water and wildlife habitat across the 245 million acres of public lands managed by the BLM.
Join BHA in opposition to rescinding the Public Lands Rule before the 60-day public comment period ends on November 11, 2025.
BHA vehemently opposes the recent legal maneuver by the State of Utah aimed at seizing control of 18.5 million acres of federal public lands - a move that could set a dangerous precedent for land management across the West.
A long-standing grudge against federal public lands – lands intended to be accessible by and for all Americans – has resulted in the State of Utah attempting to remove from the public domain one of the crown jewels of North American conservation: our public lands. Utah officials are seeking control of the entirety of unappropriated Bureau of Land Management territory, a profound misstep in the ideology of public land management and stewardship of natural resources in Utah. The proposed transfer of public lands to state control also raises grave concerns about the potential for increased commercial exploitation, increased costs to state budgets, diminished conservation efforts, and restricted public access. BHA stands firmly in opposition to this legal maneuver, which directly attacks the shared heritage of public lands and waters that provide hunting and angling opportunities for sportsmen and women.
Sign our petition to stand up for federal public lands and the freedom they provide to all Americans.
Then, if you live in Utah, use this action alert to send a direct message to your elected leaders letting them know that local hunters and anglers will not stand for the transfer of our public land.
PLREDA also establishes a conservation fund where a portion of the revenue generated from wind and solar development would go toward fish and wildlife conservation and enhancing public land access.
Join BHA in asking your member of Congress to support this legislation that would provide funding for conservation and access and ensure renewable energy is not sited in priority fish and wildlife habitat!
Speculative oil and gas leasing and associated development have long threatened the region. The Ruby Mountains Protection Act led by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) would prohibit oil and gas leasing on approximately 309,000 acres of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest and 39,000 acres of the Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Doing so would stop the threat of habitat fragmentation while still managing the landscape for multiple use.
Join BHA in asking your member of Congress to support this legislation that would conserve public lands and waters in Colorado for the benefit of hunters and anglers!
The M.H. Dutch Salmon Greater Gila Wild and Scenic River Act led by Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM) in the House of Representatives for the first time, would permanently conserve approximately 446 miles of waterways by establishing them as wild and scenic. Doing so would enhance hunting, angling and other outdoor activities by safeguarding pristine waters in the region.
Join BHA in supporting this legislation that would strengthen the conservation of wild rivers in New Mexico by reaching out to your member of Congress today!
Join BHA in supporting this legislation that would permanently protect the Pecos River Watershed by reaching out to your member of Congress today!
Now, the Cerro de la Olla Wilderness Establishment Act led by Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM) would designate 13,000 new acres of wilderness in the monument, further solidifying protections for the landscape while maintaining current routes. This region is an important migratory corridor for elk and provides habitat for other game species including mule deer, black bears, and mountain lions.
Join BHA in supporting this legislation that would strengthen the conservation of fish and wildlife habitat in New Mexico by reaching out to your member of Congress today!
Join BHA in supporting this legislation that would strengthen the conservation of fish and wildlife habitat in Washington by reaching out to your member of Congress today!
Join BHA in asking your member of Congress to support this legislation that would conserve public lands and waters in Colorado for the benefit of hunters and anglers!
Take a stand for the Boundary Waters and ask your members of Congress to support legislation that would permanently keep this watershed clean, healthy and full of quality hunting and fishing!
The Virginia Wilderness Additions Act, led by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Mark Warner (D-VA) would designate a total of 5,600 acres of new wilderness, adding to the existing Rough Mountain and Rich Hole wilderness areas within the George Washington National Forest in Bath County, Virginia. In 2014, the U.S. Forest Service and the George Washington National Forest Stakeholder Collaborative recommended these areas for wilderness designation. The House of Representatives had previously passed this legislation in the 117th Congress, and the Senate passed it in the 116th Congress. However, it has yet to be passed by both chambers in the same session and signed into law.
Now, the Flatside Wilderness Additions Act, led once again by Rep. Hill, would permanently conserve more than 2,000 acres of public lands in the Ouachita National Forest by adding them to the existing wilderness area to which they are adjacent. This region provides habitat for white-tailed deer, black bear, turkey and other small game, as well as hunting opportunities for these species.
Join BHA in asking your member of Congress to support this legislation that would conserve public lands in Arkansas and ensure healthy wildlife habitat for future generations of sportsmen and women!
Many factors, including over-harvest, dams, degraded habitat and predation, among others, are responsible for the continued decline of returning anadromous fish. Recent seasons have been catastrophic, with near record low returns of steelhead, chinook and sockeye salmon. Thankfully, Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) has released a plan to remove the four lower Snake River dams in order to save this population of salmon and steelhead. Further more, a recent study conducted by Gov. Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) concluded the feasibility for the removal of all four dams. We need residents of Idaho, Washington and Oregon to contact their elected officials in support of the removal of the lower four Snake River Dams.
Billions of dollars have been spent on failed recovery efforts. At the risk of extinction, Snake River salmon and steelhead need our help. Immediate action is needed by our elected leaders. We need to use a science-based approach, engage stakeholders and find solutions for the recovery and benefit of the species and the health of our river communities.
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