WEBVTT - Ep. 11: John Gale 0:00:01.600 --> 0:00:05.320 Hey, everybody, welcome the episode number eleven of The Hunting Collective. 0:00:05.680 --> 0:00:09.760 I'm Ben O'Brien. We're joined this week by John Gale. 0:00:10.280 --> 0:00:13.520 And John Gale is the conservation director for a group 0:00:13.560 --> 0:00:17.640 called back Country Hunters and Anglers. And John is a 0:00:18.440 --> 0:00:21.759 fifth generation Idaho and somebody who just grew up hunting 0:00:21.760 --> 0:00:25.160 and fishing in the back country, and he's also engaged 0:00:25.200 --> 0:00:29.280 in politics. I think among all the topics that we 0:00:29.400 --> 0:00:32.199 want to touch on the Hunting Collective, politics is not 0:00:32.320 --> 0:00:35.760 one of them, but the politics of hunting, the politics 0:00:35.760 --> 0:00:39.360 of public lands is one of them, and maybe it's 0:00:39.400 --> 0:00:42.839 the most important thing we could talk about. And what 0:00:43.080 --> 0:00:48.559 makes John so qualified to talk about public lands is 0:00:48.600 --> 0:00:52.199 that he's the conservation director for b h A. And 0:00:52.240 --> 0:00:56.400 he's somebody who spent has spent his entire life working 0:00:56.440 --> 0:01:01.320 on and pushing for conservation. He spent nine years of 0:01:01.400 --> 0:01:05.000 the Wild National Wildlife Federation and was one of the 0:01:05.080 --> 0:01:08.399 early members of b h A, a group that's if 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:13.800 you're not familiar with them, get familiar. We talked about 0:01:13.800 --> 0:01:16.320 a lot of things we were in Idaho and his 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:20.480 home state, to cover everything public lands, because I think 0:01:20.600 --> 0:01:22.760 not only should you know what public lands are and 0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:26.160 how to use them. You should know where they came from, 0:01:26.240 --> 0:01:28.800 who manages them, and why it's important to keep them around, 0:01:29.600 --> 0:01:33.640 and also how we can keep them around. So I 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:37.560 think this conversation, although many of you may have no 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:40.440 idea who John is, is as important as any of 0:01:40.480 --> 0:01:43.680 the other ten we've had on this podcast. So please 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:49.000 enjoy John Gayale from b h A Episode number eleven. 0:01:59.080 --> 0:02:01.520 John Gale, how's it going good? How you doing? Man? 0:02:01.960 --> 0:02:04.640 We're just drinking beer, that's right, And it's like nude 0:02:04.840 --> 0:02:06.960 one o'clock do some day drinking? And what is it 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:11.000 a Wednesday? Thursday's wednes Thursday is Thursday Thursday? S I'm 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:14.079 way off right on your first beer? Yeah, and I 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:17.400 don't even know. Well, we're in Idaho and we're here 0:02:17.400 --> 0:02:20.440 for the BHA Rendezvous. For folks that don't know what 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:22.320 b h A is, you can tell them what b 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:26.239 h A is because absolutely thanks first for invite me 0:02:26.280 --> 0:02:29.280 on the podcast. Here, Ben, it's my first podcast, so 0:02:29.320 --> 0:02:34.600 you get to witness the stumbling, bumbling, droning first time 0:02:34.680 --> 0:02:36.760 or here. That's why we have That's why the beer 0:02:36.880 --> 0:02:39.120 is here. Like if we need to break and have 0:02:39.160 --> 0:02:40.800 three or four more beers and loosen things up. We 0:02:40.800 --> 0:02:42.519 can always do that if I get a little tight. 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:46.799 It sounds like a plan. So um, back Country Hunters 0:02:46.800 --> 0:02:49.720 and Anglers was found around a campfire and Oregon back 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:54.040 in two thousand four. Really, uh, I think all things 0:02:54.120 --> 0:02:57.880 that are good come from conversations with whiskey and beer 0:02:58.000 --> 0:03:01.160 around a campfire late at night. And and this maybe 0:03:02.120 --> 0:03:03.840 uh a little bias of me to say, but I 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:06.320 think this is one of the best camp fire conversations 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:11.280 that actually came into fruition. It wasn't just whiskey talking. 0:03:11.800 --> 0:03:15.200 It turned into something real and turned into back Country 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:20.200 Hunters and Anglers, the fastest growing sportsman's organization in North America. 0:03:20.720 --> 0:03:24.639 And we pride ourselves on being the sportsman's voice for 0:03:24.639 --> 0:03:29.360 our wild public lands, waters and wildlife. And those those 0:03:30.200 --> 0:03:32.640 souls around the camp fire back in two thousand four 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:36.920 really had a vision for bringing hunters and anglers that 0:03:37.040 --> 0:03:41.600 care about all things wild together too conserve the back country, 0:03:41.960 --> 0:03:46.000 to create an organization that was not just dedicated to 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:50.920 a single species, but dedicated to all species, and dedicated 0:03:50.960 --> 0:03:55.000 to all forms of hunting and fishing and um and 0:03:55.040 --> 0:04:00.000 not just specific ways of hunting or fishing or specif 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:02.000 of a species that people like to hunt and fish for, 0:04:02.680 --> 0:04:05.160 but taking a look at what they cared about most, 0:04:05.240 --> 0:04:10.760 which was wilderness, back country, the pristine areas. Anyone that 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:13.800 hunts the back country knows that the best populations of 0:04:13.840 --> 0:04:16.479 fish and wildlife are in the wildest places with the 0:04:16.520 --> 0:04:20.200 least amount of development, the least amount of disturbance, where 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:25.000 you have intact migratory corridors, not just terrestrial corridors were 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:28.440 big game migrate from winter range to summer range, but 0:04:28.920 --> 0:04:33.599 intact aquatic corridors too, so so Anadramus species can swim 0:04:33.640 --> 0:04:37.000 from the ocean and UH comingto tributaries and creeks to 0:04:37.080 --> 0:04:40.839 spawn every year. And UH, salm and steelhead are incredibly 0:04:40.839 --> 0:04:43.479 important to the Northwest. And I think that that vision 0:04:43.480 --> 0:04:47.599 around the Oregon camp fire, you know, fed into what 0:04:47.640 --> 0:04:52.240 we've become now, which is a robust organization that just 0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:55.440 clipped twenty dues paying members. We have over two hundred 0:04:55.480 --> 0:04:59.919 fifty thousand members and supporters that are with us online, 0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:05.039 social media and giving us money every year. And UH 0:05:05.120 --> 0:05:08.000 we had our our board meetings started today with our 0:05:08.080 --> 0:05:11.200 national Board of Directors and UH and Ben, I think 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:15.080 you know that adding the chapters that we did today, 0:05:15.480 --> 0:05:17.760 you know, bumped us up to the representation of thirty 0:05:17.839 --> 0:05:21.280 nine states in the United States plus two Canadian provinces 0:05:21.279 --> 0:05:25.719 Alberta and British Columbia's. And I wasn't around the camp 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:29.000 fire myself back in two thousand four, but I smelled 0:05:29.000 --> 0:05:30.839 the smoke and I came running as fast as I 0:05:30.880 --> 0:05:35.159 possibly could. And UH I joined the Colorado Chapter leadership 0:05:35.200 --> 0:05:37.600 shortly after they were formed. And then I was asked 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:40.520 to join the National Board of Directors and I served 0:05:40.520 --> 0:05:45.960 there for about five years, and UH helped lead the 0:05:45.960 --> 0:05:49.280 search committee for the hiring of Lantani, who's the President 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:53.760 CEO now. And for me, it's um it's really amazing 0:05:53.800 --> 0:05:56.719 to look back and reflect on where we were. Even 0:05:56.760 --> 0:05:59.120 when I came into the organization where we didn't have 0:05:59.160 --> 0:06:05.080 any professionals half UH, we were scrambling together the foundation 0:06:05.200 --> 0:06:08.160 and the structure of what a real organization could be, 0:06:08.520 --> 0:06:11.920 you know, developing by laws and starting to raise money 0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:15.800 to hire staff. And and when we hired Land Taani 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:21.200 really catapulted the organization forward with UH someone at the 0:06:21.200 --> 0:06:23.840 helm leading the charge. And and if if you if 0:06:23.880 --> 0:06:26.800 you know Land and many of the listeners of your 0:06:26.800 --> 0:06:31.800 podcast probably do. He's uh, he's really outspoken. Uh, he's 0:06:31.839 --> 0:06:34.039 got a fire in his belly, and he really just 0:06:34.080 --> 0:06:36.600 inspires and motivate. It's not just the staff and the 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:39.160 people around him on a day to day basis. And 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:40.760 if you see him out on the stump at ah 0:06:40.960 --> 0:06:43.080 one of our pint nights or something like that, you 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:46.560 can feel the emotion and fire and spirit. And I 0:06:46.600 --> 0:06:51.039 think he is sort of feeding on what all of 0:06:51.040 --> 0:06:54.120 our members and supporters feel about b h A. And 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:58.719 he is the uh, the personification of the movement that 0:06:58.800 --> 0:07:00.880 b h A has become. And I think all of 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:05.120 our people have that same fire and passion. And I 0:07:05.120 --> 0:07:08.400 think it's because b h A is not afraid to 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:11.000 say the right thing, even when it's the unpopular thing 0:07:11.040 --> 0:07:15.320 to say. We tackle tough conservation issues and we wait 0:07:15.400 --> 0:07:19.640 into them with a pragmatic approach that uses science and 0:07:19.680 --> 0:07:24.120 reason rather than emotion and conjecture, and and we uh, 0:07:24.200 --> 0:07:27.720 we don't second guess any decision that is for the 0:07:27.720 --> 0:07:30.720 benefit of fishing wildlife and hunting and fishing opportunities in 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:33.960 the future of our traditions and an outdoor heritage. And 0:07:34.000 --> 0:07:37.679 I think walking the line with that type of integrity 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:40.320 helps us make sure that we're always on the right 0:07:40.360 --> 0:07:42.920 side and we're always making the right decisions. Yeah, I mean, 0:07:43.360 --> 0:07:46.160 you know we in the conservation community. I mean there's 0:07:46.200 --> 0:07:48.280 as you said, there's groups that are focused on just 0:07:48.360 --> 0:07:52.400 hel or just turkeys, or any number of issues. Because 0:07:52.640 --> 0:07:55.440 you're well aware that there's a myriad of issues in 0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:58.320 this conservation lexicon that we could talk about. Right, we 0:07:58.320 --> 0:08:01.920 can focus on we can focus on legislation or you know, 0:08:02.000 --> 0:08:04.880 really uber specific politics, or we can talk about habitat, 0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:07.280 or we can talk about but the but the one 0:08:07.360 --> 0:08:09.800 shining star and all that is public lands because it's 0:08:10.040 --> 0:08:13.160 it's an enduring ideal more than it is just that 0:08:14.080 --> 0:08:16.040 a tangible thing you can go walk on and hunt 0:08:16.040 --> 0:08:18.480 on and fish on. I think that's to me, that's 0:08:18.480 --> 0:08:22.280 why b h A has become what it's become. And 0:08:22.360 --> 0:08:25.120 for people that don't you know, inside the the lex 0:08:25.200 --> 0:08:27.240 kind of of conservation, I think b h A has 0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:32.800 become this youthful, energetic, purposeful energy organization that's that's done 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:36.640 and its membership one, but also just in its you know, 0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:40.920 public relations and it's forward facing voice, it's become something 0:08:40.960 --> 0:08:45.679 different and that's why it's interesting not to say that 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:47.640 Ducks Unlimited or n W T F or R M 0:08:47.640 --> 0:08:50.000 E F are old and the way they do things, 0:08:50.320 --> 0:08:54.160 but they're older and they have established ways of being 0:08:54.240 --> 0:08:57.000 and ways of talking and ways of doing that. B 0:08:57.240 --> 0:08:59.760 h A was able to break the mold on what 0:08:59.800 --> 0:09:02.160 do you attribute that breaking the mold to land in 0:09:02.200 --> 0:09:04.480 some way or just the idea of what public lands 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:07.439 are well, I think, uh, one, we we've learned a 0:09:07.480 --> 0:09:10.400 lot from our partners. You named several of them, and 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:13.920 we worked really closely with them, and they're uh, they're 0:09:13.920 --> 0:09:16.839 sort of legacy leaders in the conservation space, and so 0:09:17.080 --> 0:09:20.480 many of us that helped grow and and start b 0:09:20.679 --> 0:09:23.400 h A. We're actually working for many of those partner 0:09:23.480 --> 0:09:26.480 organizations at the time, and and we loved who we 0:09:26.480 --> 0:09:29.040 were working for and why we were there, but we 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:33.120 also saw the opportunity to grow something new, something different, 0:09:33.240 --> 0:09:37.200 something that was um an experiment in some ways, like 0:09:37.280 --> 0:09:40.400 could we try something new and something different? And I 0:09:40.440 --> 0:09:45.160 feel like the sportsman's community needed something different too, right 0:09:45.280 --> 0:09:49.280 Like we're working closely with state agencies all over the country, 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:53.720 and probably the single most greatest priority for state agencies 0:09:54.240 --> 0:09:57.719 is recruitment of new hunters and anglers, people that are 0:09:57.720 --> 0:10:01.000 buying hunting and fishing licenses by in gear and equipment 0:10:01.120 --> 0:10:04.840 that UH support excise tax dollars, that are supporting state 0:10:04.920 --> 0:10:08.079 agency management budgets for fishing and wildlife management. These are 0:10:08.120 --> 0:10:11.400 really important revenue streams that UH a lot of us 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:15.160 are concerned about. And so we have that important recruitment 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:18.640 UH component. We also need to be retaining existing hunters 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:23.079 and anglers and re engaging ones that may have hunted 0:10:23.080 --> 0:10:26.080 and fished in the past but for whatever reason stopped 0:10:26.200 --> 0:10:29.160 and and so I think part of what we're trying 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:31.520 to do is create enthusiasm around hunting and fishing again, 0:10:31.600 --> 0:10:34.120 like like, let's make it fun, Let's make it exciting, 0:10:34.160 --> 0:10:37.560 let's make it accessible. And so we're taking a little 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:42.400 bit different approach one UH. Certainly Land Spirit and and 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:45.840 the organization's ability to to reach out to young people 0:10:46.600 --> 0:10:50.520 is is I think mostly attributed to our approach in 0:10:50.679 --> 0:10:53.439 meeting people where they're at. If you want to reach 0:10:53.520 --> 0:10:57.959 young people and you want to bring in um diversity 0:10:58.200 --> 0:11:02.240 of of audiences and can stuents into your organization, you've 0:11:02.240 --> 0:11:03.960 got to find out what they respond to, what do 0:11:04.000 --> 0:11:05.760 they care about, where did they like to get their 0:11:05.800 --> 0:11:07.760 information and what do they like to do in their 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:11.680 free time? If you can make people fired up to 0:11:11.800 --> 0:11:14.760 come to your organization because they would have done something 0:11:14.840 --> 0:11:17.920 similar in their free time anyways, and you can make 0:11:17.920 --> 0:11:21.160 that about hunting and fishing and fishing wildlife conservation, and 0:11:21.240 --> 0:11:24.040 that makes sense. You know, we're doing things like hosting 0:11:24.120 --> 0:11:28.040 pint nights where we're coming together and uh and having 0:11:28.080 --> 0:11:31.200 some beers. We're having good times. We're talking about important issues. 0:11:31.240 --> 0:11:36.560 But I think that uh some groups have uh moved 0:11:36.840 --> 0:11:40.320 beyond that important social connection with some of their members 0:11:40.440 --> 0:11:44.760 and supporters. And for us, we're putting that forward as 0:11:44.840 --> 0:11:49.120 the means to uh engage and educate and bring people 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:52.040 into the tent and be a part of who we 0:11:52.080 --> 0:11:54.720 are and get them excited about what we stand for. 0:11:55.040 --> 0:11:57.880 And then by talking about issues that they care about, 0:11:57.960 --> 0:12:02.200 then we're resonating their interest areas and we're you know, 0:12:02.200 --> 0:12:05.120 I have a kind of values based proposition that says, hey, 0:12:05.200 --> 0:12:06.800 let's go out and have a great time together. Let's 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:09.240 go hunting and fishing together, and let's talk about ways 0:12:09.280 --> 0:12:11.560 to make sure that hunting and fishing stays great for 0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:14.679 the generations that follow us and and tying that all 0:12:14.720 --> 0:12:18.320 together in a way that uh makes sense to you 0:12:18.360 --> 0:12:22.720 know that quick you know, vastly growing demographic is is 0:12:22.760 --> 0:12:25.439 I think the most important and the other piece I'll 0:12:25.440 --> 0:12:27.720 add to this, other than the social aspect of just 0:12:28.040 --> 0:12:30.560 you know, going out having beers and having fun. I 0:12:30.600 --> 0:12:34.280 think people are excited that b H as an organization 0:12:34.320 --> 0:12:37.400 that's able to move quickly and be nimble and decisive. 0:12:37.760 --> 0:12:41.280 And uh we also do a great job of empowering 0:12:41.280 --> 0:12:44.760 our volunteer leaders are chapter leaders v h as. Chapters 0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:48.120 are the the core and the lifeblood of who we are. 0:12:48.160 --> 0:12:50.600 We have a boots on the ground mantra. We work 0:12:50.600 --> 0:12:54.240 where we have people, and we let people lead. We 0:12:54.320 --> 0:12:57.480 give them jobs to do. I think people are frustrated 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:00.960 by some organizations that uh, um, you know, don't have 0:13:01.000 --> 0:13:02.440 a job for them to do. Like they want to 0:13:02.440 --> 0:13:04.400 go be a part of something and be active with something. 0:13:04.960 --> 0:13:07.760 And certainly we have some people that that like sitting 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:09.640 on a board and they like having the board title 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:12.360 and and that's great. You know, we need people of 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:15.320 all stripes. We need people to give us UH philanthropic 0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:20.480 capacity in addition to UH sweat capacity and working with 0:13:20.559 --> 0:13:23.480 us on the ground and helping us engage in meaningful 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:26.760 conservation issues. But I think the fact that we UH 0:13:26.880 --> 0:13:29.880 do give people jobs and we have this really you know, 0:13:29.960 --> 0:13:32.960 fantastic model that's starting to grow with many of our 0:13:33.040 --> 0:13:36.800 chapters of you know, setting up habitat watchmen. Where do 0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:40.440 you let someone be the guardian of the habitat that 0:13:40.559 --> 0:13:42.560 they care the most about, you know, whether that's where 0:13:42.600 --> 0:13:44.560 they live or where they hunt and fish. You know, 0:13:44.600 --> 0:13:46.800 they get on the schedules of proposed action for the 0:13:46.880 --> 0:13:49.840 National Forest Service, they go to the BLM meetings, they 0:13:49.880 --> 0:13:53.600 go to their regional state Fish and Wildlife Management Agency meetings, 0:13:53.880 --> 0:13:55.440 and there are sort of the eyes and ears for 0:13:55.480 --> 0:13:57.640 their part of the state. And then they work together 0:13:57.720 --> 0:13:59.840 with other habitat watchman at the state level and they 0:13:59.840 --> 0:14:02.080 have val wait what they think are the most important 0:14:02.080 --> 0:14:04.360 priorities for them to focus on that at the state level. 0:14:05.000 --> 0:14:08.240 And that makes b h A unique in that we're 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:12.240 able to show up to Washington, d C. And engage 0:14:12.240 --> 0:14:16.320 actively in federal and congressional issues while bringing that boots 0:14:16.320 --> 0:14:19.200 on the ground perspective. We're we're really emerging those two 0:14:19.240 --> 0:14:22.000 together and operating as as one. B h A from 0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:23.960 the ground all the way up, and I think that 0:14:24.040 --> 0:14:26.840 people appreciate that type of model two and that's another 0:14:26.880 --> 0:14:29.600 reason why we're attracting so much interest. Yeah, and I 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:31.280 think that's a lot of That's why I wanted to 0:14:31.280 --> 0:14:33.360 have yawn. And even when I originally thought about this, 0:14:33.440 --> 0:14:35.640 I thought, one, I want people to know what b 0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:39.400 h A really is or you know, how b j 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:42.920 A speaks, how it looks in general, and away from 0:14:42.960 --> 0:14:46.120 just social media channels and emails and websites and policies 0:14:46.120 --> 0:14:47.520 and things of that nature. I mean, I think the 0:14:47.560 --> 0:14:51.720 personalities of these organizations are as important as the actions 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:53.760 of the organization. So that's one reason I want to 0:14:53.760 --> 0:14:56.040 have you on. But the other one is I think 0:14:56.080 --> 0:14:59.880 when certain public land and access issues and conservation issues 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:03.920 them up, b h is seen as a leader, a voice, 0:15:04.360 --> 0:15:07.160 someone who can set the precedent for which direction we 0:15:07.200 --> 0:15:10.280 should go right. So, for example, National Monuments has been 0:15:10.280 --> 0:15:13.000 a big one. People are looking to b h A, 0:15:13.080 --> 0:15:15.760 looking at yourself and looking to land and looking to 0:15:15.960 --> 0:15:18.840 Ryan Busty, the chairman of the board, to help mold 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:22.640 the conversation. You know, guys like Steve Ronella and Remy Warren. 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:25.200 These guys are helping fuel the conversation. But I think 0:15:25.520 --> 0:15:27.920 I even personally look to b h A to to 0:15:28.040 --> 0:15:31.120 help me understand what it should be important to me 0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:35.120 and within the prism of of public lands, what I 0:15:35.160 --> 0:15:37.520 know I already care about. You know, I have the tenants. 0:15:37.600 --> 0:15:40.280 I'm looking for BHA to kind of guide those tenants 0:15:40.480 --> 0:15:43.200 and educate me on on that. And I think that's 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:45.760 what you can provide to anybody listeners to this. So 0:15:45.800 --> 0:15:49.040 I want to go through a pretty not exhaustive but 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:52.480 just kind of roll through. If you care about public lands, 0:15:53.240 --> 0:15:55.640 here's what you kind of need to know about the future, 0:15:56.920 --> 0:15:59.680 what's happening currently, and then what will happen in in 0:15:59.760 --> 0:16:03.440 the future. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Um and if you know, 0:16:03.520 --> 0:16:04.920 if you want me to, I'm happy to touch on 0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:07.880 some some pieces of legislation that I think that hunters 0:16:07.920 --> 0:16:10.680 and English should be paying attention to and and aware 0:16:10.720 --> 0:16:13.400 of and uh in ways to engage it. And first 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:16.200 I'll say that, you know, while I hope that people 0:16:16.240 --> 0:16:18.440 continue to join b h A and and even you know, 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:20.960 listeners of this podcast, you know, look us up and 0:16:21.040 --> 0:16:23.960 check us out, I think the most important thing that 0:16:24.000 --> 0:16:26.200 any hunter and angler can do is find a group 0:16:26.240 --> 0:16:30.480 that speaks their language, whether it's my organization or one 0:16:30.520 --> 0:16:33.400 of our partner groups. I think it's important to find 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:36.520 an organization that speaks your language and and become a 0:16:36.560 --> 0:16:40.440 member of that organization give them your money. There's tons 0:16:40.480 --> 0:16:43.880 of organizations doing great work in this space, and and 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:47.000 if you care about trout fishing only, then you should 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:49.760 definitely go join Trout Unlimited. But I hope you'll become 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:52.360 a member of back Country Hunters and Anglers too, um 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:55.160 and realize the value of being a part of an 0:16:55.200 --> 0:16:58.760 organization that also cares about trout and salmon species and 0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:02.560 cold water fisheries, but also so big game species and uh, 0:17:02.640 --> 0:17:06.280 fair chase and public access and opportunity and things like that. 0:17:07.320 --> 0:17:10.720 I think the reason why it's important for organizations like 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:13.000 ours to be collaborative and work with other groups is 0:17:13.080 --> 0:17:17.120 because there are specialties out there, and sometimes you need 0:17:17.200 --> 0:17:20.879 specialized organizations that bring expertise into an area. And b 0:17:21.119 --> 0:17:24.160 h A prides itself on our expertise with regards to 0:17:24.160 --> 0:17:27.320 to public lands and waters and public access and opportunity 0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:31.879 and fair chase hunting principles. But you know, we definitely 0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:34.200 lean on some of our partner groups to help fill 0:17:34.280 --> 0:17:36.919 the gaps and provide you know, policy expertise where we 0:17:36.960 --> 0:17:39.560 need it. And and I think that's the beauty of 0:17:39.680 --> 0:17:41.560 a group like b h A. Like we can convene 0:17:41.600 --> 0:17:44.520 people and bring people together, but we also reach out 0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:47.280 to other organizations. So i'd first tell people to to 0:17:47.320 --> 0:17:50.600 find an organization that they like and and give them money, 0:17:50.960 --> 0:17:54.600 become a member, and become active in what they're doing. Um. 0:17:54.640 --> 0:17:56.520 You know. The second thing that I think is is 0:17:56.560 --> 0:18:00.480 really important is to whether you've never gauge in a 0:18:00.560 --> 0:18:03.000 civic way or not, whether that's at the local level 0:18:03.000 --> 0:18:06.080 with your state legislature or decisions happening in your in 0:18:06.119 --> 0:18:12.080 your county or your municipality. Even members of Congress still 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:14.640 have to go home and face the people that vote 0:18:14.640 --> 0:18:17.000 them into office in the first place. They're still supposed 0:18:17.040 --> 0:18:23.720 to be representing who their home state folks have uh 0:18:23.800 --> 0:18:25.760 an interesting like what issues they have an interest in, 0:18:25.800 --> 0:18:28.800 It's their job to represent those interests. So I think 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:32.359 people should remember that their job is to represent the 0:18:32.400 --> 0:18:34.720 interests of their state, and they can't know what the 0:18:34.800 --> 0:18:37.600 interests in their state are unless you tell them about it. 0:18:37.640 --> 0:18:39.480 And so part of what would b h A is 0:18:39.560 --> 0:18:44.000 doing is providing information to our members and supporters, trying 0:18:44.000 --> 0:18:46.520 to educate them on issues that we think are most important, 0:18:46.920 --> 0:18:49.080 so that they'll start making those phone calls, so they'll 0:18:49.119 --> 0:18:52.520 start taking actions, so they'll use their social media platforms 0:18:52.560 --> 0:18:56.720 to to post on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and 0:18:56.800 --> 0:19:01.000 whatever spaces they're into. I really advance, you know, conservation 0:19:01.000 --> 0:19:03.320 priorities that we think are important, and you know, just 0:19:04.000 --> 0:19:07.200 we're we're halfway through the year almost um here, coming 0:19:07.240 --> 0:19:10.320 into springtime, and two thousand and eighteen is an interesting 0:19:10.400 --> 0:19:13.440 year where we have a mid term election coming up 0:19:13.440 --> 0:19:17.560 in November, so members of Congress or battling to keep 0:19:17.560 --> 0:19:20.320 their seats. So we've got new people trying to come 0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:23.760 in and establish themselves in Congress. You've got a number 0:19:23.800 --> 0:19:26.720 of Senate seats they're open, and so I think there 0:19:26.920 --> 0:19:29.720 is a will on both sides of the aisle to 0:19:29.760 --> 0:19:32.960 start moving legislation that's meaningful. We just uh passed a 0:19:33.000 --> 0:19:37.240 federal omnibus package for two thousand eighteen funding fiscal year 0:19:37.240 --> 0:19:41.080 two thousand and eighteen funding and included great things for conservation. 0:19:41.400 --> 0:19:45.120 We had re authorization for the Federal Lands Transaction Facilitation Act, 0:19:45.160 --> 0:19:48.720 which is a modified land exchange program that that helps 0:19:49.440 --> 0:19:52.280 create new access and opportunity on on public land and 0:19:52.760 --> 0:19:56.000 UH management efficiencies for fish and wildlife management. And and 0:19:56.040 --> 0:19:59.080 we were able to UH work with congressional leaders to 0:19:59.280 --> 0:20:05.200 fix wildfire borrowing issues so that agency UH budgets going 0:20:05.240 --> 0:20:08.480 forward can put their money where it matters the most 0:20:08.480 --> 0:20:10.960 in in terms of active management on the ground and 0:20:10.960 --> 0:20:14.680 putting resources where they need it instead of having really 0:20:14.680 --> 0:20:18.560 expensive wildfire disasters come and raid those budgets so that 0:20:18.640 --> 0:20:20.800 they don't have them available to do those important things 0:20:20.840 --> 0:20:23.439 that help enhance away. Our public lands are managed, but 0:20:23.480 --> 0:20:25.119 there are things that are looming out in front of 0:20:25.160 --> 0:20:27.080 us still that haven't been done yet that I think 0:20:27.119 --> 0:20:29.439 are really important for us to focus on. We have 0:20:29.520 --> 0:20:32.520 the Land and Water Conservation Fund. If you don't know 0:20:32.560 --> 0:20:36.240 what that is, it's a program that takes offshore oil 0:20:36.280 --> 0:20:41.560 and gas development royalties. UH uses those revenues, which don't 0:20:41.560 --> 0:20:46.000 rely on taxpayer dollars at all, sets them aside into 0:20:46.400 --> 0:20:50.760 a fund that Congress is authorized to appropriate to UH 0:20:50.840 --> 0:20:54.480 special projects. These projects have touched every single state and 0:20:54.520 --> 0:20:58.359 every single county in the country. They've done fantastic things 0:20:58.400 --> 0:21:02.800 like acquisition for fishing access sites in Montana. If you're 0:21:02.880 --> 0:21:05.280 using a public access site in Montana to go fishing 0:21:05.320 --> 0:21:07.399 or put your boat in. It was probably paid for 0:21:07.480 --> 0:21:11.200 by the Land of Water Conservation Fund. It has paid 0:21:11.240 --> 0:21:15.159 for the acquisition of wetland habitats, creating public access for 0:21:15.200 --> 0:21:19.880 waterfowl hunters. It's done really great things with big game 0:21:19.880 --> 0:21:23.520 migratory migratory corridors. You mentioned the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation earlier. 0:21:23.920 --> 0:21:28.680 They really pioneered, UH the model for using LWCF dollars 0:21:28.720 --> 0:21:34.040 to expand elk habitat and and look at checkerboard ownership 0:21:34.080 --> 0:21:40.000 situations where you have opportunities to consolidate habitat into more 0:21:40.080 --> 0:21:43.720 connected migratory corridors. And so you know, Army f doing 0:21:43.760 --> 0:21:47.680 great work in that space. And states and local municipalities 0:21:47.680 --> 0:21:51.200 are using LWCF dollars for things like baseball fields and 0:21:51.720 --> 0:21:56.200 UH public recreation facilities, UH in rural places where funding 0:21:56.280 --> 0:21:59.160 is limited and the tax base isn't there to support 0:21:59.200 --> 0:22:02.639 that type of outdoor recreation. So llp CF is just 0:22:02.680 --> 0:22:06.440 a really cool program that is supported by both Republicans 0:22:06.480 --> 0:22:11.040 and Democrats. Yet the gridlock in Congress has prevented it 0:22:11.160 --> 0:22:15.240 from becoming permanently reauthorized. We were throwing a three year lifeline. 0:22:15.359 --> 0:22:19.399 Three years ago, we UH were up to expire again 0:22:19.720 --> 0:22:22.480 in UH the end of September. And so one of 0:22:22.800 --> 0:22:25.200 the biggest priorities for b h A and and many 0:22:25.200 --> 0:22:27.960 other organizations out there is to permanently reauthorize the Land 0:22:27.960 --> 0:22:31.240 and Water Conservation Fund and to create a dedicated funding 0:22:31.240 --> 0:22:33.840 stream for it so that we don't have to worry 0:22:33.840 --> 0:22:37.840 about Congress appropriating funding to it. The funds will be 0:22:37.880 --> 0:22:41.440 there in a dedicated fund and available to UH put 0:22:41.440 --> 0:22:44.639