I am sure we have all heard about the threats facing our beloved public lands.  These are the places you and I have been making precious memories for years.  That first time you heard a bull bugling during the month of September and how it sent shivers down your spine.  How you watched a black bear meticulously pick acorns off of a tree or bush.  The first time you watched an arrow sail into the vitals of your quarry.  These are just examples of some of the things that you might have witnessed while out and about on public land.  If we didn’t have public lands or access to them, I seriously question if I would even be telling you this.

For me, it was like a snowball effect.  My dad began taking me into the outdoors at a very young age.  A lot of it I can’t even remember.  There is a great deal that I can though and that is what landed me where I am today.  If it weren’t for those special times I had as a kid out hiking around with dad and fishing, who knows if I would have ever grown to appreciate those lands like I do today.  I would have never experienced the adrenaline rush that comes from hearing something meander around outside of your tent at night or the peace and tranquility of sitting out on a remote hillside with my binoculars in true bliss of what laid in front of me.  No honking horns.  No cellphone service.  Just the noise of nature encompassing my every being.

Keep Public Lands in Public Hands

– Backcountry Hunters and Anglers

For everything that public lands and the access to them has given us, it’s our responsibility to fight for them.  Organizations such as Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, to name just a few, are in the business of doing just that.  Conservation groups like the ones above are the ones on the front lines fighting for our rights and making sure we have a future as outdoorsmen/women.  Not to mention securing our heritage that we all hope to pass onto our next of kin.  I want to be able to take my future sons or daughters to where I learned to hunt and teach them about how they can do so.  I want to have the ability to show them where their dad harvested his first black bear and how much of an adventure it was.  The look of utter amazement that they are sure to give at the sight of a majestic bull elk feeding out in a meadow is one that I ultimately look forward to.  Without standing up and showing our support for these great organizations, these things may very well never come to fruition.  If you aren’t a member of a conservation group or groups, consider becoming one.  That $30 dollars you give them every year to help fund their actions is WELL worth the investment.  The thought of looking back and saying, “I should have done this,” is not one that I want be faced with when it comes to keeping public lands public.  Join one or join them all.  Just join.

Joshua Kirchner