BLM Decision Will Maintain Safeguards for 28 Million Acres of Public Lands in Alaska
The agency’s recommendation would conserve valuable habitat for salmon, caribou, moose, and Dall sheep
Today, the Bureau of Land Management moved to retain conservation safeguards on 28 million acres of public lands in Alaska, including large swaths of intact fish and wildlife habitat that offer world-class hunting and fishing opportunities.
“We welcome the BLM’s intent to maintain conservation measures that have stood for decades on these public lands in Alaska,” said Jen Leahy, Alaska senior program manager for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “We urge the BLM to finalize this decision in a timely manner so hunters and anglers don’t have to worry about these incredible public hunting and fishing grounds being privatized and developed.”
The 28 million acres encompassed in the decision includes important winter range for the Western Arctic Caribou Herd, one of Alaska’s largest caribou herds, and renowned hunting and fishing habitat in other areas of the state, including Bristol Bay—home to the world’s most prolific sockeye salmon fishery—and moose country in the Yukon and Kuskokwim watersheds. Alaska’s “D-1” public lands are also adjacent to many celebrated and remote rivers that anglers and hunters enjoy floating.
The TRCP is your no-B.S. 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.
BLM Decision Will Prevent Proposed Ambler Road in Alaska’s Brooks Range
The agency’s record of decision maintains America’s most wild and remote hunting and fishing grounds
Today, the Bureau of Land Management released its Record of Decision that will prevent the proposed Ambler Industrial Road in Alaska’s Brooks Range.
“Today’s decision is a victory for the local residents, Alaska Native Tribes, and the more than 14,000 conservation-minded hunters and anglers from across the country who championed for the enduring, wild qualities of the Brooks Range,” said Jen Leahy, Alaska senior program manager for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “We thank the BLM for recognizing the importance of these public lands to hunters and anglers, and for basing this critical decision on the best available science and robust public engagement.”
The ROD follows the agency’s final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, released April 19, in which the BLM selected the “No Action” alternative indicating the agency’s intent to prevent the proposed industrial corridor.
Known as the Ambler Road, the proposed private industrial corridor has received national opposition. The 211-mile corridor would have partially bisected the home range of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd, one of Alaska’s largest herds.
Caribou from the Western Arctic Herd. Photo Courtesy of Jim Dau.
“The recent decision to deny the proposed Ambler Road permit is an unequivocal win for the declining Western Arctic Caribou Herd that will keep, at least temporarily, its home range intact,” said Jim Dau, retired Western Arctic Caribou Herd biologist with Alaska Department of Fish & Game. “Caribou rarely use their entire range in any one year; however, over the course of decades, they use – and need – their entire range. This is increasingly important in a rapidly warming Arctic. What’s good for caribou is also good for the people who value or depend on them.”
“This decision is a great step toward ensuring that current and future generations have the opportunity to experience this majestic, unbroken landscape,” said Lewis Pagel, owner of Arctic Fishing Adventures in Kotzebue, Alaska. “The Brooks Range truly is a place like no other.”
The project would have also crossed 11 major rivers and required nearly 3,000 stream crossings, degrading habitat and potentially impeding fish passage for important subsistence and sportfishing species such as sheefish.
Angler with sheefish. Photo courtesy of Greg Halbach.
“Brooks Range rivers will remain remote and wild because of this decision,” said fly fishing guide Greg Halbach of Remote Waters in Anchorage, Alaska. “We needed hunters and anglers from all over the country to speak out against the Ambler Road and they did. Because of this collective effort, I will continue to have the privilege and opportunity to immerse my clients in a wild landscape unlike any other.”
The proposed Ambler Road prompted strong resistance from the hunting and fishing community. In 2023, more than 40 Alaska-based businesses, leading outdoor brands, and conservation organizations launched Hunters & Anglers for the Brooks Range. The collective—which includes guides, outfitters, and transporters who operate in the Brooks Range—urged the BLM to deny the permit for the private industrial corridor. To date, the coalition has delivered more than 14,000 individual letters to the agency opposing the Ambler Road.
“With this victory comes a renewed sense of commitment from the hunting and fishing community to safeguard America’s most remote hunting and fishing grounds.”
Jen Leahy, Alaska senior program manager for the TRCP
As expected, development interests have wasted no time attacking the BLM’s decision. Ambler Road proponents have reportedly included an amendment in the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act that would rescind the BLM’s decision and force the Department of the Interior to permit the Ambler Road. This effort will be met with strong resistance as conservation-minded hunters and anglers defend the BLM’s decision.
“With this victory comes a renewed sense of commitment from the hunting and fishing community to safeguard America’s most remote hunting and fishing grounds,” said Leahy. “The Brooks Range is a treasured destination for hunters and anglers, and we will stand guard to defend this iconic and wild landscape from emerging and future threats.”
Learn more about Hunters & Anglers for the Brooks Range HERE.
The TRCP is your no-B.S. 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.
“The America’s Conservation Enhancement Reauthorization Act will benefit fish and wildlife while enhancing outdoor recreation opportunities for millions of hunters and anglers,” said Becky Humphries, CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, “TRCP applauds Representatives Wittman, Kiggans, Dingell, and Thompson for their leadership on this important bipartisan legislation and we look forward to building on the success of these crucial conservation programs through increased funding levels that will benefit our sporting traditions for years to come.”
The original ACE Act was passed in 2020 and sponsored by Representatives Wittman and Thompson. Many of its authorizations will expire in 2025, necessitating the passage of the ACE Reauthorization Act to ensure these vital conservation programs can continue to operate in good legal standing.
The legislation is endorsed by the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Ducks Unlimited, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, the National Wildlife Federation, American Sportfishing Association, the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and the National Audubon Society.
The TRCP looks forward to working with the House of Representatives to ensure that this essential legislation for hunters and anglers reflects the authorization increases in the Senate version and becomes law.
TRCP works to maintain and strengthen the future of hunting and fishing by uniting and amplifying our partners’ voices in conserving and restoring wildlife populations and their habitat as challenges continue to evolve.
The new GMUG Forests Plan sets the guidelines that Forest Service staff must follow when planning and managing for multiple uses across over 3 million acres of national forest in southwest Colorado. This new plan enables the Forest Service to utilize the most up to date science to inform multiple-use management decisions, such as wildlife habitat improvement projects, timber harvest, road and trail development, off road vehicle use, fire mitigation, wildfire response, and disease management.
“The TRCP joins Colorado’s hunters and anglers in thanking the Forest Service for establishing 823,000 acres of Wildlife Management Areas and adding Rocky Mountain and Desert Bighorn sheep to the GMUG’s list of Species of Conservation Concern,” said Liz Rose, Colorado field representative for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “These concrete management priorities will ensure the big game species that rely on the Forests are conserved.”
Within the new WMAs, Forest staff must consider wildlife habitat function and connectivity when making management decisions. In an attempt to minimize habitat loss and provide a minimum threshold of security habitat for big game and other wildlife, the final plan has set a cap on the total miles of Forest Service roads and trails that can be built within each WMA. Establishing a total route density limit for WMAs is valuable to influence future project-level decisions that prevent road and trail construction through the most sensitive habitats, ensuring that habitat connectivity and function remains at the forefront of management considerations.
“I’d like to personally thank TRCP members and supporters who attended public meetings and submitted comments to the USFS regarding the GMUG Forests Plan revision during the scoping period in 2017, on the draft plan in 2019, and during the objection period in 2023,” continued Rose. “Taking action and describing our collective values and priorities to federal agency staff is an integral part of the planning process.”
These WMAs also set a valuable precedent for other relevant forests within Colorado and the West on how to plan responsible, multiple-use management that conserves the most sensitive big game habitats.
“We encourage other Forests to build on lessons learned to establish productive WMAs elsewhere that will capitalize on the growing body of science related to minimizing disturbance to big game and maximizing habitat connectivity and function so herds remain healthy and stable,” concluded Rose.
The TRCP is your no-B.S. 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.
The Secret Is Out, Now It’s Time to Speak Up for Eastern Idaho’s Wildlife and Habitat
With the region’s population increasing, this is hunter’s and angler’s best chance to help shape future land use plans
Eastern Idaho is a place where a morning elk hunt can give way to an afternoon chasing sharp-tail grouse and conclude with an evening casting to rising brown trout on one of the region’s world-famous rivers.
The region known as the High Divide spans from the Salmon-Challis National Forest in the north to Yellowstone National Park in the east. It includes four Bureau of Land Management field offices and the entirety of the Caribou-Targhee National Forest that stretches from Montana to Utah along Idaho’s eastern border. The region is rich with world-class hunts for mule deer, elk, pronghorn, moose, goat, and sheep. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has mapped 29 deer, elk, and pronghorn migrations that cross into eastern Idaho. (16 mule deer, 11 elk and two pronghorn migrations). It is also home to sage grouse, dusky and ruffed grouse, sharp-tails, and several species of waterfowl. Throw in salmon and steelhead runs that churn up the Salmon River annually and the trophy trout fishing on the Henry’s Fork and South Fork of the Snake River, the bounty these wild, working lands provide makes it one of the premier hunting and fishing locations in America.
Before you convict me of spot-burning, understand that the secret of eastern Idaho’s impressive recreation offerings is out, and the region’s population is growing like antlers in June because of these qualities. Since 2020, the state has added on average 38,600 people annually – many of them landing in eastern Idaho. Population research – and anecdotal conversations daily at the grocery store or the neighborhood park – shows that newcomers come to the Gem State to secure proximity to the outdoors. Whether they want to be closer to Yellowstone, expand mountain bike playgrounds in the Tetons, or explore the Lemhi Mountains in an off-road vehicle, increased recreation use of the region’s 10.5 million acres of public ground is putting a new and impactful strain on our fish and wildlife and their habitat.
This issue provides hunters and anglers with an opportunity to speak up for the habitats and animals that we enjoy and pursue. In the coming years, public land managers of our National Forests and Bureau of Land Management acres are anticipated to begin updating decades-old land use plans, and they will request public comment when they do. The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership is here to help you engage in these upcoming comment periods, and we currently support grassroot conservation collaborations, such as the Targhee Forest Collaborative, that are actively meeting now to discuss how to address forest and recreation management issues.
The map above highlights the High Divide region. Many big game migration routes in the region have been identified, but there are many that have yet to be researched. Hunters must speak up to ensure biologists have the support they need to conduct this important research and to advocate for land managers to responsibly steward the region’s public lands.
Outdoor recreation such as the increased biking, OHV usage, and overall growth in the number of public land users serves as an important economic opportunity for many rural communities within this region, but we must thoughtfully update management plans to ensure our fish and wildlife continue to have the intact and connected habitats they need to complete their daily and seasonal movements and birthing and rearing cycles. It will take a prolonged effort to shape public land use plans so they are both smart about recreation growth and the needs of wildlife, and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership will be present and active at every step.
Idaho hunters and anglers must be active participants in conserving the quality hunting, fishing, and wildlife of the region. As mentioned above, one group you can join now is the nascent Targhee Forest Collaborative. This diverse group of citizens and government officials represent specific interests and meet regularly to find resolutions to the complex issues facing natural resource management on the forest. Sportspeople like you must have a seat at the table. Such topics include conserving documented migration routes for big game near St. Anthony, constructing wildlife-friendly infrastructure near Rocky Point to help mule deer cross a hazardous highway to access both winter and summer ranges, and supporting culvert replacements to help native fish spawn.
While not glamorous, your involvement in the collaborative is the ground game needed to keep our hunting and fishing traditions alive for our children, their children, and their grandchildren. Please join us by reaching out to Rob Thornberry, TRCP’s Idaho field representative at rthornberry@trcp.org.
To learn more about TRCP’s work in the Pacific Northwest, visit our PNW webpage.
The TRCP is your no-B.S. 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.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
For more than twenty years, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership has been at the forefront of conservation, working diligently on behalf of America’s hunters and anglers to ensure America’s legacy of habitat management and access is protected and advanced. Your tax-deductible donation will help TRCP continue its mission, allowing you to keep enjoying your favorite outdoor pursuits. Whether those pursuits are on the water or in the field, TRCP has your back, but we can’t do it alone. We invite you to step into the arena with us and donate today!
