As bowhunters, the fight for public land and access never really ends; it just changes shape. Right now, it’s taking the shape of an access and land-use debate as the Senate and White House take steps to roll back restrictions on new road construction and vehicle use on federal lands. This is an important issue as more bowhunters are looking to hunt public land where conflict with other recreationists is minimal. Plus, there’s the impact to habitat and the wild game populations bowhunters have worked so hard to protect over the years. No one’s selling this land off, but that doesn’t mean the access to it, or the wild game that lives on it, doesn’t take a hit in the process.
What started as a simple wildfire protection bill in the Wildfire Prevention Act (S. 140) had a last-minute shift in language thanks to longtime public land enthusiast Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who failed to sell off millions of acres of public land in the 2025 budget after massive backlash from the hunting community. He has long had his eyes set on the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which protects millions of acres of federal lands from new road development among other protections. In a recent Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee vote, Sen. Lee attached an amendment nullifying the Roadless Rule on a party-line vote of 11-9.
All for a bill intended for wildfire protection, even though a 2007 Pacific Biodiversity Institute study says otherwise: 88% of wildfires are human-caused, and 95% of those start within half a mile of a road. Fewer roads mean fewer fires, not the other way around.
This follows the White House’s action from May 29, when President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14408, rescinding two 50-year-old executive orders that governed off-road vehicle use on federal land. Those orders required agencies to weigh things like wildlife disruption and conflicts between user groups before opening land to off-road vehicles. Without the guardrail on vehicle use, the potential for conflicts between hunters and off-roaders, as well as wildlife disturbance, greatly increases.
Neither move bans bowhunting outright. But new roads and more vehicle traffic on public lands mean more contact between hunters and non-hunters, a relationship that’s already tense. There’s a habitat and game impact too. As bowhunters, we’re a major part of wild game management, both financially and in practice, and more roads and vehicles on public land will almost certainly put more pressure on the game living there.
While this isn’t directly related to a hunting ban or public land sales, as bowhunters we must continue to be our own protectors for our access and right to hunt. Public land use is now a major discussion in this country for a variety of interest groups and uses, and it’s important we stay vigilant and active as this discussion evolves. For there to be a threat to bowhunting or our access to it, there doesn’t always have to be a direct sale of land or a hunting ban.
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