To find more information on the BHA, please visit either of these two sites:

As the voice for our wild public lands, waters and wildlife, BHA seeks to ensure North America’s outdoor heritage of hunting and fishing in a natural setting through education and work on behalf of fish, wildlife and wild places. They prioritize three key issues: access and opportunity, public lands and waters, and fair chase. The ways in which they address these spans from local, boots-on-the-ground projects to legislative advocacy at the state and federal levels. We represent the challenge, solitude and adventure that only wild places can provide.

 

Acknowledging the importance that young adults and students play in the future of public lands and our hunting and angling heritage, BHA founded the Collegiate Program in 2015. Through the establishment of formal, university-sanctioned clubs, the program gives college students a foundation to enrich their hunting, angling, and conservation mindset and become active in civic engagement as it relates to public lands, waters, and wildlife. Through the program’s five pillars (community, adventure, stewardship, education/advocacy, and inclusivity) they build local communities of young adults who not only hunt, fish, and enjoy the outdoors, but who are actively involved in the processes that affect access & opportunity, habitat, and fair chase. By connecting students with BHA chapters, they look to combine the sage wisdom of an older generation with the youthful exuberance of the next and foster a new generation of conservation-minded hunters, anglers, and public land advocates. (from BHA Website)

 

The University of Montana BHA club was the program’s first college based program. With Montana’s robust access to public lands and strong hunting and angling culture, various programs were established to help recruit, retain, and reactivate hunters. Acknowledging the many barriers that exist for students when it comes to hunting, the club created a scholarship to help out-of-state students afford their hunting licenses through initial support from a grant obtained through the Patagonia company.

 

In 2018, UM BHA club leaders named the award in Rebecca’s honor as a past member and seeing her as the type of student this scholarship was designed to support. The Rebecca Romero Legacy Hunting award is now supported by the Romero family, Goerz family, and the Montana BHA chapter. Each scholarship recipient goes on to participate with other mentee hunters in the Montana Hunter Mentorship program, where they are paired with a mentor hunter to help them acquire many of the skills needed to plan, and go on a hunt, as well as how to interact with other hunters they will meet in the field.

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Please take a look at our blog to see guest postings on the scholarship recipients' experiences out in the field.

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