Why It Matters: Across the Midwest, public hunting opportunities are particularly limited. Given that the vast proportion of midwestern states are held in private ownership, many sportsmen and women are relegated to hunting state and federal lands that are suffering from increased competition and, as a result, decreasing hunter satisfaction. For the sporting-conservation community, increasing both the quality and quantity of public access (to both public, and private lands) is critical to the future success of hunter R3 efforts.
Highlights:
- Lack of places to hunt is often cited as the primary reason that lapsed sportsmen and women no longer participate in our time-honored outdoor traditions.
- Across the Midwest, public hunting opportunities can be especially limited due to land ownership trends, leading to overcrowding and lower hunter satisfaction.
- Through programs like the Farm Bill’s Voluntary Public Access – Habitat Incentive Program (VPA-HIP), expanded state-level No-Net-Loss provisions, and increased support for public land habitat management, there are opportunities to provide quality opportunities for midwestern sportsmen and women.
Whether the result of actual overcrowding, or the echo-chamber that is often found on online hunting forums, competition among hunters on public lands has seemingly never been greater. In the Midwest, where many states boast that more than 90% of land is held in private ownership, this competition represents a major challenge for the future of hunting. As a result of increased competition, many public land hunters are reporting lower hunter satisfaction, leading to many calls to action designed to remedy the situation.
While non-residents are often the recipient of much of the blame for public land crowding, the problem extends well beyond their presence. Talk to the older generation, and you’ll hear stories of knocking on doors and getting permission to hunt private land with a simple ask and a handshake. While some may still have this luxury today, the business of private leases has slammed the door on many who lack the financial means to lease lands on which to hunt. This has driven many of those hunters to the relatively limited state and federal lands, which may not be able to support the influx of users. So, what can be done?
There are a few different ways to get to a solution, but all involve an increase in both the quantity and quality of public access opportunities. For example, the Farm Bill’s Voluntary Public Access – Habitat Incentive Program (VPA-HIP) is designed to provide quality access on private lands while rewarding participating landowners and protecting their property rights. Recently, as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill passed by Congress, VPA-HIP received an additional $70 million to fund state public access to private land programs across the country.
On the state side, No-Net-Loss provisions designed to maintain an existing baseline of acres open to public hunting are a great tool to ensure that opportunities are not depleted. Recently, Arkansas, led by AR Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus Member and NASC Executive Council President Representative Jeff Wardlaw, passed House Bill 1827, updating the state’s No-Net-Loss baseline and include 250,000 acres leased by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission in the updated baseline.
Finally, there is a strong push to reinvest in state managed public lands, with legislators exploring opportunities to supplement the American System of Conservation Funding with appropriations designed to return state managed lands to the quality that was once celebrated among the sportsmen and women who frequented their “hidden gems”. Collectively, these actions show great promise as we seek to provide adequate opportunities for all sportsmen and women, even as we continue to try and grow our ranks.
