Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Podcast & Blast with Hal Herring

During the deluge of Hurricane Helene, over 30 inches of rain fell in the headwaters of the iconic Nolichucky River in North Carolina, falling on ground already saturated from prior rain. The Nolichucky crested nine feet higher than its record flood levels, wiping out almost everything in its path. Although the river experienced scouring and erosion, it was the man-made infrastructure that fared the worst. Among the losses were almost 40 miles of railroad tracks owned by CSX Transportation.

Everyone wants the train tracks rebuilt, and the vital freight transportation link restored. But nobody could have predicted that the rebuilding project, contracted out to a company from Mississippi, would involve recklessly mining the riverbed, blocking tributary creeks, tearing up National Forest lands, and destroying one of the most beloved fishing and whitewater rivers of the entire eastern U.S.

None of this had to happen. Agencies tasked with permitting and watchdogging this operation seem to have failed entirely. The public’s demands for the work to be done in a less destructive manner have been met with silence.

Join Tennessee fishing guide and paramedic and BHA member Chris Lennon and North Carolinian Phillip Widener (Charman of BHA’s North Carolina chapter) to learn about what’s happening, and why it is so crucial, right now, to hold responsible parties accountable and stop this entirely avoidable assault on our public lands and waters.

Intentional destruction of the Nolichucky River must stop!

Listen and then learn more and take action at https://www.backcountryhunters.org/nolichucky_river_stop_csx_destructive_construction_activities

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The Podcast & Blast with Hal Herring is brought you by Backcountry Hunters & Anglers and presented by Silencer Central, with additional support from Decked, Dometic, and Filson.

Join Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, the voice for your wild public lands, waters, and wildlife to be part of a passionate community of hunter-angler-conservationists.

BHA. THE VOICE FOR OUR WILD PUBLIC LANDS, WATERS AND WILDLIFE.

Follow us:

Web: https://www.backcountryhunters.org

Instagram: @backcountryhunters

Facebook: @backcountryhunters

Hal goes south to meet up with old friend and former U.S. Navy SEAL Madison Parker in the hurricane-battered backcountry of north Florida and talk about survival, spears and slingshots, pit bulls, blacksmithing, baskets, knives and traps, and that place where function becomes inseparable from art.

Epic floods due to the filling and draining of wetlands, duck numbers falling, fisheries collapsing, federal flood insurance $25 billion in debt, water pollution at levels not seen since the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972 – and all this before the recent floods in the Midwest. The common denominator is our failure to protect U.S. wetlands and rivers and streams. Yet the administration is considering a revised rule eliminating wetlands and stream protections under the Clean Water Act. Hal talks to Blan Holman, a lawyer at the Southern Environmental Law Center who specializes in water law, to try and make sense of it all.

BHA Podcast & Blast, Ep. 151: Bill Avey, 40 Years in the Forest Service

Retired Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest Supervisor Bill Avey is here to give us a clear view into the workings of the U.S. Forest Service – and what is arguably, for a public lands hunter or angler, the most important agency in America. Hal and Bill became friends on a snow survey ski trip through the Bob Marshall Wilderness in 2015, lost touch, then met again on a jury duty call-up last summer. It was a lucky meeting for Hal and for this podcast: Bill Avey has given his life to America’s public forests, and he knows the strengths and weaknesses, the joys and tribulations, of his agency and the work it does, from the roots to the crown.

Everything you will ever need to know to win any argument about the future of our American public lands--special and crucial episode with Walt Dabney.

Understanding the background and history of our public lands is critical to safeguarding them for the future.

Texas-born Walt Dabney started his National Park Service career in Yellowstone in 1969, worked as a ranger from the Everglades to Alaska, and was the Superintendent of the National Parks in Southeast Utah from 1991-99, completing a 30-year Parks Service career. Then he served as the Director of State Parks for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for 14 more years.

Walt is now the leading voice for America's system of public lands. His 45-minute presentation, The History and Future of Our Public Lands, took him over seven years to develop. It is the product of a lifetime of experience, and years of assiduous research. Join us for a talk with America’s foremost advocate for our public lands, and later watch the presentation here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7U7rHlLTPk

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The Podcast & Blast with Hal Herring is brought you by Backcountry Hunters & Anglers and presented by Silencer Central, with additional support from Decked, Dometic, and Filson.

Join Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, the voice for your wild public lands, waters, and wildlife to be part of a passionate community of hunter-angler-conservationists.

BHA. THE VOICE FOR OUR WILD PUBLIC LANDS, WATERS AND WILDLIFE.

Follow us:

Web: https://www.backcountryhunters.org

Instagram: @backcountryhunters

Facebook: @backcountryhunters