A friend alerted me to this thread as I don't log in here much anymore. I am a founding board member of the ND Chapter of BHA. I am proud of the group we've assembled and what we've been able to accomplish in a relatively short amount of time. I'm not here to defend Brock and what he said on Rokslide. The words he used were way out of line and I was disappointed when I read it.
That being said there seems to be some clarification that can be made about the signs we put up in the "non-motorized" portions of the Dakota Prairie Grasslands.
The local group here in ND seemed to be a good group of guys trying to address public land issues to ensure hunters and fishermen can do their thing. Unfortunately, one of the first things the local chapter did was to help put up ROAD CLOSED signs in the badlands. I would have thought that lobbying to keep at least some of those roads open for public use would have been more in line with their charter to keep public lands OPEN to the public for their use and enjoyment. The jist of the matter is this, I couldn't watch my money and support go to an organization that makes hunting and fishing more difficult for the public to enjoy, so I opted out of bha.
Did we place "ROAD CLOSED" signs in areas of the badlands? Yes we did. That is a fact. The detail left out is these roads and trails are (always were) ILLEGAL to travel unless you are permitted (ie cattle rancher with grazing permit, surveyor, USFS employee on official business, etc) since they fall within the USFS "NON-MOTORIZED" areas.
The project started organically in an attempt to improve public lands and help the time and cash strapped USFS. We were made aware of many hunters ILLEGALLY traveling these roads and getting into conflicts with other hunters who had hiked in. Law enforcement was being called numerous times throughout the season to address hunters ILLEGALLY driving these trails which took them away from other issues that could be perceived as more pressing. Many of our members knew the signs in these areas of the badlands were faded and damaged to the point of being unrecognizable. Replacing these signs would take a lot of time and effort as they were numerous and spread throughout many areas of the badlands. The project seemed like a perfect fit for a group of eager young people who care about public land and who want to help outdoor recreationalists enjoy their time outdoors legally.
In an effort to aid both the USFS and North Dakota hunters and outdoor recreationalists, our group volunteered our time to REPLACE many signs that were damaged and faded that at one time clearly marked these trails as ILLEGAL to travel via motor vehicle. There were a small number (less than 10?) new trails that had been made that the USFS wanted us to place a post and sign where one had never existed before. Again, these trails were ILLEGAL to travel unless permitted to do so.
These areas were deemed "NON-MOTORIZED" loooonnnnngggg before ND BHA was a thing. We did not lobby to have any roads closed. Our goal was to help inform hunters and recreationalists that these trails were not open to public travel. By replacing the signs we feel we helped improve public lands, helped hunters who want to follow the rules know what those rules are, help reduce the strain on law enforcement during hunting season and to help the USFS land managers.
We also got these "NON-MOTORIZED" areas placed on the NDGF PLOTS map since they were basically unknown to most hunters. See the legend on page 21 of the 2020 PLOTS guide. This again was in an attempt to make sure people enjoying our public lands were aware of the rules for these areas. I think we can all agree conflicts among hunters and citations from law enforcement are not what we look for when we spend time outdoors.
Here is an older sign that was in better condition than many we replaced:
Here are some before and after photos of signs we replaced:
Hopefully this helps clear up any confusion.
ND BHA has met face to face with Terry Steinwand and his staff on many occasions. We have a great working relationship with the NDGF. More than once we have expressed our concern for the potential loss of summer access to Twin Lake in LaMoure County, ND. We were made aware of potential access issues with the lake by KDM and made sure we elevated those access concerns to the highest level of NDGF because public access to public lands and waters is a cornerstone principle of our group.
Sorry for the long winded post. I'm going to make a whiskey drink and smile while I look at my ammo, powder and primer cache like any freedom loving red-blooded American and chuckle while thinking of those who find themselves under supplied during the current shortages.
(Those who know me know that isn't a stretch of truth)