Podcast: Land Tawney, America's Great Public Lands Agitator, Is Back and Ready for a Fight
There has been a lot of coverage recently over Republican-led initiatives to transfer federal public lands. There's been even more discussion over DOGE's cuts to federal land management agencies. And while public lands are essentially the life blood of hunting in America, there are few prominent folks in the hunting and conservation community willing to criticize Republicans and the Trump administration directly.
Most critter orgs and hunting groups seem to be trying to work with the administration, after all, since many hunters voted for Trump and Republicans for Congress. Most are toeing the line or avoiding making public criticism — or statements of any kind — that they worry will jeopardize political support, federal funding, and more.
'Hunting was on the ballot in this election, and hunters showed up,' stated SCI in a news release, noting that the club 'educated and mobilized a record number of hunters who voted for President Trump because he understands that hunters have made and will continue to make our country great.'
But Land Tawney, the former CEO of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers isn't pulling any punches. He and some partners recently launched a new lobbying group called American Hunters and Anglers. It's described as a 'nonpartisan, national network of public land advocates' that has a mission to 'deliver accountability to all elected and unelected policymakers and special interests who threaten our hunting, fishing and outdoor heritage.'
Tawney's new group is small and aggressive, which you can see right away from the tone of its social media and newsletter content (one of their newsletters reads 'Nothing more dangerous than giving 'an unelected, zero-experience Elon Musk DOGEbag' keys to the castle.'
AHA is meant to put pressure (meaning negative pressure) on the politicians who are pushing anti-public-lands policy, Tawney says.
'There are people like Senator Mike Lee, he believes that we need to sell all public lands, like right now,' Tawney says. 'You're never going to be able to change him … but say a senator from North Dakota or Nebraska who doesn't know the [public lands] issues as well, might be like 'Ok Senator Lee, that makes sense to me' without having much education on the background. And so then you make the stove super hot for [those senators]. They're suddenly getting phone calls and they're hearing from their staff and then they have to look into the [public lands] issue more. Those are the people I think both in the Senate and the House that you can convince to back off [from transferring public lands], or when it comes to election time, it's an issue they have to respond to.'
AHA has a modest following now (just over 3,000 followers on Instagram) but it would be a mistake to underestimate Tawney's ability to grow an org. He was Backcountry Hunters & Angler's first full-time employee and helped it grow into the popular national group that it is today.
Tawney has been out of the spotlight since he parted with BHA in 2023, but it seems that he's picking up right where he left off, at least in terms of messaging and approach.
Read Next: How Seriously Should We Take the Sale of Federal Lands? Very Seriously, Experts Say
'There's many different roles that organizations and individuals can play,' Tawney says. 'There has to be somebody who is more aggressive, holds people accountable, and breaks some eggs so that others can make omelets. At American Hunters and Anglers we don't have any federal contracts to do habitat work on the ground, so there's nothing [this administration] can hold over our heads. We don't have any membership. We don't have any corporate partners. We have individual followers and donors, but we don't have the constraints that some of these other NGOs have… and when we're super aggressive it creates opportunities for others to be a little more aggressive.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
29 minutes ago
- The Hill
Burchett says he's ‘probably' a no on Trump bill if it means ‘more deficit spending'
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said in a Monday interview that he would 'probably' vote against President Trump's tax agenda if it means more deficit spending. In an interview on NewsNation's 'The Hill,' Chris Stirewalt asked the congressman — who voted reluctantly for the bill when it passed the House last month — whether he thinks he will be able to 'get to a yes on what comes back from the Senate,' noting indications so far suggest, 'this legislation is not moving in your direction.' 'If it's more deficit spending, then probably not. I think we need to really take that serious,' Burchett told Stirewalt. The Senate Finance Committee on Monday released its long-awaited version of the 'big, beautiful bill,' which includes provisions to make the 2017 corporate tax cuts permanent, cut hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid spending and phase out renewable-energy tax cuts enacted under President Biden. The Senate version includes several changes to the House-passed version, including a provision to raise the debt ceiling by $5 trillion instead of the $4 trillion increase adopted by House Republicans. Burchett, in the interview, suggested that the legislation 'would slow the rate of growth,' adding, 'but it's still growing.' 'I would hope we can slow it to zero and go the opposite direction at some point. America's got to take this serious, or we're going to become a third world country,' he added. The House-passed bill would cut spending by $1.6 trillion over ten years but, according to the Congressional Budget Office, add $2.4 trillion to the federal deficit.
Axios
33 minutes ago
- Axios
Trump team proposes Iran talks this week on nuclear deal, ceasefire
The White House is discussing with Iran the possibility of a meeting this week between U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, according to four sources briefed on the issue. The objective would be to discuss a diplomatic initiative involving a nuclear deal and an end to the war between Israel and Iran. Why it matters: The meeting hasn't been finalized yet, but it is part of a last-ditch effort by President Trump to swerve away from war and back toward dealmaking. "A meeting with the Iranians this week is under consideration," a U.S. official confirmed. The meeting could be a make-or-break moment for the question of whether the U.S. will join the war in order to eliminate Iran's nuclear program militarily. Zoom in: Trump sees the massive bunker busters needed to destroy Iran's underground enrichment facility at Fordow — which the U.S. has and Israel does not — as a key point of leverage to get Iran to cut a deal, a senior U.S. official said. Describing the decision on bunker busters as an "inflection point," the official said Trump "thinks in terms of deals and leverage. And this is leverage." "They do want to talk," the senior official continued. "But what we don't know is, 'have they been brought to their knees fully so that they realize that in order to have a country, they have to talk?' And assuming they get there, is there any degree of enrichment you would allow them to have?" State of play: Trump has so far declined to directly participate in Israel's attacks on Iran, but he has made clear that Iran must be prevented from obtaining a nuclear weapon one way or another. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing him to join the war and bomb Fordow. Trump has continued to insist he believes he can make a deal, particularly given Iran's weak negotiating position. Driving the news: Trump shocked the Middle East with a Truth Social post on Monday night in which he called on Iranian civilians to evacuate Tehran immediately. Shortly thereafter, Trump dcut short his trip to the G7 summit in Canada to return to Washington and focus on the war. These two moves, together with reports of explosions in Tehran, led to reports in the Israelis press and on social media that the U.S. had joined the war. White House spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer denied the reports. "American forces are maintaining their defensive posture, and that has not changed. We will defend American interests," he wrote on X. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reiterated that message in an interview on Fox News and stressed Trump is still seeking a deal. "President Trump hopes there will be peace," he said. Behind the scenes: The Trump administration discussed the meeting proposal with Iran on Monday, the sources said. "We are talking on the phone but it is better to talk in person," Trump said at the G7. Trump expressed hope that Iran would agree to make a deal. "I think a deal will be signed. I think Iran is foolish not to sign one," he said. During the summit, Trump discussed with other leaders the need for a ceasefire between Iran and Israel, French President Macron told reporters. "The Americans have made an offer to meet with the Iranians. We will see what happens," he said.
CNN
43 minutes ago
- CNN
Trump to MAGA critics: I decide what ‘America First' means
Facing backlash from Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson among others for his foreign policy decisions amidst the backdrop of the conflict between Israel and Iran, Trump says he came up with the term "America First" and that he decides what that means.
