Favorite Organizations

[lak2004]

Thanks. I'll read that. Which green decoy site were you referring to? I didn't get my information from one specific site. It was multiple locations that profiled the leadership and their political connections.

I only knew of one, greendecoys.com. It is a political smear campaign where politics are not relevant. If you want to say that people at BHA lean left, you could say that. You could also say that they lean right, are middle, man, woman, young, old, new hunters, seasoned hunters, etc.

There are many threads on many hunting forums about it.

Here is an article from The New York Times about the men behind that particular site. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/31/...ves-western-energy-alliance-speech-taped.html

They specifically have right wing agendas (not a bad thing) and are pro extraction industries (also not a bad thing), but chose to target the left to win them to their side (smart on their part) by slandering groups they thought would be easy to trample. In my opinion they didn't get much traction. Or maybe they did, either way. I have met many BHA members and supporters and they come from all walks of life.

 

[Nick87]

Rmef
Bha
Trcp
Delta waterfowl

 

[MattB]

Yep about 1/5 of an acre Did you miss the part about not wanting to spend money to improve private land that I can't hunt?

Do you not understand that the animals will seek refuge on that private whether we improve it or not? Animals are going to go where there isn't any pressure. Which is going to be private that doesn't allow others to hunt.

I don't understand it. In many places wintering grounds are private and hence exposed to development. Without protecting private wintering ground, you don't have many animals on proximate public land to hunt during season.

RMEF
WSF
P&Y
CA WSF
SCBS

 

[dirtytough]

I don't understand it. In many places wintering grounds are private and hence exposed to development. Without protecting private wintering ground, you don't have many animals on proximate public land to hunt during season.

RMEF
WSF
P&Y
CA WSF
SCBS

Have you hunted western ND? Or been through there? There isn’t a migration because it’s flat. There isn’t a summer and winter range. There is just public and private. I would be all for them buying the land to keep it from being developed. I’m not all for them spending every dime to improve only private land. I’m going off memory but in the last two years I don’t think there was one project done on public land. Think the public is in better shape than the private so it’s more beneficial to the wildlife to improve the private?

I’m sure there are a lot of projects that would help wildlife on public land. Heck our G&F plants food plots on wma’s. Maybe MDF could contribute to that so more of the wma’s can have food plots instead of tearing out fencing on private land and replacing it?

Even though I said I won’t donate anymore to them my employer has a few tables at the local banquet so I’ll probably go.

 

[mkollman74]

I only knew of one, greendecoys.com. It is a political smear campaign where politics are not relevant. If you want to say that people at BHA lean left, you could say that. You could also say that they lean right, are middle, man, woman, young, old, new hunters, seasoned hunters, etc.

There are many threads on many hunting forums about it.

Here is an article from The New York Times about the men behind that particular site. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/31/...ves-western-energy-alliance-speech-taped.html

They specifically have right wing agendas (not a bad thing) and are pro extraction industries (also not a bad thing), but chose to target the left to win them to their side (smart on their part) by slandering groups they thought would be easy to trample. In my opinion they didn't get much traction. Or maybe they did, either way. I have met many BHA members and supporters and they come from all walks of life.

OK. So I read the entire thread. Seems equivocal to me at best. At this point, I have no choice but to reduce the "argument" to this: BHA has supported anti-2A politicians, While I respect their stated mission of protecting wild places, access to those places, don't mean much for hunters w/o the 2A.

 

[lak2004]

OK. So I read the entire thread. Seems equivocal to me at best. At this point, I have no choice but to reduce the "argument" to this: BHA has supported anti-2A politicians, While I respect their stated mission of protecting wild places, access to those places, don't mean much for hunters w/o the 2A.

Fair enough, but to say BHA as a whole has supported anti 2a is incorrect. You are talking about one person that is CEO, not the people who are accomplishing the public lands advocacy in each state, etc. The 2a isn't going anywhere. You can't have one without the other period.

You don't have to support them, and if you've done some research that makes you support that decision, fine.

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[SDC]

Sportsmen’s Alliance, and a bunch of state level orgs.

I used to support BHA, a lot; but never again. They can keep taking money, at ever increasing levels from the foundations who fund the anti-hunting, anti-management, anti-2A agendas, but they lost my support.

 

[SDC]

Use your Google to see who runs the green decoy site. Load off bs

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Use your GoogleFu to find out who funds BHA and whom else they fund. When you see the shared beneficiaries of just a handful of very large foundations who provide the lion’s share of operating funds to BHA also funding Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, Klamath-Siskiyou, and a laundry list of other anti-hunting, anti-management groups quite often aligned with HSUS and CBD... and no hunting orgs funded by those same foundations, it’s not a mere coincident.

Then, take a look at what the money is spent on. Roughly $1.5M on advertising and travel, out of just a touch over $4M in revenue. That’s as much as RMEF spends on the same, and they have an $80M budget. Ask then what the Hell BHA actually does? Self-promote and throw beer bashes? Anything else tangible? If so, they don’t talk about it via the annual reports.

There are some great people as members, but it isn’t a member-driven org when nearly 60% of revenue comes from foundations (all now hidden from public view on the annual reports and 990s), and only 15% from membership. The questions are about the org at the org level; not about the members.

 

[lak2004]

Use your GoogleFu to find out who funds BHA and whom else they fund. When you see the shared beneficiaries of just a handful of very large foundations who provide the lion’s share of operating funds to BHA also funding Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, Klamath-Siskiyou, and a laundry list of other anti-hunting, anti-management groups quite often aligned with HSUS and CBD... and no hunting orgs funded by those same foundations, it’s not a mere coincident.

Then, take a look at what the money is spent on. Roughly $1.5M on advertising and travel, out of just a touch over $4M in revenue. That’s as much as RMEF spends on the same, and they have an $80M budget. Ask then what the Hell BHA actually does? Self-promote and throw beer bashes? Anything else tangible? If so, they don’t talk about it via the annual reports.

There are some great people as members, but it isn’t a member-driven org when nearly 60% of revenue comes from foundations (all now hidden from public view on the annual reports and 990s), and only 15% from membership. The questions are about the org at the org level; not about the members.

are you involved in your local BHA chapter? I am, so I see what is done locally and on a state level. you're not going to change my. mind about BHA and I'm not going to change yours. I'll keep supporting them and RMEF, etc.......

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[SDC]

I was heavily involved at state levels and higher. No, I doubt I’ll change your mind. It took a lot to eventually change mine, but once I put the Kool-Aid cup down and looked really closely at the finances, it was very clear what is and what is not at the org level. BHA has changed, a lot, over the past several years.

Foundations do not fund off-mission, or counter to the missions of the vast majority of the groups they fund. Foundations have grant guidelines and reporting that require orgs to match what the foundation wants from a mission level. When an org gets well over 50% of it’s actual operating revenue from foundations, it’s foundation driven; especially when the vast majority of that funding comes from just three real sources (funnel foundations not withstanding). When an organization shows up on grantee lists with Sierra Club, Defenders, BornFreeUSA, IFAW, Klamath-Siskiyou, and a long list of anti-hunting, anti-management, anti-2A groups; it isn’t by mistake and it isn’t an outlier. The money doesn’t lie.

You can believe the sales pitch if you want to, and given that roughly $1.4M of a $4M budget goes to advertising and travel, there’s a lot invested in that sales pitch (pretty much all there is from the org level). I did, for far too long. I don’t any longer, and won’t. I’ll believe the money.

 

[BigCityBowhunter]

Happy to have found this thread before investing any more of my money!


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[lak2004]

How about invest your time instead. Time working with a local chapter.

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[SDC]

How about invest your time instead. Time working with a local chapter.

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Doing that; with organizations that are not foundation driven by foundations that are themselves and funding groups that are anti-hunting, anti-management, and anti-2A. Why pour time, money, and energy into organizations that are so closely tied to those who would gladly do away with hunting, trapping, management, and the 2A; when you can instead put the same into groups that do not have such connections?

 

[mkollman74]

Fair enough, but to say BHA as a whole has supported anti 2a is incorrect. You are talking about one person that is CEO, not the people who are accomplishing the public lands advocacy in each state, etc. The 2a isn't going anywhere. You can't have one without the other period.

You don't have to support them, and if you've done some research that makes you support that decision, fine.

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I agree with much of what you are saying. I don’t mean to paint all BHA members or supporters with the same brush. However, the CEO leads the charge.

Thanks for a respectful and adult exchange of ideas. That doesn’t always happen in forums like this. Although it does seem to happen with greater regularity on Rokslide.

 

[ChrisA]

BHA, only to get a SO Cimmaron
NRA
Gun Owners of America
Pheasants Forever
American Society of Agronomy

 

[elkguide]

RMEF Banquet is being held in Burlington Vermont tomorrow night.
Been on the committee for 25 years. Love what they do.

 

[MattB]

Have you hunted western ND? Or been through there? There isn’t a migration because it’s flat. There isn’t a summer and winter range. There is just public and private. I would be all for them buying the land to keep it from being developed. I’m not all for them spending every dime to improve only private land. I’m going off memory but in the last two years I don’t think there was one project done on public land. Think the public is in better shape than the private so it’s more beneficial to the wildlife to improve the private?

I’m sure there are a lot of projects that would help wildlife on public land. Heck our G&F plants food plots on wma’s. Maybe MDF could contribute to that so more of the wma’s can have food plots instead of tearing out fencing on private land and replacing it?

Even though I said I won’t donate anymore to them my employer has a few tables at the local banquet so I’ll probably go.

Are you trying to define the value of RMEF based on habitat work done Western North Dakota?

Do you even have any idea of how much private land RMEF has purchased and made public? You might jump on their website and read a bit about it.

 

[vanish]

given that roughly $1.4M of a $4M budget goes to advertising and travel, there’s a lot invested in that sales pitch

BHA's main mission is public lands advocacy - create interest and investment in the people, so that when the people vote, it is in favor of public land.

How do you advocate? By spending money on events and advertising. By flying people to those events to do things like speak about the positives of public land. By sending BHA representatives to meet with politicians, committees and commissions. I'm actually surprised BHA's expenditures on those two areas are not higher.

What do you think BHA should spend money on?

 

[Beendare]

SDC brings up some very good points on doing your research.

Lots of outfits talk the talk....heck just look at those animal rights folks that contribute to the Humane society. They think they are helping animals....but instead they are funding the lavish lifestyle of the dooche B in charge...and funding what is essentially a hate organization. A tiny % of the dollars those folks donate actually goes to saving animals.

Just because its a non profit or foundation....doesn't mean its doing good. Look at the Clinton Foundation....or the example above.

Seems to me BHA talks a good game...but does very little.

I think there are a few good outfits. I like that SCI has some legislative lobbying horsepower and some high power folks in that org that are willing to throw their weight around.

I don't particularly like the SCI "Trophy hunt" mentality. For sure I don't like playing politics....but I do like that the big mucky mucks in SCI are willing to use their significant connections to stand up and support all hunters.

..

 

[dirtytough]

Are you trying to define the value of RMEF based on habitat work done Western North Dakota?

Do you even have any idea of how much private land RMEF has purchased and made public? You might jump on their website and read a bit about it.

You didn't answer my question. Also please reread my posts in this thread. I believe you are confused. After you reread what I posted and if you still have the same question I will answer it.