As someone who loves to spend weekends in the outdoors hiking, hunting, and fishing, moving to Texas really highlighted the importance of keeping these lands public. As the article mentions, Texas sold nearly all of the federal land it was granted and as a result is currently about 95% privately-owned.
For most hunters, this means that you either have to lease private land, which is becoming increasingly more difficult and expensive (think thousands of dollars annually), or hire an outfitter for exorbitant fees. This has priced many people out of hunting and will continue to do so as populations and land development continue to rise. I, personally, have been looking for a hunting lease within a couple hours drive of Austin for the past three years and have not been able to find one - and that's with a budget of over $3k/year.
Without transfer protections that mandate keeping the land public and accessible perpetually, I don't know how any outdoorsman could be for this "transfer".
I agree with how sad it is that Texas doesn't have more public land for hunting and shooting. Imagine if we had 100,000+ acres out past Fredericksburg for outdoor activities.
Honestly, I didn't know how people hunted or shot weapons outside Texas. I assumed it was all private business and expensive deer leases. I still don't get it! You're telling me, in Utah/Colorado and other places, that I can just go to federal/state land with a gun and a license, and get food?
"I still don't get it! You're telling me, in Utah/Colorado and other places, that I can just go to federal/state land with a gun and a license, and get food?"
Yes.
Setting aside seasonal limitations and quantity limits, you may do just that.
Further, at any time of any day of the year, you can enter a national forest in Colorado, set up a target, and start shooting.[1][2][3]
In fact, I am fairly certain that you can just go live in the national forest provided that your encampment/structures are completely mobile and temporary.
It's the "Land of Many Uses".
[1] I recommend a lot of sanity checks, however. In addition to scouting the entire area for any other people and ensuring proper backstop, I would also give a courtesy call to the local forest service office and the local sheriff and give them a heads up. About half the time they would respond by telling me that I was not able to do that and I would politely inform them that they were wrong and to have a great day.
[2] Also note that just because you are legally able to do this and are "in the right" doesn't mean local LE can't come arrest you and seize your firearms and sort it out in court anyway. If you're remote enough and nobody is there to complain it's not really an issue.
[3] Do not do this in popular areas with hikers and kids and where there is little or no tradition of shooting in that place, etc. Don't be a dick.
I think most National Forests and BLM have a 14-21 day limit on being in one camp. A lot of fulltime RV'ers get around this by simply moving to another camp.
In some states, like NH, the default is that you can even hunt on other people's (privately-owned) land, unless it is posted. As a landowner, you are encouraged to allow free, recreational use of your land by others.
Not sure if you're being serious with your last sentence. But I live on the edge of the grid near the Gila National Forest... and it's exactly like that. 3.3 million acres of public land to hunt and fish on. The trout fishing is amazing, and elk meat is hard to beat! For NM residents, hunting tags are very cheap and 1 large elk is enough to feed my family for a year.
Texas has the opposite problem than we have in Alaska. Less than 1% of Alaska is privately owned. Despite seemingly having so much space there is suprisingly few desirable lots available for sale. And even fewer at reasonable prices.
For most hunters, this means that you either have to lease private land, which is becoming increasingly more difficult and expensive (think thousands of dollars annually), or hire an outfitter for exorbitant fees. This has priced many people out of hunting and will continue to do so as populations and land development continue to rise. I, personally, have been looking for a hunting lease within a couple hours drive of Austin for the past three years and have not been able to find one - and that's with a budget of over $3k/year.
Without transfer protections that mandate keeping the land public and accessible perpetually, I don't know how any outdoorsman could be for this "transfer".