Public Lands

They came in droves, close to 3000 loud and energetic supporters of keeping public lands, public. "Our mission is to share all of our love for public lands with all the different kinds of land users who are out there and make sure that we can all come together and make sure we have these lands for all the future generations to come.” The ongoing discussion of potential transfer of some federal public lands from the feds to the states has public land users of all types concerned. Jeff Ruprecht of Twin Falls attended and his passion to preserve the public lands was representative of the huge crowd. "I love my public lands and I use them a lot. They are mine. I am a hiker, my kids are hunters and fishermen and Judy is a birdwatcher and camping.”

 

Ryan Callahan moved to Idaho for work but stayed because of easy access to public lands. “ I came to Idaho for a jobber I stayed in Idaho because of public lands. I'm not going to lie, where I live is kind of a goofy place but it is an amazing place because of the opportunities I have right out my back door. All of those opportunities are found on public land.”

 

And Idaho is definitely not alone in this public posture. Rallies have been going on all over the country about keeping public lands, just that, public.