I’m a big supporter of the SOA program and public land in general. If there are any influential people reading this I think the state should include an optional $5 or $10 donation when buying a license that goes solely towards funding purchase of more property for SOAs or WMAs. Or maybe something like a mandatory $1 donation when applying for SOA hunts. Or something similar to that, just ideas. Something that doesn’t hurt anybody to donate but makes a big difference when pooled together. Doesn’t seem like a lot of money but it would add up fast. What a lot of people don’t realize is we get matching federal funds for money we put up for land purchase as a state.

And there needs to be protection against siphoning of the funds by politicians for any purpose other than purchasing of property or maintenance of those properties. And let current license money pay for enforcement and whatever else it is currently paying for. This needs to be money for acquiring land and nothing else. Hell let’s keep it out of Montgomery altogether. Put it in some kind of trust that wildlife officials control.

I personally would want this money to go towards purchase of property and not lease. To permanently protect some large tracts of land from development or fragmentation. I know Forever Wild serves that purpose, but we need more public hunting land. And we need funding for purchase of land solely for hunting. The smaller tracts that Forever Wild buys that are not open to hunting are good, but they have to be pretty expensive per acre. They are buying them for landmark and environmental significance. Some of the money is going towards leasing WMA land also, which is good but not permanent. On top of all this, we have politicians that try to kill the program even though the overwhelming majority of the state supports it.

I think state officials would be surprised to see how much support Alabama sportsman would give public land and conservation if given the opportunity. I think the state it doing a great job now, probably better than they should be with the limited funding they get and the swampy opposition. Maybe we could do our part to preserve some hunting opportunities for our kids.

I like your idea but the politicians of this state can’t be trusted with anymore of our money. I’ve often thought of starting a company that basically sets up a huge crowdfunding campaign like that. It would work better, faster, more efficiently, more honestly, it would be full disclosure.

FW gets money from oil and gas leases. A few extra dollars from us wouldn't help much for the money needed to buy property. I heard 3500 people signed up for an SOA hunt last year. I'd like to see more opened up like the regular old go in there and hunt when you want to type places.....and don't open the gates for folks to tear up the roads, get lost and wander off the property.

I like it. There is a huge shortage of hunting land in this state when you factor the number of hunters that use the existing acreage. More people would get into hunting and get back into hunting if there were more land. The fact that public land is so crowded keeps alot of people out. Myself included in the past. The crowd just gets to be more than I want to deal with. The way public land is crowded now, I dont see how a kid would get interested in it.

Forever Wild gets 10% of the annual interest from oil and gas leases that the state owns, capped at $15,000,000 annually. They actively acquire tracts of land each year after two independent appraisals and approval by the Board of Trustees. Forever Wild is a Land Trust owned by the citizens of the state and governed by a board. Originally it was approved for 20 years by a voter approved constitutional amendment. Several years ago it was re-authorized for another 20 years by voter approved constitutional amendment. Great thing about it, the politicians can't get full control of Forever Wild therefore they can't siphon off funds, sell the land, etc and it drives them absolutely crazy. Even with overwhelming voter approval, they have tried to damage the program by taxing it and other underhanded tricks.

Not all Forever Wild lands can be hunted, but the majority of them can. Some land is owned and a smaller amount is leased, but they are actively acquiring each year. I think having public hunting land as an option is a good thing, as long as the public ownership is clear and remains at reasonable level of all land in a state. I think Forever Wild owns about 0.07% of the non-urban land in Alabama. There are other public hunting land options in the state in including State Lands and Federal Lands, but there overall percentages are equally low.

I get where your coming from in the amount of money it takes to buy land, especially the size tracts we’re talking about. I believe currently around 250,000 all game licenses are sold in Alabama every year. If each one had say $2 tacked on, that would be $500,000 a year. $5 apiece would be $1.25 million. I don’t know a lot about the federal matching but unless I’m wrong it could be dollar for dollar. Don’t you think in 5 or 10 years that money could do some good?

I won an SOA hunt the first year they did it at Uchee Creek. I was alternate on 2 others I don’t think a lot of people knew about it yet. It was great, me and a friend had 3-4 hundred acres, I saw over 10 a day including a big 6 that didn’t meet the buck requirement. The deer were very unpressured. It was a cool 4 day experience. I would like to see more open land too but it seems like they can’t really buy large tracts like that anymore. I think that’s why SOA started. I was a high quality experience that I prob won’t win again for 10 years lol. But if more properties like it are bought odds will only go up. I would like to see money go towards large tract open land too, as long as it’s purchased not leased.

Here’s another idea. Why is a WMA area license not required to apply for SOA hunts? If you required that less people would apply and people don’t have access to land or have $$$ to join clubs would have much better odds. Shouldn’t that be the whole purpose. And people who want to apply can buy a license like public land hunters, and that will only provide more funding to support the program they are using.

I disagree with you on this one. The people that pay club dues make it a priority to save money to spend on hunting each season therefore they won’t mind paying that little bit of extra money for a chance to hunt a extra property.

Step #1 -

Stop voting for swamp rats like Kay Ivey.

I agree, and that $17.50 or whatever it is will go towards buying more public land or maintenance of current land. Why is it free to apply for people who $17 is nothing compared to what they spend on leases every year. If you require WMA license to apply it will give people who are already buying the license and people who are willing to support conservation a better chance.

I’m not saying I disagree with the having to have the permit. I’m saying I don’t think it will increase your chances because I’m willing to bet that the majority of people putting in are public land hunters anyway. I know around here a large portion of hunters don’t even know a SOA exists.

I have nothing against clubs, leases or private land owners or anybody willing to pay for a quality hunting experience. I am myself. Not everyone is blessed with good stable jobs like I have or extra money to spend on hunting. I’d like to see more opportunities for those people like everyone had in generations before mine when land was not posted. Land and lease prices are only going up.

Maybe even more than that I hate to see land get more and more eaten up by development. Once it’s gone it’s gone forever. Does anybody want more public land without pumps all over them? I know these are radical ideas but in a state where so many people love hunting why isn’t there a little more emphasis on conservation?

You’re right, 3500 isn’t a lot considering. I’m probably not helping keep SOAs a secret right now either haha.

Who the heck are you and what is your job with the state listed as?

Steve Harrington, Director Online Propaganda and Funds Procurement.

Makes total sense now. Thanks for clearing that up.

No thanks

The state mismanages hundreds of thousands of acres off limits 75% of the season.

They have enough

I wish that the Forever Wild program would dissolve.

I wish more people would quit hunting.