With access to the outdoors becoming more limited, it is important that sportsmen fight for their rights to use federal land and stay one step ahead of the antis. A big victory came in federal court as Judge Mary H. Murguia found in favor of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in a case concerning the placement of wildlife watering devices in Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, Arizona.

The refuge had been designated as “wilderness” under the federal Wilderness Act, which to some degree protects the land from human intrusion. Charged with “preserving the wilderness character of the area,” the FWS manages the refuge to have as small a human footprint as possible. However, in the arid desert climate of Arizona watering devices are a very practical survival tool for bighorn sheep and other desert critters.

The antis, under the monikers of the Wilderness Watch and the Arizona Wilderness Coalition, brought a suit against the FWS saying the placement of the watering devices violated the Wilderness Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. These groups are fine letting bighorn sheep die of dehydration, but try and hunt one and they will rally the forces to rise up against hunters and hunting. Even though thousands of dollars (money that goes directly to conservation efforts for the big horn and other wildlife) are raised from the auction of big horn sheep tags.

In a country where a lot of legal decisions are decided on precedence, this practical decision by Judge Murguia could influence federal land use cases and sportsmen for years to come.

"Hopefully, this will prevent other efforts to prohibit active wildlife management in refuges that have been given the ‘wilderness’ designation,” stated U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation vice president Rick Story.

It would seem that preserving an area’s “wild” character and its wild animals would go hand-in-hand, but if hunters aren’t careful environmentalist groups will make these refuges no more wild than your local city zoo.