Where are the nonhunting recreational clothing and equipment companies on this issue? They have a lot of skin in the game.
As James said, they probably are voting for candidates who are not on the "sell the public land" bandwagon. Which is good.
Yet, they are also supporters of the process by which Federal land managers cannot do anything without being litigated. It ends of in no management of the landscapes. Which in my personal opinion, is as bad as some of the more egregious examples of hurting the landscapes.
From a bigger picture discussion, those groups "claiming to represent" (not sure they really represent them) the people Oak mentions are often doing much harm in the effort to protect public lands. A few examples.
Continual litigation of the GYE bears and wolves. Even though the USFWS scientists and biologists are the most knowledgeable about those species, there is continued litigation. It ends up with no progress. The litigation gets moved to a selective court with a judge inclined to listen to the cause.
That is completely hogwash and they know it. Yet, in private, they will explain how this litigation is central to their business models.
Soon, the litigation will be forthcoming about the USFWS decision not to list the sage grouse. A decade of work was invested in very collaborative efforts to improve the future of sage grouse. The forthcoming litigation ignores all of that and only serves to again take resources away from management and require those resources be applied to defending litigation by parties who make money, taxpayer money, by litigating.
We have listed over 2,200 species since the ESA was passed in 1973. Since then, 30 have been removed and not one of them because of litigation that helped the cause of that species, rather due to habitat work and laws eliminating the use of poison. In that regard, the ESA would be considered a very ineffective law, if the purpose is to recover species.
Yet, the groups "claiming to represent" the folks Oak mentioned will fight to the ends of time for any changes to the system that allows for such abuse. Those mechanisms they use need to be reformed.
And every time they file a lawsuit, it impacts the state agencies, the federal agencies, the private landowners, and those who use the public lands. And that creates a huge amount of frustration in the western communities.
Some will say, "Too bad, you should find a different place to (insert activity here." And with that attitude, it moves a lot of people who were open minded and wanted to be collaborative closer to the fringe. It makes the drivel of the fringe operators sound reasonable, even to folks who at one time tried to work collaboratively within the system. After enough energy invested in doing, they finally give up and use their personal examples as the anecdotes that politicians cling to as their evidence for taking over the public lands.
There is no accountability to these litigating groups. They have nothing to lose and only benefits from the process.
Until that changes, I see the actions of these groups "claiming to represent" the people Oak mentioned being a big part of the problem faced by those of us trying to keep the public lands in public hands.
I know some will disagree. Some will vehemently disagree. That is fine. As I said, this is my opinion; an opinion formed on life experiences of being involved in this stuff on a daily basis for the last 20 years. An opinion I feel strong enough about that I intend to do all I can to inform others of these actions that are a huge contributor to the effort to take your public lands.