Sportsmen group accused of being ‘green decoy’ for environmentalists

If it looks, swims and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck -- especially with an All-American moniker like Backcountry Hunters and Anglers.

After all, the outdoors organization with chapters in Minnesota and 15 other states, positions itself as "the sportsman's voice for our wild public lands, waters and wildlife."

"Today, BHA members are endeavoring to follow in the footsteps of TR (Theodore Roosevelt)," Minnesota BHA chapter co-chair David Lien said in an email exchange with Watchdog.org. "... We take solace in the fact that we are protecting the backcountry much like he did."

The BHA website offers tips on hunting elk, ducks and deer in the backcountry, and features an explicit how-to-video on quartering and packing big game kills.

Yet a D.C.-based policy group contends BHA -- a grassroots organization that's waded into Minnesota energy, land use and mining issues -- not only fails the duck test, but functions as a "green decoy" on behalf of hard-core environmentalists.

A slick video and report titled "Green Decoys" argues that BHA and several other environmental organizations camouflage an activist agenda to influence policymakers and the public, funded by millions of dollars from huge foundations.

Click for more from Watchdog.org.