Hours: Wednesday - Friday 10:00 am to 4:00 pm / Tuesday, Saturday, Sunday 1:00 to 4:00 pm.
Closed Monday.
Jack O’Connor was the undisputed dean of outdoor writers.
For decades, his feature articles in Outdoor Life Magazine brought excitement, enjoyment and a sense of appreciation for wildlife and hunting to millions of people throughout the world.
The sense of adventure that came alive in his many writings inspired, informed, and educated outdoorsmen and hunters about wildlife conservation and modern wildlife management.
The Jack O'Connor Heritage Center
Hells Gate State Park
5600 Hells Gate Road
Hells Gate State Park, Lewiston ID 83501
Hours: Wednesday - Friday 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
Tuesday, Saturday, Sunday 1:00 to 4:00 pm.
Closed Monday.
Mailing address:
PO Box 394, Lewiston, ID 83501
The Jack O’Connor name and all images on this web site are trademarked and owned by the Jack O'Connor Hunting Heritage and Education Center®, Lewiston, Idaho. All rights reserved. Materials contained on this Web site may not be used or reproduced without written permission from the Jack O'Connor Center for Hunting Heritage and Education unless otherwise noted.
Jack O’Connor Hunting Heritage & Education Center position statement on amendment, Senate FY25 Budget Reconciliation Bill
We, board members of the Jack O’Connor Hunting Heritage and Education Center in Lewiston, Idaho, unanimously oppose the sale of public lands as proposed by Utah Senator Mike Lee in an amendment to the 2025 Senate Budget Reconciliation Bill (re: House Bill H.R. 1). As Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator Lee must know:
Historically, wise multiple-use management of North America’s natural resources has hinged on agency professionals protecting and enhancing public parks and wildlands for the public good.
Sales of public holdings would be irreversible, so too the cultural, economic and environmental costs to affected lands, watersheds and wildlife, also losses to associated businesses nearby.
Private development following such sales, whatever the purpose, would not benefit the public whose dollars and votes have maintained, managed and improved those lands for public use.
Public support for access to and responsible use of public lands has been enduring, vocal and steadfast – as has support for Federal oversight and professional management of these lands.
No budget fix or political agenda can justify such sales, a breech of public trust clear to any citizen and affecting all citizens, not just those who live near these public lands.
Permitting or mandating sale of public property without due process or transparency, without public review, calls into question the stated purposes of and motives for such sales.
Specifically, from Subtitle C, Section 0301, pages 35-41:
“First right of refusal” to state or local governments to develop housing or “address associated community needs” promises no more benefit to the public than would sales to private parties.
Leaving acreage allowed one buyer to the discretion of Secretaries of Interior and Agriculture imposes no limit on the public land a wealthy buyer could own and remove from public use.
Specifying that a buyer hew to “planned use” for “not less than 10 years” won’t deter long-term investors, who will then be free to profit from the purchase in ways devoid of public interest.
The $10 million for Interior and Agriculture “to carry out this section” (0301) came to Treasury from taxpayers who stand to lose much and gain nothing as their public lands are taken away.
Exclusion of Montana from proposed public land sales begs a question: Why? Montana has 15.5 million USFS acres, 8.3 million in BLM management. Do its senators have no stake in this bill?