The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources’ upcoming bat-viewing event in Nine Mile Canyon is more than a nature walk—it’s a reminder that the same public lands that host netting surveys for 18 bat species are also the places where millions of law-abiding citizens exercise their Second Amendment rights every year. When biologists set up mist nets along canyon walls, they’re operating on ground that hunters, campers, and recreational shooters have long used without incident; the event quietly underscores how multiple-use access and responsible firearm ownership coexist with wildlife management. Far from the caricature of “environmentalists versus gun owners,” the DWR’s outreach shows that the same agency charged with conserving species also issues hunting tags, enforces safety regulations, and depends on excise-tax revenue from firearms and ammunition to fund habitat work.

For the 2A community, the takeaway is strategic: every time a state wildlife agency invites the public onto public land, it reinforces the principle that these landscapes belong to citizens, not to restriction-minded bureaucrats. Attending the August 7 event—or simply citing it in conversations with neighbors—lets gun owners demonstrate that they value science-based stewardship and are willing to share the landscape with non-shooters. In an era when anti-gun activists push to close roads, limit camping, or designate “sensitive” areas that functionally disarm sportsmen, visible participation in DWR programs builds the political capital needed to keep those roads open and those campsites accessible. The bats get studied, the public gets educated, and the Second Amendment stays intact—one mist-net night at a time.