MeatEater Land Access Initiative 2026: Help Save Tuckertown Gamelands!

The Tuckertown Gamelands along the Yadkin River have been a cornerstone of public access in the state of North Carolina for decades. Hardwood ridges echoing with the gobbles of wild turkeys and traced by the trails of whitetail deer. Long miles of shoreline bordering waters teeming with bass, catfish, crappie, and more. For more than sixty years, hunters and anglers in the state have enjoyed access to this nearly 4,000-acre stretch of privately owned lands made open to the public. But that’s all now threatened by the proposed sale of this landscape by Alcoa, the corporation that has long held these lands but no longer can do so.

Three Rivers Land Trust, a local North Carolina organization, has begun a campaign to fundraise and purchase the ALCOA-owned lands along the Tuckertown Reservoir and transfer ownership to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, permanently securing them as publicly accessible gamelands. And we’re excited to announce that we’ve chosen this project to be the focus of our2026 Land Access Initiative.

In an effort to help save the Tuckertown Gamelands, MeatEater and our friends at onX have each committed $100,000 to fund a 30-day matching initiative to jumpstart the Save Tuckertown fundraising effort. This means from April 14 to May 14, every dollar donated by participants in the campaign will be matched by onX and MeatEater, up to the combined $200,000 total.

In a world where public lands and access seem increasingly in the crosshairs, this is a unique opportunity to be a part of a public access win. Together we can make a real tangible difference in keeping this swath of wild land publicly accessible and open to hunting, fishing, and recreational access of all types. It’s a chance for all of us to put our money where our mouths are and to truly ‘keep it public.’

How You Can Get Involved

So here’s how you can help. From April 14 to May 14, visitSaveTuckertown.organd make a donation to the campaign. Every dollar you donate will be matched through the MeatEater and onX matching commitment, so milk that for all its worth and take advantage of this chance to make your dollars go further.

From there, my ask is simple. Spread the word! Tell your friends, tell your family, tell your enemies, tell them all.

Let’s help get as many folks across the country involved in saving these lands along the Tuckertown Reservoir. Let’s keep it public. Let’s prove that we as a hunting and angling and outdoors-loving community can do this kind of work on our own. And then let’s do it again somewhere else. Because we know this isn't unique just to North Carolina. Someday soon something similar might arise in Michigan or Montana or Mississippi, and I hope, in fact I’m confident, that we as a community can step up again in those cases too.

Hunters and anglers have a long history of facing challenges head-on and, instead of pointing fingers, simply rolling up our sleeves, figuring out what we can do ourselves, and then getting to work. We can do that here to help save Tuckertown, and then we can keep on going.

The History of the Land Access Initiative

This is in fact exactly what you and we have been doing through the MeatEater Land Access Initiative for years now. Beginning in 2020, MeatEater kicked off the Land Access Initiative with one simple mission: to improve access to public lands and waters for hunters and anglers. And from there we set out to do that by fundraising, in partnership with our community, to bring new public access projects to life.

With your participation,we helped Kingfield Township, in Maine, acquire its first piece of public land—a 215-acre swath of forest, wetlands, and pond. We contributed to theMontana Great Outdoors Project, helping to acquire a conservation easement on 150,000 acres that protected critical wildlife habitat and ensured public access in perpetuity, and later helped secure another300-acre parcel along Montana’s Yellowstone Riverto be made public and accessible forever as well. Finally, our Land Access Initiative also contributed to theCorner Crossing Legal Fund, which has helped unlock access to many thousands of acres of landlocked public ground across the West.

Take Action Now

So thank you all in advance for participating in this latest round of the Land Access Initiative and for helping us “keep it public.” Make your donations at the link below and make your dollars go further from April 14 to May 14 by taking advantage of MeatEater and onX’s combined $200,000 matching commitment.

VisitSaveTuckertown.organd make your donation to the campaign today.

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