Forever Wild gets 10% of the annual interest from oil and gas leases that the state owns, capped at $15,000,000 annually. They actively acquire tracts of land each year after two independent appraisals and approval by the Board of Trustees. Forever Wild is a Land Trust owned by the citizens of the state and governed by a board. Originally it was approved for 20 years by a voter approved constitutional amendment. Several years ago it was re-authorized for another 20 years by voter approved constitutional amendment. Great thing about it, the politicians can't get full control of Forever Wild therefore they can't siphon off funds, sell the land, etc and it drives them absolutely crazy. Even with overwhelming voter approval, they have tried to damage the program by taxing it and other underhanded tricks.
Not all Forever Wild lands can be hunted, but the majority of them can. Some land is owned and a smaller amount is leased, but they are actively acquiring each year. I think having public hunting land as an option is a good thing, as long as the public ownership is clear and remains at reasonable level of all land in a state. I think Forever Wild owns about 0.07% of the non-urban land in Alabama. There are other public hunting land options in the state in including State Lands and Federal Lands, but there overall percentages are equally low.
