King, in my experience sportsmen are certainly not footing a reclamation bill. In Tennessee, the sportsman's money may be going toward the purchase of previously reclaimed land OR land that is still in need of reclamation. BUT, in all instances (to my knowledge) the land is all but given away, especially in the case that it is still in need of reclamation.
IMHO there likely is no better way to spend a sportsman's money, at least in Tennessee. These purchases/gifts of old mining operations give the sportsman access to tens of thousands of acres with prime wildlife habitat.
These lands may have been available in the past but likely required the user to sign a lease or purchase a membership, the lands were not policed for poaching and other detrimental activities by sportsmen and non-sportsmen alike, and the lands were not managed at all and certainly not for healthy wildlife.
