Some very impassioned and good points on both sides of this issue. Here's my perspective as a Maryland hunter.
When I first started hunting in the late 80's (I think 1989 was my first year with a gun of my own), my hunting club hunted land we had permission for. By the mid 90's, in order to keep that land, we had to lease it. It was that, or hunt public. Leasing was becoming a reality in Maryland.
We leased several parcels, and still had permission for one or two others. In 1999 or 2000, the State bought up a bunch of timber company land on the eastern shore, and made most of it public. Basically, the supply was cut in half, and demand rose accordingly. Lease rates went through the roof. We were forced to drop half of our property to afford to keep the other, more productive properties. Today, we pay over $1000 for 105 acres, $5000 for about 370 acres, $350 for 40 acres, and have permission to hunt two other parcels (150+ acres and 400+ acres). The 150 acre piece is fields and cutover, and the gentleman who owns it will not take our money, and we've told him that if he ever feels the need to lease it out, we'll pay for the right to keep it. The other piece isn't worth a nickle, it's all phragmites (tall reeds) and marsh, filled with blowdowns and waste deep water. 85% of it is unhuntable.
We hate having to pay all that money to keep land, but in Maryland, you have to pay to play. Otherwise, it's public land. Now, I have no problem hunting public, in fact I bowhunt public close to my house (my club is almost 2 hours away). But you've got to tote your stand in and out each day, which is not a huge deal, but it's an inconvenience. For me, it's not the weight, but rather the noise you make putting it up, and the sweat that spooks deer when it's above 40 degrees. Anyway, I can work with all that, but what I don't care for is people that I don't know with rifles, shotguns, and muzzleloaders in the same woods with me. That's one big reason I avoid public during anything other than bow season.
The moral of all this is, I understand the perspective of those who abhor leasing, because the end result is what we have here in Maryland, where money talks, and everyone else hunts public. However, the reality of the situation is, leasing is here to stay, and I don't begrudge anyone for taking the plunge and securing their privledges on a piece of private property.
I wish there was a solution, but there isn't one. Things change, this is just another example. Thinking that things will go back to the way they were, or even stay like it is now, just isn't being realistic. That's not going to happen anymore than gas going back to $1.00 per gallon.