BigHornRam
Well-known member
I was at this meeting and it was informative.
Land swap talk heats up
by GREG LEMON - Ravalli Republic
In an effort to get both sides of the story, the Ravalli County Fish and Wildlife Association invited those for and against a proposed land exchange near Sula to its regular meeting Monday.
Emotions heightened during the debate over trading 800 acres of public land near Sula for 1,400 hundred acres near Lincoln.
Mack Long, director of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Park's Region 2, and Tony Liane, area manager in Missoula for the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation explained the proposed exchange and related accords surrounding the project.
Long pointed to a recently proposed deal that would put 368 acres in French Basin into state ownership.
To make this deal work, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation would purchase an option on the acreage, owned by the Wetzsteon family.
Then FWP will use Habitat Montana money to buy the land from the foundation and then swap it with the DNRC for their inholdings in the Calf Creek and Three Mile Creek Wildlife Management Areas, which are run by FWP, Long said.
Habitat Montana money has to be spent to protect crucial wildlife habitat, he said.
The deal came along after protest erupted over the proposed land exchange between the DNRC and Shining Mountain Ranch, owned by J.R. Miller. The eastern portion of this exchange is immediately west of the Wetzsteon property.
The Miller exchange trades 800 acres of Department of Natural Resources and Conservation land in French Basin for about 1,400 acres of former Plum Creek Timber Company land near Lincoln, Long said.
The Lincoln portion of the land was purchased by the Nature Conservancy from Plum Creek as part of the Blackfoot Challenge, a community-based watershed protection group in the Lincoln area. The group is working toward acquiring 88,000 acres of former Plum Creek Land and so far, the Nature Conservancy has purchased more than 50,000 acres, Liane said.
Miller bought about 1,400 acres from the Nature Conservancy contingent on trading it to the DNRC for 800 acres of Sula State Forest that surrounds his ranch.
But the Wetzsteon land was presented to the state Land Board as a “stand-alone” deal, said Ravalli County Attorney George Corn. The board is the governmental body charged with approving DNRC land exchanges.
The Wetzsteon property hadn't even been discussed in December, when the board initially looked to make the final approval on the land exchange, Corn said. It wasn't until the people in Ravalli County objected that anybody looked into the Wetzsteon property, which has been for sale since July.
“This was done to mollify us after the fact,” he said.
But the Wetzsteon land has long been on the “wish list” for both the FWP and sportsmen in the valley, Long said.
It was so important for wildlife, particularly wintering elk, that Long has already been able to secure the typically stringent Habitat Montana money to buy it from the elk foundation, he said.
“In very short order we were able to secure $800,000 and go after this piece of property,” Long said.
But why not acquire the Wetzsteon property as well as purchase the land in Lincoln, and keep all the land in Sula, asked Sen. Rick Laible, R-Victor.
Laible proposed using a newly established land bank, in which the state holds money earned by selling DNRC lands, so it can buy other land that would be a better investment.
The land bank doesn't have any money in it yet, Liane said. However, there are several deals in the works that could bring money to the land bank within the next 18 months, he said.
“Would the Lincoln lands qualify for lands to buy?” Laible asked.
“I don't know,” responded Liane. “They would have to be analyzed.”
Another aspect of the exchange Laible challenged Liane and Long about was the valuation of the land.
When it was initially proposed, the Lincoln and Sula lands were both appraised by a Miller-hired appraiser at about $1,300 an acre, Liane said. That appraisal was based on the current access DNRC has to the Sula land, which isn't great, he said.
A second appraisal based on access to those lands through the Miller ranch valued the Sula land at about $4,300 an acre, Liane said.
That would make the 800 acres worth about $3.4 million.
But the current deal is valuing the land in Sula at about $2,700 an acre, or about $2.1 million, with a $160,000 bonus thrown in.
That means the DNRC is subsidizing Miller, Laible said.
“I think something has gone awry here and it's not in the best interest of the citizens of this state to have this deal go forward,” Laible said.
Acquiring the property in Lincoln makes perfect sense, he said. But losing access in Sula for this price shouldn't happen.
Plus, the state is essentially breaking its own rules with the exchange, said Sen. Jim Shockley, R-Victor.
“(The deal) shouldn't have got out of the chute,” he said.
The state must get the highest appraised value for the land, Shockley said. It must consolidate state lands. Neither condition is met under the Miller exchange, he said.
Plus, the issue of access to the land under trade hasn't been clearly answered.
Shockley believes the public has access to those lands from the south, but Liane believes the only access is from Rye Creek to the north.
Still, the point is access isn't definitive, Shockley said, and access has a bearing on value.
“We shouldn't be selling our land until we know what our access is,” he said.
As part of the deal, Miller must put a conservation easement on the state land he'd acquire, which would allow him to build a few cabins but not sell it for development. Also grazing domestic sheep on the ranch would be forbidden forever, protecting the resident bighorn sheep herd, Liane said.
Even though hunters couldn't access the land, it would still be protected for wildlife, he said.
“There is 800 acres that you lose access to that remains wildlife habitat, just under a different owner,” Liane said.
Meanwhile, the state consolidates ownership in the Lincoln area. Plus, if the Wetzsteon deal along with another proposed land exchange in the Sula area goes through, Ravalli County gains about 200 acres, he said.
Though the debate was heated at times and the subject complex, it was important to have the discussion at the fish and wildlife association meeting, said President Cheryl Dooley at the closing of the meeting. The point was to have club members hear both sides.
Mike Thompson, regional biologist from Missoula who attended with Long, gave the association a lot of credit in bringing its concerns about the exchange to the attention of both the DNRC and FWP. If it wasn't for it, the FWP wouldn't be pursuing the Wetzsteon property, he said.
“You made this happen and we fixed something we did even know was broken when you raised this issue,” he said.
Still, too many questions still need to be answered before this deal goes through, said Jim Olson, association member and former FWP commission member from Hamilton.
“Maybe this should be delayed a little bit until some of this stuff can get ironed out,” Olson said.
The Land Board decided at both its December and January meetings to table a decision on the exchange. Its next meeting is February 21 in Helena.
Land swap talk heats up
by GREG LEMON - Ravalli Republic
In an effort to get both sides of the story, the Ravalli County Fish and Wildlife Association invited those for and against a proposed land exchange near Sula to its regular meeting Monday.
Emotions heightened during the debate over trading 800 acres of public land near Sula for 1,400 hundred acres near Lincoln.
Mack Long, director of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Park's Region 2, and Tony Liane, area manager in Missoula for the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation explained the proposed exchange and related accords surrounding the project.
Long pointed to a recently proposed deal that would put 368 acres in French Basin into state ownership.
To make this deal work, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation would purchase an option on the acreage, owned by the Wetzsteon family.
Then FWP will use Habitat Montana money to buy the land from the foundation and then swap it with the DNRC for their inholdings in the Calf Creek and Three Mile Creek Wildlife Management Areas, which are run by FWP, Long said.
Habitat Montana money has to be spent to protect crucial wildlife habitat, he said.
The deal came along after protest erupted over the proposed land exchange between the DNRC and Shining Mountain Ranch, owned by J.R. Miller. The eastern portion of this exchange is immediately west of the Wetzsteon property.
The Miller exchange trades 800 acres of Department of Natural Resources and Conservation land in French Basin for about 1,400 acres of former Plum Creek Timber Company land near Lincoln, Long said.
The Lincoln portion of the land was purchased by the Nature Conservancy from Plum Creek as part of the Blackfoot Challenge, a community-based watershed protection group in the Lincoln area. The group is working toward acquiring 88,000 acres of former Plum Creek Land and so far, the Nature Conservancy has purchased more than 50,000 acres, Liane said.
Miller bought about 1,400 acres from the Nature Conservancy contingent on trading it to the DNRC for 800 acres of Sula State Forest that surrounds his ranch.
But the Wetzsteon land was presented to the state Land Board as a “stand-alone” deal, said Ravalli County Attorney George Corn. The board is the governmental body charged with approving DNRC land exchanges.
The Wetzsteon property hadn't even been discussed in December, when the board initially looked to make the final approval on the land exchange, Corn said. It wasn't until the people in Ravalli County objected that anybody looked into the Wetzsteon property, which has been for sale since July.
“This was done to mollify us after the fact,” he said.
But the Wetzsteon land has long been on the “wish list” for both the FWP and sportsmen in the valley, Long said.
It was so important for wildlife, particularly wintering elk, that Long has already been able to secure the typically stringent Habitat Montana money to buy it from the elk foundation, he said.
“In very short order we were able to secure $800,000 and go after this piece of property,” Long said.
But why not acquire the Wetzsteon property as well as purchase the land in Lincoln, and keep all the land in Sula, asked Sen. Rick Laible, R-Victor.
Laible proposed using a newly established land bank, in which the state holds money earned by selling DNRC lands, so it can buy other land that would be a better investment.
The land bank doesn't have any money in it yet, Liane said. However, there are several deals in the works that could bring money to the land bank within the next 18 months, he said.
“Would the Lincoln lands qualify for lands to buy?” Laible asked.
“I don't know,” responded Liane. “They would have to be analyzed.”
Another aspect of the exchange Laible challenged Liane and Long about was the valuation of the land.
When it was initially proposed, the Lincoln and Sula lands were both appraised by a Miller-hired appraiser at about $1,300 an acre, Liane said. That appraisal was based on the current access DNRC has to the Sula land, which isn't great, he said.
A second appraisal based on access to those lands through the Miller ranch valued the Sula land at about $4,300 an acre, Liane said.
That would make the 800 acres worth about $3.4 million.
But the current deal is valuing the land in Sula at about $2,700 an acre, or about $2.1 million, with a $160,000 bonus thrown in.
That means the DNRC is subsidizing Miller, Laible said.
“I think something has gone awry here and it's not in the best interest of the citizens of this state to have this deal go forward,” Laible said.
Acquiring the property in Lincoln makes perfect sense, he said. But losing access in Sula for this price shouldn't happen.
Plus, the state is essentially breaking its own rules with the exchange, said Sen. Jim Shockley, R-Victor.
“(The deal) shouldn't have got out of the chute,” he said.
The state must get the highest appraised value for the land, Shockley said. It must consolidate state lands. Neither condition is met under the Miller exchange, he said.
Plus, the issue of access to the land under trade hasn't been clearly answered.
Shockley believes the public has access to those lands from the south, but Liane believes the only access is from Rye Creek to the north.
Still, the point is access isn't definitive, Shockley said, and access has a bearing on value.
“We shouldn't be selling our land until we know what our access is,” he said.
As part of the deal, Miller must put a conservation easement on the state land he'd acquire, which would allow him to build a few cabins but not sell it for development. Also grazing domestic sheep on the ranch would be forbidden forever, protecting the resident bighorn sheep herd, Liane said.
Even though hunters couldn't access the land, it would still be protected for wildlife, he said.
“There is 800 acres that you lose access to that remains wildlife habitat, just under a different owner,” Liane said.
Meanwhile, the state consolidates ownership in the Lincoln area. Plus, if the Wetzsteon deal along with another proposed land exchange in the Sula area goes through, Ravalli County gains about 200 acres, he said.
Though the debate was heated at times and the subject complex, it was important to have the discussion at the fish and wildlife association meeting, said President Cheryl Dooley at the closing of the meeting. The point was to have club members hear both sides.
Mike Thompson, regional biologist from Missoula who attended with Long, gave the association a lot of credit in bringing its concerns about the exchange to the attention of both the DNRC and FWP. If it wasn't for it, the FWP wouldn't be pursuing the Wetzsteon property, he said.
“You made this happen and we fixed something we did even know was broken when you raised this issue,” he said.
Still, too many questions still need to be answered before this deal goes through, said Jim Olson, association member and former FWP commission member from Hamilton.
“Maybe this should be delayed a little bit until some of this stuff can get ironed out,” Olson said.
The Land Board decided at both its December and January meetings to table a decision on the exchange. Its next meeting is February 21 in Helena.
