Weyerhauser for Access?

[Ben Long]

Weyerhauser just announced it will buy Plum Creek Timber. This overnight makes it the largest private landholder in Montana. Plum Creek has always been great about open access for hunting. I've had zero experience with Weyerhauser. So, folks in Weyerhauser country, what is their rep for access and habitat conditions?

 

[RLS]

If they do what they did here in Oregon you can expect to pay for limited access. Permits are good only for specific areas, prices and rules vary.

 

[Nameless Range]

I've never hunted Weyerhauser, but I know in Oregon and Washington they are far more limited than Plum Creek has historically been, in terms of allowing recreation. They have a website dedicated to allocating/purchasing permits and/or exclusive leases.

Plum Creek land has essentially been public land, in terms of the recreation you could partake upon it. Quite the privilege. IMO This is worrisome.

 

[VAspeedgoat]

Did they buy all of Plum Creeks land? That will have an affect on the north east and in the south east if they did.

 

[BRI]

Do you have a link to the announcement? I hadn't heard about this. Would be nice if FWP could engage them in discussion early on to advocate for an access agreement.

 

[Washington Hunter]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...uy-plum-creek-creating-23-billion-timber-reit

 

[BigHornRam]

Wonder how this will be effected. Forest Legacy dollars were being applied for (which is now on hold). Probably will make conservation of this piece of NW Montana even more difficult.

http://www.plumcreek.com/about/news...rust-for-public-land-and-plum-creek-partner-t

 

[Washington Hunter]

One thing I know is that Weyerhaeuser does not allow any vehicles on their land that are not street legal. So no ATV's. Doesn't Plum Creek allow ATV's, even behind locked gates?

And of course, as others have already said, nearly all Weyerhaeuser land in Washington now requires an access permit, which are very limited in number and relatively expensive.

I bought an access permit from Weyerhaeuser this year. It was $300 and there were only 500 permits. They were sold only online and they sold out in 5 minutes.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Doesn't Plum Creek allow ATV's, even behind locked gates?

No ATV access of Plum Creek land at all here in Northwestern MT. Walk in only just like Forest Service. I don't know about other parts of the country.

 

[sra61]

This is not good! There is one hell of a lot of Plum Creek land around here that everyone hunts! There'll be a damn uprising!

 

[Gerald Martin]

This is not good! There is one hell of a lot of Plum Creek land around here that everyone hunts! There'll be a damn uprising!

Hopefully, the new owners will be willing to continue public access. I killed my buck on Plum Creek land last year.

 

[Gerald Martin]

double post

 

[jryoung]

It will be a really interesting data point if Weyerhauser maintains their access fee like in WA and OR for the next political session as it pertains to the transfer and corner crossing debates.

 

[quarterhorse]

Maybe there is already a conservation easement in place which would explain why it has remained open. If not the days of free public access may be numbered.

 

[Ben Long]

Some of Plum Creek land in Montana, particularly the Thompson River, is under conservation easement with FWP which, methinks, guarantees access to hunt and fish. PCTC has also sold a lot of its holdings to the USFS, which keeps it open. But there are big questions about other holdings. And, according to the papers, PCTC did sell all their holdings to Weyerhauser. But details are still emerging.

 

[Sapper.dawg]

In MS we had to lease Weyerhauser land....no open access rights. It became a bidders war and the price was starting to put many of the clubs out.

 

[BigBull301]

Prepared to get HOSED! You will be paying for access if you want to hunt their lands. All they care about now is shareholder returns. Anything to make a buck or save a buck, like eliminating retiree benefits!

I worked 30 years for these jokers until they sold my division to IP. Hosed a bunch of us on pension payouts, couldn't take a lump sum unless you were 57.

They used to be community and family oriented, those days are long gone.

 

[Big Fin]

This is not good! There is one hell of a lot of Plum Creek land around here that everyone hunts! There'll be a damn uprising!

Yes, same uprising as there was in this part of Montana in the early 1990's when PCTC sold much of their holdings in the Gallatin and Madison Ranges to Big Sky Lumber. BSL then started closing access to their lands, and closed access across their lands to the National Forest that lay beyond. That started a ground swell that ended up with three land exchanges to consolidate parcels; Gallatin I, Gallatin II, and Taylor's Fork.

Unfortunately, we are now without the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the source of money that helped balance the Gallatin exchanges. Without LWCF as the tool to make these exchanges work, we would have already been down the path in SW Montana. I am thankful we got it solved down here a decade or two before LWCF expired.

Thanks to the anti-public access clowns in Congress, LWCF died a slow death on September 30th and is no longer a tool that could helps solve some of these access issues. To save access as it currently exists, it will take some major creativity on the part of all sides. Wish I had some answers. I expect a lot of discussion from Montanans about the hunting access to these lands.

When dealing with Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT), you are dealing with publicly traded entities. Publicly traded entities are first and foremost accountable to the holders of the investment. Wish it was different, but that is the reality that needs to be considered with whatever solutions are proposed.

 

[Ben Long]

Plum Creek foresters used to tell me that it was far cheaper to just let people hunt their vast Montana lands than to try to police them. They have a large block management holding in Region 1, basically that recruits FWP wardens to help patrol their lands for gate busters, etc. Fair trade, I guess. But I think Big Fin nailed it: Big company decisions like this are EXACTLY why we need Land & Water Conservation Fund and well-managed public lands.

 

[thecrittergitter]

Do you have a link to the announcement? I hadn't heard about this. Would be nice if FWP could engage them in discussion early on to advocate for an access agreement.

Exactly what I was thinking..........This worries me big time. Plum creek has been dang good about pretty much allowing all access for hunting........