This image shows in a higher degree what Alex Diekmann was able to do in Taylor's Fork. Every piece acquired that you see in dark green or striped-purple had been approved for 20-acre ranchettes. Those parcels also controlled access to the trails and roads that took you into the deeper parts of the drainage. This is the key migration corridor for elk heading from the NW corner of YNP to their wintering grounds in the Madison Valley.
I'm not sure how he did it, but I still remember when he called me and said, "We gotta meet. I can't tell you what, but get over to my office." I hung up and headed over, knowing he wouldn't call me and give me those instructions unless he had something really good.
Amazingly,he had worked a deal with the landowner who was beyond pissed at the USFS. The USFS would not let the seller use the USFS bridge to haul cabins into the parcels north of the Taylor's Fork. The guy, David Brask, got so mad, he flew one cabin in there with a chopper. He kept that 20-acre parcel and the cabin is still there.
Yet, somehow, some way, Alex got Brask to agree to this deal that was an option to purchase. The option had a short timeline. Alex, though not a hunter, knew that hunters carried a lot of clout with the MT delegation. He needed hunters to get funding and put political pressure on the Montana delegation to make this project a high priority for funding under the LWCF. That is where he needed my help. I called RMEF Founder Charlie Decker. I called some Hunt Talkers who were part of the local Headwaters Game and Fish Association, as we had a lot of success swaying the MT delegation to our way of thinking.
As a side note, one of our Senators, Conrad Burns, ran on a platform of "no net gain in public lands." Getting him on board was interesting. But, he agreed. He even gave a big speech at the ceremony about the value of public lands. Before he passed, he commented that some of his most memorable work as Senator was the public land work he was part of.
The Trust for Public Lands, Alex's employer, ponied up a ton of cash to buy sections Brask wanted sold before Congress could act. TPL did that, and if not, Brask probably would have walked before the deal could have got done. MT FWP and RMEF put in a lot of money. If ever you have a chance to work with TPL, you will be working with professionals who know how to get stuff done.
Alex had the private landowners on board. He got County Commissioners on his side. He got MT FWP to step outside their normal apolitical position and advocate for this acquisition. He got every group you could imagine. He brought all kinds of press and PR to the issue, such that if you weren't publicly supporting this project, you were viewed as aligned with Al Qaeda.
So many people to thank for this one. Too many to mention. Alex was rallying so many to the cause and letting everyone else take credit at the commemoration ceremony. His focus was already three more projects down the line.
If you hunt here, or if you hunt the elk that now migrate through here without having to dodge ranchettes, thank Alex Diekmann and Trust for Public Land. Many groups helped. Everyone I know who was involved would agree that without Alex and TPL, the Taylor's Fork and its amazing wildlife values would today be ruined; nothing more than another ugly human pox on an amazing landscape.
I'm not sure how he did it, but I still remember when he called me and said, "We gotta meet. I can't tell you what, but get over to my office." I hung up and headed over, knowing he wouldn't call me and give me those instructions unless he had something really good.
Amazingly,he had worked a deal with the landowner who was beyond pissed at the USFS. The USFS would not let the seller use the USFS bridge to haul cabins into the parcels north of the Taylor's Fork. The guy, David Brask, got so mad, he flew one cabin in there with a chopper. He kept that 20-acre parcel and the cabin is still there.
Yet, somehow, some way, Alex got Brask to agree to this deal that was an option to purchase. The option had a short timeline. Alex, though not a hunter, knew that hunters carried a lot of clout with the MT delegation. He needed hunters to get funding and put political pressure on the Montana delegation to make this project a high priority for funding under the LWCF. That is where he needed my help. I called RMEF Founder Charlie Decker. I called some Hunt Talkers who were part of the local Headwaters Game and Fish Association, as we had a lot of success swaying the MT delegation to our way of thinking.
As a side note, one of our Senators, Conrad Burns, ran on a platform of "no net gain in public lands." Getting him on board was interesting. But, he agreed. He even gave a big speech at the ceremony about the value of public lands. Before he passed, he commented that some of his most memorable work as Senator was the public land work he was part of.
The Trust for Public Lands, Alex's employer, ponied up a ton of cash to buy sections Brask wanted sold before Congress could act. TPL did that, and if not, Brask probably would have walked before the deal could have got done. MT FWP and RMEF put in a lot of money. If ever you have a chance to work with TPL, you will be working with professionals who know how to get stuff done.
Alex had the private landowners on board. He got County Commissioners on his side. He got MT FWP to step outside their normal apolitical position and advocate for this acquisition. He got every group you could imagine. He brought all kinds of press and PR to the issue, such that if you weren't publicly supporting this project, you were viewed as aligned with Al Qaeda.
So many people to thank for this one. Too many to mention. Alex was rallying so many to the cause and letting everyone else take credit at the commemoration ceremony. His focus was already three more projects down the line.
If you hunt here, or if you hunt the elk that now migrate through here without having to dodge ranchettes, thank Alex Diekmann and Trust for Public Land. Many groups helped. Everyone I know who was involved would agree that without Alex and TPL, the Taylor's Fork and its amazing wildlife values would today be ruined; nothing more than another ugly human pox on an amazing landscape.