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BLM Wilks Land Exchange Petition Delivered
LEWISTOWN NEWS-ARGUS
Wednesday April 16, 2014
Central Montanans speak up:
Central Montana Hunters for Public Access
Petition against land exchange reaches 1,600 signatures
Jamie Connell, left, Montana State Director for the BLM, receives a 1,602-signature ‘Citizens’ Petition’ from Ron Moody, right, of Lewistown as Central Montana hunters Mark Schwomeyer,
left rear, and Doug Krings look on. -- Photo courtesy of Jeff Patnode
By CHARLIE DENISON
News-Argus Staff Writer
LEWISTOWN NEWS-ARGUS
Wednesday April 16, 2014
Central Montanans speak up:
Central Montana Hunters for Public Access
Petition against land exchange reaches 1,600 signatures
Jamie Connell, left, Montana State Director for the BLM, receives a 1,602-signature ‘Citizens’ Petition’ from Ron Moody, right, of Lewistown as Central Montana hunters Mark Schwomeyer,
left rear, and Doug Krings look on. -- Photo courtesy of Jeff Patnode
By CHARLIE DENISON
News-Argus Staff Writer
A petition launched in February by the Central Montana Hunters for Public Access has exceeded the group’s expectations, as more than 1,600 people have signed it in less than two months.
Ron Moody, a Lewistown resident and co-creator of the petition, was surprised by
the big response.“We were blown away by the public response,” Moody said in a news release.
“We started off hoping for 200-250 signatures and ended up with 1,602.”
The purpose of the petition, Moody said, is to request the Bureau of Land
Management cease its efforts to exchange the Durfee Hill land in the Little Snowies for land north of the Missouri off Bullwhacker Road.
Of the signatures, 763 came from Fergus County, 256 from Cascade County,
126 from Yellowstone County and 91 came from Hi-Line Counties. In addition,
134 people from other states and three people from Canada signed the petition.
“This shows how much Montana public land means to all Americans,” Moody said in a news release. “Some are former Montana residents and some are hunters who have enjoyed our wildlife opportunities and took a new love of Montana home with
them.”
Jeff Patnode, a pilot who has hunted on the Durfee Hills, said it was hard to believe the petition got the response it did, considering those involved with the petition felt they could have tried harder to get signatures.
“The truth is we didn’t really push it that hard,” Patnode said. “We could have gotten twice as many signatures if we had really tried,” Moody added.
“Most people found the petition online, and it became a mini-viral thing. People kept finding it and forwarding it. I have no idea how many people posted the petition
on their websites.”
One goal of the petition, Moody said, is to educate the people of Montana. The proposed land exchange would give popular elk-hunting land over to Dan and Farris Wilks of Texas, who are reported to own 276,000 acres of land in the state.
“There is a much larger concern here than just an acres-for-acres land exchange,” Moody said. “This is more about access to our wildlife and what an exchange like this means for the future of living in Montana.”
If the Wilks brothers receive the Durfee Hills –a hunting spot only accessible by plane – there will be no place left to hunt for elk in the Little Snowies, Moody
said. “The Little Snowies host the second-largest elk herd in the state,” Moody said. “We don’t want to lose that.”
The land exchange being discussed would reportedly trade 3,000-plus acres of BLM land in the Little Snowies for parcels of land in Blaine County’s Bullwhacker area and would provide new access to 10,472 acres of BLM land in the Big Snowy Mountains of Fergus County.
Moody says the proposed land in the Bullwhacker area is already accessible to the public and alternative road access is currently being worked on to provide access to that part of the Upper Missouri Breaks National Monument.
“An alternative route is entirely feasible and can be even less harmful to the natural values of the area than was the old Bullwhacker Road,” Moody said in the news release.
When sharing the petition with others, Patnode said he was surprised how many people did not understand these particular details of the exchange.
“I was surprised at how few understood what was really happening,” Patnode said. “When hunters understood land would essentially be exchanged for land they already had access to, they weren’t in favor of the exchange.”
Presenting the petition
Last Wednesday, Central Montana hunters Mark Schwomeyer and Doug Krings
joined Moody on a trip to Billings to present Montana BLM State Director Jamie Connell with the petition.
“We talked with her for nearly two hours, exchanging information and views,” Moody said. “The BLM Associate Director and Deputy Director also participated. It was not a disputatious conversation. We were firm that we are not backing down and that we won’t give up the Durfee Hills without a fight. We don’t want the BLM to begin an
Environmental Assessment process.”
BLM Central District Manager Stan Benes said the next step is up to Connell.
Although uncertain what she will decide, Benes was willing to offer his professional opinion. “I told [Moody] and his friends that it is unlikely we will move ahead with the exchange as proposed,” Benes said. “If the exchange cannot be adjusted to
exchange different land in the Little Snowies area, it is likely we will move on to look at road proposals, but it’s [Connell]’s decision in the end.”
Benes said the petition certainly factors in to her decision.
“Our state director does listen to local people and she does pay attention to petitions,” Benes said, “but there are a lot of other people she listens to and a lot of other factors that go into making a decision.”
There are currently no public meetings planned, Benes added, as the BLM is waiting to see if there are any adjustments to the proposal.
“We were blown away
by the public response.”
- Ron Moody,
Press Release, April 14, 2014
From: CENTRAL MONTANA HUNTERS FOR PUBLIC ACCESS
Contact Ron Moody for more information.
406-538-2698 – 406 366 4086
[email protected]
{photo attached: Caption for photo:
Jamie Connell, left, Montana State Director for the BLM, receives a 1602-signature ‘Citizens’ Petition’ from Ron Moody, right, of Lewistown as Central Montana Hunters Mark Schwomeyer, left rear, and Doug Kring look on. The petition demands that BLM cease any effort that would trade away public ownership of the Durfee Hills in Fergus County. It also requests BLM to open a new road access to the Bullwhacker area this year.
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LEWISTOWN HUNTERS DELIVER CITIZEN PETITION TO BLM
A group of Lewistown area sportsmen has delivered their citizen petition to stop a BLM land trade to the Montana State Director of the federal land agency.
BLM State Director Jamie Connell received the 1,602-signature document during a meeting in Billings with members of the local group ‘Central Montana Hunters for Public Access,’ and with John Gibson, president of the Public Lands / Waters Access Association.
“We are standing up for public access to the second largest elk herd in Montana when we say we will not accept trading away the Durfee Hills land parcel that’s located in the middle of the Wilks Ranch,” said Doug Krings of Lewistown. “And we want BLM to get the job done to open a new road access into the BLM Bullwhacker Parcel north of the Missouri River.”
Gibson told Connell that BLM should simply decline the current land trade proposal by the Wilks landowners and take a stand that BLM will not consider a trade that includes the Durfee Hills.
Lewistown hunter, Ron Moody, coordinated the petition drive that gathered signatures on paper in Lewistown and several other communities as well as an online version of the same petition.
“We were blown away by the public response,” Moody said. “We started off hoping for 200-250 signatures and ended up with 1,602.”
“Without knowing, what would come, we found the petition was seized upon by Montanans to make a strong statement larger even than the land trade objection. People are saying they will not stand for their public lands being traded away and controlled by private interests, whoever those interests may be.”
Petition signers are most numerous in the Lewistown and Central Montana area. 763 Fergus County residents signed the petition. 439 local signers put their names on paper copies and another 224 signed online. Of the paper signers 329 identified themselves as registered voters.
Other significant concentrations of signers were in Great Falls, Billings, Bozeman and the Havre – Hi Line counties.
Another 134 signers were from other states. “This shows how much Montana public lands means to all Americans,” Moody said. “Some are former Montana residents and some are hunters who have enjoyed our wildlife opportunities and took a new love of Montana home with them,” Moody said.
The hunters also targeted Governor Steve Bullock, Congressman Steve Daines, and U.S. Senators Jon Tester and John Walsh on their petition and intend to deliver copies as opportunites arise, Moody said.
PETITION TEXT
We, the undersigned residents of Fergus County, Montana and surrounding communities hereby petition the Montana office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). We request the BLM to cease any effort or involvement in any land exchange proposal that would result in the loss of public ownership of what is known as the Durfee Hills BLM Land Parcel located in southern Fergus County.
We further request that BLM recognize that lack of an overland road access to the Durfee Hills Parcel does not equate to lack of public access. In fact, reasonable and adequate public access to this parcel is available by general aviation transport.
We also request the BLM to move forward with the opening of an alternative road access to the Bullwhacker area of the Upper Missouri Breaks National Monument.
Respectfully Submitted.
SIGNATURE LOCATION BREAKDOWN
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Signature counts for the PAPER petitions circulated by Central Montana Hunters.
GRAND TOTAL @ April 11, 2014 = 1,602
(1,465 MT resident signers)
Total paper signatures are 589 with 461 registered voters.
Fergus County - 439 signatures / 329 registered voters,*
******* total w/online = 763 total
Great Falls - Cascade - 112 / 96
******** total w/online = 256 total
Billings - Yellowstone Co 7 / 7
******** total w/online = 126 total
Hi-Line Counties 31 / 29
******** total w/online = 91 total
Signature counts for the ONLINE petition
at the time of this posting we have 1,013 online signatures
(the online program did not allow for identifying registered voters)
GRAND TOTAL @ April 11, 2014 = 1,602
*The proportion of paper petition signers who are registered voters is a bit over 78 percent.
** Apply that percentage to the entire sample of 1,465 MT resident signers and there are
1,145 signatures of resident Montana registered voters on this petition.
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Significant Online Signature Clusters
Lewistown – Fergus County = 224
Great Falls – Cascade County = 144*
Billings – Yellowstone County = 119*
Bozeman – Gallatin County = 68
Havre – HiLine Counties = 60*
Other States = 134
Canada = 3
*
