Putting
the "Public" Back In "Public Trust"
"I
say, the wildlife and its habitat cannot speak so I must and I
will and YOU as the employees of the taxpayers of America are
obligated to do the same."
Susan Reneau
Due to too many irons
in the fire this month, I have not included the normal news links
and public victories, just immediate attention items until the
end of the month.
Missing Elk
Hunter Update: Aaron Joseph Hedges,
38, missing in the Crazy Mountains since Sunday, Sept. 7th is
still missing. If anyone sees or hears from Hedges, they are asked
to contact the Park County Sheriff's Office Dispatch Center at
406-222-2050.
Greg Todd , explained the efforts they
are taking, such as taking search crews and making helicopter
drops, so they dont waste time and resources getting to specific
areas hiking in. They have checked the two trails mentioned, as
well as the Sunlight Lake, a number of times. Even though the
weather is better, they do not wish to take on volunteers at this
time for several reasons: it adds another dimension to their rescue
efforts that could divert time and resources from their search
if a volunteer became injured and they had to then deal with the
volunteer; they would legally be liable for the well being of
any volunteers and their resources are already being utilized
at the maximum right now (such as radios, team leaders, equipment).
Celebrating
Out Public Trust Dinner Sept.
27th - Bozeman
Earlier
in the day in Helena, from 12:00 - 1:30 PM, there
will be a National Public Lands Day Rally at the Capitol, 1301
E 6th Ave, Helena, Montana
"At high noon on Saturday the 27th, hunters, anglers, hikers,
horsemen, and Montanans of all stripes will converge in Helena
to set up elk camp on the Capitol lawn. We plan to send a clear
message to state and federal decision-makers: keep your hands
off our outdoor heritage."
Blatant
Attacks against our Public Trust Fighters
Through this EMWH Newsletter, rather than hiding in the background,
I let y'all know of the blocklisting/blacklisting attacks against
us. We are not alone in this. I was going to post a recent newsletter
link from PLWA (Public Land Water Access Association), which does
awesome work fighting for our Public Trust. But their website
had a suspended message. So I contacted Lee, just in case they
were not aware that the renewal was up. It turns out that it is
not a renewal issue, they have been repeatedly hacked recently,
including their membership list. I dont think that is a coincidence.
So I am asking those of you that also
have sites, groups, etc., to shore up your logins, passwords (remember
to use longer strings of a variety of uppercase, lowercase, letters,
numbers and symbols and dont use anything that involves personal
information like birth years or used with other accounts), etc
to make yourself more secure. But also to keep eyes and ears out
for other attacks, please let us know so that we can keep the
Public Trust community aware of what the adversaries to our Public
Trust are attempting.
Public
Wildlife
Sept.
18th Deadline for National Bison Range Public Comments.
Please comment Alternative A - No Action to protect our Public
Trust from mismanagement and special interests.
Susan Reneau, "I further remind all of you that TWICE the
CSKT has been removed from the National Bison Range Complex for
the previous two Annual Funding Agreements and you need to examine
why that happened because it goes to the heart of the problems
associated with such an intrusive and illegal Annual Funding Agreement
that violates many levels of federal law and insults many levels
of federal workers that are dedicated to the betterment of the
entire National Wildlife Refuge System, but especially the National
Bison Range Complex."
Public
Lands
Please
Sign and share the Save Our Smith Petition
"Please contact Governor Bullock and Director Stone-Manning
by signing the petition. Let them know that the Smith River is
an incredibly important place for the people of Montana and across
the country and world, and should not be sacrificed for temporary
and risky mining activities."
Wilks
Brothers Ranch
- The
link is to Randy Newberg's Hunt Talk forum where Wingman flew
into the BLM Durfees Hills for an elk hunt. He has been photo
documenting the fencing that the Wilks Brothers are doing, directly
around the our BLM Public Land and possibly has crossed onto the
BLM at certain spots, helicopter flyovers, ripped up trees, trailer
parked in runway to block it. An additional issue is the illegality
of such fencing, as the Unlawful Inclosure of Public Lands Acts
prohibits such obstructing of our Public Lands.
I have been posting links to a variety
of documents involving the fencing laws. Housed at this Public
Trust Fencing Page where additional documents will
be uploaded. I would strongly suggest that people download and
print a copy of the BLM Fencing Handbook to reference. There are
probably more cases of this involving our Federal Public Lands
that we need to fight for.
Thank you to Jack Jones of Butte, who
provided links to the Red Rim news articles and was mentioned
in the Montana Standard with the Turner Fencing case years ago,
referencing the BLM Fencing Handbook which I found online.
The BLM Central MT District Office
in Lewistown 406-538-1900
I
would like to thank the following contributors for supporting
EMWH. Your gift is very much appreciated.
Karla Brandt
Skyline/Anaconda
Elk Litigation Fund
PO Box 173, Butte, MT 59701
Skyline
Sportsmen and Anaconda Sportsmens Associations lawsuit against
FWP & the FWP Commission
Thank you,
Kathryn QannaYahu
406-579-7748
www.emwh.org