|
Putting the "Public" Back In "Public Trust" "I
dont own horses. Does that mean that anyone who does, also owns
a trailer to haul them and can ride further into our public lands
to access the wilder, more habitat secure areas for elk, is privileged?
It costs more to own and raise horses than to fly into the Durfees.
I also dont own an atv (and trailer) to ride on the trails similarly
to the horses. That does not make those hunters with access to
that privileged. They simply have other tools at their disposal
that they invest in for their hunts or other recreation. I own
alot of expensive software and my construction, art tools for
some of my research and other interests. I read a quote about
a year ago, 'Dont tell me where your priorities are. Show me where
you spend your money and I'll tell you what they are.' So the
guys that own a small plane and took the time to train in it and
use it to fly in or fly their friends in, are no different in
my eyes than the public that invests in horses, atv's, canoes,
boats, big elk camp tents and equipment. They are simply investing
in tools to help them get to some awesome public lands to pursue
a passion of theirs -
in this case elk hunting." My reply to a persons thought, that flying into the Durfees might be viewed as privileged.
Please
take a moment to sign the
I
just got back from a spur of the moment documentation trip, north
of the Durfee Hills and to the Fergus County Courthouse. I was invited
out to the area by some landowners that border the Wilks. They had
been told about the research I had been doing on all the Durfee
Hills trespass violations, so we talked this last week. Two
of us drove over there, met with David and Jacqueline, got a tour,
had lunch, saw quite a number of deer, some turkeys, elk bulls as
we were leaving. These are genuinely concerned people that love
our public lands, access and wildlife, who felt they were alone
in fighting all this, not knowing there were others. The stories
they told us, stories they have been documenting, were upsetting.
It was also a nice time to establish trust, landowner/sportsmen
relationships. Then today I spent a good many hours at the Fergus County Courthouse. I came home with a ton of documentation. But, what is also telling is not just what was there, but what was missing from public records. There was like a Bermuda Triangle thing going on, with 2 index cards stating concerning county roads, that no information could be found, but I am a hunter. There is more to this Wilks land exchange proposal than I knew. And there has always been more than just public lands at stake, but our public elk herds from being privatized. So please, sign the above petition, to prove to the Montana BLM, that the MAJORITY of the PUBLIC is opposed to this land exchange of our accessible BLM public lands and the adjoining DNRC lands that we would lose access to as well. I would like to thank the two public hunting and access advocates that paid for the trip there and back; to Gail, an awesome, artistic woman who provided a room and awesome meals; to Tom Apple, who has been sharing documents on a connecting road issue and to David and Jacqueline for their hospitality, stories and their documentation. I will get all this online soon and a regular newsletter out shortly.
|
24/08/2015 Enhancing
www.EMWH.org
For More EMWH
|
