Putting
the "Public" Back In "Public Trust"
"
'I want you all to close your eyes and think of your favorite
public land,' said Land Tawney,
Executive Director of Backcountry
Hunters and Anglers, at the start of the rally.
'Now think of it with a no trespassing sign on it.' "
EMWH's
Celebrating Our Public Trust Dinner
Thank you to all those that attended the dinner, to those that
could not attend yet paid for tickets so that others could, to
Brad Croad for the elk venison I made into sausage and used in
the quiche, to the artists that contributed to the art fundraiser
(unsold art pieces will be listed shortly for those that might
like to purchase them) and to those that purchased the artwork,
helping us to Put the "Public" Back in the Public Trust.
Thank you to the volunteers who helped with the setup, artwork,
cleanup and the dinner serving, as well as the women who contributed
to the dessert buffet (oh, and Roost contributed an awesome pecan
pie).
I opened by sharing with our guests,
a quote from Theodore Roosevelt who gave a speech at the Sorbonne,
in Paris, France, 1910, which is often referred to as the Man
in the Arena.
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points
out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could
have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually
in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;
who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again,
because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but
who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms,
the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who
at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,
and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring
greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and
timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
I would like to very much thank Jim
Posewitz and Gayle Joslin for sharing on the Public Trust Doctrine
and Wilderness (Gayle's awesome heartfelt speech is linked below),
and to Ron Moody who shared on the Man in the Arena - activism
and voting. I would also like to thank Christian Appel, Montana
Chapter Co-chair, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, for setting
up a BHA table to share our BHA mission (yes, again shamelessly
plugging BHA).
Most especially, I would like to thank
Nancy Schultz who was the first contributor to EMWH, assisting
me in purchasing the webspace a year ago and has continued to
invest financially, and passionately of her research and time.
She is truly a "Woman in the Arena."
Wilderness History by Gayle Joslin
Helena
Public Lands Rally
- The afternoon of the 27th, there was a Public Lands Rally in
Helena, at the Capitol. Sadly, due to having organized the EMWH
dinner earlier this summer, and being the cook, I could not attend
this important event. And even though it rained, there were hundreds
of Public Lands advocates making a stand for our Public Lands
remaining in Federal hands.
" 'By virtue of federal lands,
such lands belong to people of Delaware and Kansas and Pennsylvania
just as much as they belong to those of use currently living here,'
said Brown. 'Why would the rest of the country want to just give
25 million acres of their land to the state of Montana?' "
Soaked
supporters rally for public lands
"Bozeman resident Charles Drimal brought his 4-year-old son
Elias along for the experience.
'This is not about our usual 30 to 60 (year old) crowd, but this
is about future generations,' Drimal said."
Thank you to all the organizers and
participants for such an important event and statement!
Public
Lands
Public Comments are
due Oct. 3rd, 5:01 PM on the Marias
River WMA Settlement Agreement Between FWP and the Wankens!!!
What is involved here? A historic prescriptive easement being
blocked by a landowner whose cattle and domestic bison are trespassing
on our FWP Wildlife Management Area without a grazing lease (stealing
from public taxpayers and rewarding him?)!
Divide
Travel Plan Public Comments needed
by Helena Hunters & Anglers
COMMENT PERIOD EXTENDED TO OCTOBER 6, 2014
Travel management analysis for summer and winter motorized use;
to provide a manageable system of designated public motorized
routes and areas consistent with 36 CFR 261.13. A programmatic
Forest Plan amendment for elk hiding coverage is included.
comments-northern-helena-helena@fs.fed.us
Subject line: Divide Travel
Plan
BLM
starts process to restore Bullwhacker access with by-pass
"The Bureau of Land Management announced today, it has begun
the process required to reestablish road access into the Bullwhacker
Coulee area of the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument.
'We are currently investigating four separate alternatives, to
reestablish road access into the Bullwhacker drainage, using portions
of existing roads whenever possible. Once these alternatives have
been identified and flagged on the ground, we will carefully analyze
the impacts of each alternative in an environmental assessment
to determine future public access,' said Michael Kania, the Upper
Missouri River Breaks National Monument Manager.
The BLM has initiated an open and transparent
public process in which the public will have a number of opportunities
to participate in a resolution long-sought after for restoring
motorized public access to the Bullwhacker area. The Bureau is
preliminarily considering four potential options to find a viable
access solution that would garner substantial public support and
be in the best interest of the American public the BLM serves.
'Public access to public lands continues
to be one of BLM Montana/Dakotas’ top priorities,' said
Stan Benes, the BLM Central Montana District Manager. 'Our charge
in this particular situation is actually to restore the access
the public historically had for many decades.'
The 60-day scoping period will begin
with public scoping meetings tentatively scheduled for Great Falls
Dec. 2, Chinook Dec. 3, and Lewistown Dec. 4. An environmental
assessment is expected to be available by May. The goal is to
complete the decision process in summer 2015."
For more information, contact Upper
Missouri River Breaks National Monument Manager Mike Kania (406)
538-1950. If you have comments or an option for the BLM to consider,
you may send an email to blm_mt_public_access@blm.gov.
Bureau
of Land Management introduces new planning process for public
land
" 'The BLM does not have a lot of tools for how to manage
places through their land management process,' said Joel Webster,
director of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership’s
Center for Western Lands. But the group thinks the new planning
process BLM is undertaking gives TRCP the opportunity to introduce
a new concept that it’s calling backcountry conservation.
The designation would preserve access to BLM land, maintain existing
uses, include weed management and restoration of habitat but block
any new development such as road building. The BLM lands the group
has identified in northern Montana, about 231,000 acres close
to the Missouri River Breaks and in the Judith Mountains, have
been identified by the agency as unsuitable for oil and gas development,
according to Hal Herring, an Augusta outdoor writer who has been
working with TRCP on the project."
Montana's
congressional delegation criticizes Forest Service photo rules
"The Forest Service proposes to make permanent temporary
rules requiring some users to acquire a permit costing up to $1,500
to shoot video or photos in the nation’s 100 million acres
of wilderness. Some interpret the rules as an attempt by the Forest
Service to categorize news media the same as people or businesses
that take images for commercial purposes...
Because of the public outcry, the Forest
Service announced Thursday that it will delay
finalizing the rule an extra month, until Dec. 3, while
it takes public comment, Tester spokesman Dan Malessa said in
an email. The legality of the proposed rules have also seen backlash
from First Amendment advocates around the state."
Proposed
Directive for Commercial Filming in Wilderness;
Special Uses Administration
Comments must be received on or before November
3, 2014 to be assured of consideration. Email comments
may be sent to: reply_lands@fs.fed.us
Public
Wildlife
Elk
Brucellosis 2015 Work Plan
- the final adoption of the 2015 brucellosis annual work plan
was scheduled for the October commission meeting. Due to FWP processing
more of the survey
results, they have delayed the final adoption for the November
13th FWP Commission Meeting.
I
would like to thank the following contributors for supporting
EMWH. Your gift is very much appreciated.
Hallie
Rugheimer
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
