EMWH Newsletter

Putting the "Public" Back In "Public Trust"

Public Trust Ground Hogs Day -
Here We Go Again!

Satirical Magpie - Hellbent Back To The "Brink"
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PLWA (Public Land Water Access Association) - BOADLE ROAD CASE GOES TO TRIAL AGAIN !
"Ever see the movie Groundhog day in which the leading character wakes every day to find out that it is the same day as yesterday? Well that seems to be the case with this situation in which the defendant, Mr. Jones, keeps losing and appealing and losing and appealing and losing and appealing.

He has openly defied the Montana Supreme court on multiple occasions and they are getting a little tired of it. (The court has ruled several times that the road and extensions of the road are a public right-of-way.)

On Monday June 23rd, a hearing on the latest iteration was held in the Teton County District Court at Choteau Montana. This hearing was specifically about the bridge leading to the Boadle Road. PLWA alleges that despite the 2003 order, Jones, in the fall of 2011, destroyed the Boadle Bridge crossing the Sun River Slope Canal thereby rendering the Boadle Road unusable, and that Jones posted "no access" signs adjacent to the Boadle Road in an effort to prevent the public from using Boadle Road.

The PLWA also alleges that Jones built a new bridge and access road on his property outside of the Boadle Road easement and posted this road and bridge with "private property, no trespassing, keep out" signs.

In the lawsuit, the PLWA asked the court to impose a sanction against Jones payable to the PLWA for violating the 2003 judgment; to order Jones to pay PLWA's court and attorney costs; to require Jones to replace the bridge; to remove all signs indicating the bridge is closed; and to require Jones to pay PLWA compensatory and punitive damages. If Jones fails to reconstruct the bridge, PLWA is asking the court to authorize PLWA or its designee (including Teton County) to reconstruct the bridge and to order Jones to pay for the reconstruction.

PLWA president John Gibson was there testifying on behalf of the organization."
To Contribute to PLWA, please click here.

Public Lands - Sage Brush Rebellion - Again.
Political disclaimer - EMWH is non-partisan. We are issue driven. We are also NOT a non-profit with their political restrictions. This issue of privatization of Public Lands, of which the Public is an owner, should be foundational in our decision making processes. Conservation Hunters & Anglers, Non-consumptive Conservationists alike should be looking at all the candidates from your city, county and state, to determine where they stand on public lands, natural resources. If you think that this is a non-issue, that this could not possibly happen, take a good look at what is taking place (next newsletter to include Art Canfields presentation on HR 1526 which passed the Federal House and is on the Senate). If you ignore this issue, it will bite us in collective Public Trust ass! We need to support candidates that stand against the selling/trading of our Public Trust.

Federal Lands Transfer Agenda of the EQC SJ15 Work Group
Again, this legislative group is meeting by phone conference June 26, 8:00 am to discuss transferring Federal Public Lands to the State. Our taxpayer dollars are paying for this.

Democratic and Republican Party Platforms Address Federal Lands Transfer to States
At the Democratic Convention a couple of weeks ago, the Democrats voted to defend Federal Public Lands as a Montana Democratic Party plank( I am still waiting for them to put the new platform up to link to). On the other hand, the Montana Republican Party just voice voted "unanimously" and without any debate to support Federal Public Lands Transfer to the States.
Today, the Missoulian ran an article,
Montana legislators say they didn't vote for GOP federal land resolution
"Delegates to the state Republican Party platform convention in Billings on Saturday did not unanimously approve a resolution that called for the turning over federally managed lands to the states, as the Lee Newspapers State Bureau had reported. It was a voice vote and appeared to be unanimous, but it wasn’t, two legislators said later."

We need a reckoning of what candidates support this land grab and which don't. This is a foundational issue.

US public land legacy has come under siege by Todd Wilkinson

"Whether in Cheyenne, Helena, Boise, Salt Lake City or Carson City, they’ve concocted fantasies — one of them not long ago proclaimed by Cliven Bundy — that federal public lands do not legally exist.

They’ve also attempted to rekindle a grassroots movement, supported by some members of Congress, to have ownership of national forests, Bureau of Land Management acreage and national parks turned over to state governments."

Speaking of Public Lands in Montana... The University of Montana's Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research conducted a study, producing a report in 2013 - Nonresident Values of Montana's Natural Areas Report
This study states that 3/4's of nonresident vacationers to Montana are primarily attracted to characteristics of public lands such as national parks, mountains, forests, and open space. Results show that nonresidents value Montana's public lands. The active group represented 57% of respondents and included: fishing, hunting, gathering, hiking, backpacking, horseback riding, bicycling, downhill skiing/boarding, cross-country skiing and non-motorized water activities. The Passive group represented 17% of respondents and included: developed and primitive camping, nature center activities, nature study, wildlife viewing, viewing natural features, visiting historic sites, picnicking.

ITRR had another 3 page Review of 2013 for 2014 outlook. Travel and Recreation, The Economics of "We Like It Here." This included Montana residents. "Montana residents, on the other hand, are even more in tune with the natural environment than nonresidents. Montanan’s spent $210 million on outdoor recreation trips at least 50 miles away from home in 2013. This equates to 4.2 million person trips taken by residents for outdoor recreation. Eighty-eight percent of Montanan’s over 18 years of age participate in outdoor recreation, significantly higher than national numbers of 49 percent who participated in outdoor recreation in 2012 (Outdoor 2013). Montanans use their outdoor spaces. Recent data show that the top eight types of outdoor facilities and areas used by residents are favored by more than 50 percent of our population (Figure 2). In addition, 74 percent of Montanan’s over 18 visit public lands, and 95 percent of Montanan’s say outdoor recreation is important to their personal quality of life (Nickerson & Metcalf 2013)."

Walsh introduces legislation to prevent Congress from selling public lands
On the Senate Floor Walsh calls the House of Representatives vote “as radical as it is wrong” "In Montana, public lands drive the tourism economy that supports 64,000 jobs and annually generates $5.8 billion in revenue."

The Skyline/Anaconda sportsmen are standing up for the Public Trust Doctrine, for scientific wildlife management, one of the principles of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. They are personally putting their money where there values are. If you would like to contribute to the Skyline/Anaconda Elk Litigation Fund, which they have already been paying for, we would greatly appreciate it.

FWP Bison Discussion Group Meeting Rescheduled
After the April Bison Discussion Meeting that was set in Lewistown was cancelled due to threats of violence (this was following the Cliven Bundy BLM debacle), another meeting has now been scheduled for July 14-15 at the Northern Hotel in Billings, MT. FWP will be issuing their press release on Friday, per FWP's Ron Aasheim.

Skyline/Anaconda Elk Litigation Fund
PO Box 173, Butte, MT 59701
Skyline Sportsmen and Anaconda Sportsmens Associations lawsuit against FWP & the FWP Commission

I would like to thank the following contributors for supporting EMWH. Your gift is very much appreciated.
Brad Ridgway of Paradise Valley, Nancy Schultz, Glenn Monahan, Bonnie Lynn, Carolyn Wilmont, Lynne Woods, Ward & Gloria Olson, Joe Newman, Steve Kelly, Sandra Wegner, and longtime avid deer hunter Mike Long who said to say, "Stop giving out so many doe tags!" :)

Thank you,
Kathryn QannaYahu
406-579-7748
www.emwh.org