Putting
the "Public" Back In "Public Trust"
Public
Trust Under Attack - Public Fighting Back
The following are a number
of articles and news items which have come up recently as a result
of what I view as a blatant attack on the Public Trust Doctrine
(PTD), which I will be covering more shortly. I would like to
preface this topic with this document - The
Role of State Wildlife Professionals Under the Public Trust Doctrine.
"The primary purpose of establishing commissions during the
first half of the last century was to insulate
decisions affecting the public's wildlife from the vagaries of
partisan politics in the legislative arena or Governor's office.
Horner argued this insulation from political influence is essential
to effective application of the PTD."
Ongoing
Elk Debacle
(update on the lawsuit coming shortly)
DOL Taking MT Hunters For A Spin (click
for larger image), The Satirical
Magpie
Fish
& Wildlife Commission discards consensus elk plan by Dr.
Mark Albrecht
" 'Commissioners Gary Wolfe of Missoula and Chairman Dan
Vermillion of Livingston both clearly understood the lack of sportsmen
support but still felt they needed to do "something".
As a member of the statewide working group, I know the level of
consideration and effort that went into achieving consensus for
our objectives. Why would these two FW commissioners completely
ignore that guidance? Is Wolfe pandering to the Legislature for
approval? Is Vermillion seeking livestock support for a higher
office?
In essence, a small self-appointed
group composed almost entirely of livestock owners and with only
the support of livestock owners caused the FW Commission to disregard
their own accepted fundamental objectives and turn a blind eye
towards the statewide elk brucellosis working group’s years
of effort. I am disappointed, but unfortunately, not surprised.'
"
BLM Public Land Trade
BLM
pulls Durfee Hills from proposed land exchange
Thanks to the hard work and networking of the Central Montana
Hunters For Public Access, over 1600 signatures were collected
which shut down a Texas billionaire land trade, using a previously
public access road to BLM public lands as hostage in negotiations.
Attached is the Central Montana Hunters press release - Central
Montana Hunters applaud Wilks Brothers gesture, but press ahead
on new BLM access route to Bullwhacker
Stand
up for Montanans' access to public lands by Tony Schoonen
"We hunters and anglers intend to leave the Wilks alone to
manage their private property as they see fit. But we Montanans
are not going to let Brenden and his billionaire friends tell
us how to manage our public land.
In a larger view, this whole topic
is about what the future of Montana outdoor recreation will be
like when private estates are 10 times as large as today’s
traditional ranches."
Forest Logging Proposal
Critics
decry lack of public input on forest proposal
“What just transpired here is that the governor’s
office and the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation
hand-selected a group who got together, with no public notice,
and over the course of five phone calls they decided that 5.1
million acres of Montana forests should be opened to logging under
weakened and streamlined public input processes and limited environmental
impact analysis,” Koehler said. “Over the course of
five conference calls, seven people came up with 5.1 million acres
of fast-track public lands logging. That’s more than a million
acres per conference call.”
Bozeman
man sues governor over proposed logging
“I have a responsibility to vigorously defend the rights
of citizens protected by the Montana Constitution,” Kelly
said. “When government officials forget to follow their
oath of office, or simply choose to act in a way that tramples
the constitutional rights of all Montanans, individual citizens
must be vigilant. It’s what citizenship is all about.”
Thank you,
Kathryn QannaYahu
406-579-7748
www.emwh.org
