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Public Lands

Our Heritage, Our Story

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(Photo by Nikki Simon)
(Photo by Nikki Simon)

I’m a 4th and 5th generation Montanan. I’ve had the grand privilege of living and recreating in almost every landscape this great state offers, so I suppose I was quick to take it for granted. That’s just life in Montana—big, wild, and authentic. As of recent, I’ve come to grasp the value of this amazing place. I’m realizing how much Montana is truly entwined in my identity, how the landscape has shaped the lives of the generations before me. My whole life—without my knowing at the time—my parents and grandparents have been teaching me the responsibility of calling yourself “Montanan”.

My great-grandfather homesteaded the Missouri River Breaks before the construction of the Fort Peck Dam. And even after my family was forced to sell their farm, after the Fort Peck Reservoir inundated the Missouri River country, the Breaks remained an integral part in their way of life. The Breaks taught my grandfather patience and perseverance, lessons passed down to me. My dad learned how to hunt in the Breaks, established respect for the animals that made the Missouri River home, and came to understand the value the land could teach us. My childhood is defined by the Breaks. I learned about dinosaur fossils, the thrill of raw discovery, basic survival skills, and how to watch weather there. I even had my first lessons in geology out there—identifying Quartz, Bentonite, and Leavarite (the rock you “leave-a-right” there!) The Breaks have been a scenic arena where I learned endurance, life values, and stories lost to the ever moving current of the Mighty Missouri River.

Preserving existing protections on land in the Missouri Breaks isn’t just about trophy hunting and maintaining recreational activity opportunities. This land is our heritage, our story to be shared and passed down to generations after us.

IMG_4880 Nikki Simon is a designer and illustrator living in Helena, Montana. Nikki worked for the U.S. Forest Service as a wildland firefighter while she attended the School of Art at Montana State University in Bozeman. Needless to say, conservation has become an important pillar in her values.  She enjoys trail running, hikes with her dog, and fly fishing the mighty Missouri River. To find out more about her and her work, visit www.humbletwig.com. 

Montana Wildlife Federation – Gear Lists

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waterfowl sunrise

Montana Wildlife Federation’s John Bradley was nice enough to share what he took out to Eastern Montana on an early season duck hunt on public lands. Often overshadowed by its superb big game opportunities, Montana has some of the country’s best waterfowl hunting, It’s critical that we as hunters do our part to protect this treasured resource. The best gear will be useless without clean water, intact nesting habitat and wetlands, and healthy populations of waterfowl. To learn more about how to get involved, visit montanawildlife.org or contact John at jbradley@mtwf.org. Now here is the gear that John is using:

Clothes

Waterfowl hunting in Montana can range from 80 degree days in early October to below zero days in late December. The clothes you need vary greatly on the temperature. In the early season, I use Cabela’s Northern Flight Neoprene Waders, LaCrosse Alphaburly muck boots, Drake Waterfowl ¼ Zip Pullover, and an old camo baseball cap.

In colder weather, I supplement the gear above with merino wool base layers and I add my Cabela’s Northern Flight Jacket as a shell. I try to avoid throwing on a cotton sweatshirt at all cost. Cotton absorbs moisture and takes a long time to dry, two things that can make for an uncomfortable duck hunt on a cold morning.

Decoys

I tend to use less decoys than most, mainly because I often hunt alone and hate making multiple trips to the vehicle.  My early season spread includes a dozen Avian X Blue Wing Teal Decoys (Texas Rigged), six Avian X Mallard Decoys (Texas Rigged), and four Cabela’s Northern Flight Canada Goose Floater Decoys.

Day Hunt

For an early season hunt I carry these basics. Some of the items serve as a back-up and stay in the vehicle.

  • License: Montana Resident Waterfowl License, Federal Duck Stamp
  • Gun: Benelli M2 Field in 12ga, Remington Model 11 in 20 ga
  • Ammo: Kent Faststeel 12ga #2s and  Kent Faststeel 20ga #4s
  • Calls: Zink Calls’ “ATM Green Machine” Duck Call, Zink Calls’ “Call of Death” Goose Call
  • Dog:  Ida, 5 Month Old Yellow Lab (not adviseable)
  • Dog supplies: Dog Food, Water, Crate, Lead, Whistle, and First Aid Kit
  • Binoculars: Vortex Diamondback 10×42
  • Headlamp: Cabela’s Alaskan Guide Series QUL Headlamp
  • Miscellaneous: Bore Snake, Wind Checker, Cushion Knee Pad

This is not a definitive list for every waterfowl hunter out there, but I’ve had good success over the years with this set up. Keep an eye out for more gear lists from the Montana Wildlife Federation as our staff head to the rivers, the fields, and the mountains this fall.

Make It Count for the Missouri Breaks

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Upper Missouri Breaks NM - CC License - Bob Wick
Upper Missouri Breaks NM – CC License – Bob Wick

With some of the best public land wildlife habitat in Montana, the Missouri Breaks is an essential part of our hunting heritage.

For the last 17 years, the Upper Missouri Breaks National Monument has protected this land for future generations to hunt, float, and camp, while also preserving working ranches and other public land uses.

Unfortunately, the Interior Department has decided to reopen the books and investigate the Breaks, along with other national monuments around the country, with an eye toward reducing the size of the monument and rolling back its protection.

Two years of local effort went into protecting the Breaks, but they want to undo it with barely two months of public input.

Visit the link below to leave your comments on the national monument review. And do these three things to make sure your comments get the formal record:

1. Make it personal. The federal beancounters will do everything they can to ignore comments that they think are mass-produced. Make your comments specifically about the Missouri Breaks and why you value this land, so they know you are a real person who cares about a real place.

2. Provide specific examples of how reducing the size of the monument or limiting public access will impact your use of your public lands. The more specific you can be, the better.

3. Say why you are qualified to comment. This doesn’t have to mean that you have a professional or academic credential – it is just as important to have personal experience hunting, floating, or camping in the Breaks. Just make sure you specifically say that, so they know your voice matters.

Comment on the Breaks

Majority of Montanans Oppose Changes to the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument

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Two people look out over the Upper Missouri Breaks NM. - CC License - Bob Wick
Two people look out over the Upper Missouri Breaks NM. – CC License – Bob Wick

A survey of Montanans released today by the Montana Wildlife Federation showed strong support for protecting the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument and clear opposition to any attempts to reduce its size or change its management.

Last month, the Interior Department initiated a review of national monuments designated over the last 20 years to determine if monuments designated by previous presidents should be eliminated, reduced, or altered. The review includes the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument in central Montana.

  • When asked about the Administration’s national monuments review, 59% of poll respondents said that they oppose eliminating the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument or reducing its size, with only 28% supporting such changes.
  • Fully 49% of respondents strongly opposed reductions in the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument.
  • Speaking about national monuments in general, 58% of respondents said that we should leave national monuments the way they are, with an additional 16% calling for more land to be protected through the designation rather than less.

“The Missouri Breaks include some of the richest wildlife habitat in the entire Great Plains, supporting trophy elk, deer, bighorn sheep and countless other species. This landscape has supported Montana’s hunting heritage for generations and created jobs in local communities,” said Dave Chadwick, Executive Director of the Montana Wildlife Federation.

“This survey confirms how much Montanans want to keep the Missouri Breaks the way it is now, so that future generations can continue to experience this important part of Montana’s natural history and cultural heritage,” he continued.

The Upper Missouri Breaks National Monument was designated in 2001 after two years of discussion by local communities, conservation advocates, ranchers, and other stakeholders. The monument protects 377,000 acres of public land under a management plan developed by Montanans to protect the Breaks’ natural resources, ensure public access, and maintain grazing and other traditional land uses.

“If the Department of Interior concludes its review and recommends reducing the size of the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument or eliminating it entirely, the federal government will be at odds with a majority of Montanans,” said Andrew Maxfield, the researcher who conducted the survey.

The poll follows the release of an analysis earlier this month by Headwaters Economics which showed that communities near national monuments experienced population growth and economic expansion after the designation.

“Hard data on key economic indicators show that the communities around the Missouri Breaks saw continued economic growth after the designation of the national monument,” said Chris Mehl, with Headwaters Economics. “This confirms what we’ve seen across the West: that national monuments are consistent with economic growth in adjacent local communities.”

The poll was conducted by Maxfield Strategic Communications Research, a national public opinion research firm. The results are based upon 702 random telephone interviews among likely 2018 voters in Montana. Sample was obtained from a list of active voters in Montana. Interviews were conducted by live interviewers reaching land lines and cell phones from May 21-25, 2017. This random sample of 702 has a worst-case 95% confidence interval of ±3.7% about any one reported percentage.

Share your voice, and speak up for the Missouri Breaks!

Results from a Survey on the Breaks National Monument_MSCR_MT_May 2017
Headwaters Economics Missouri Breaks NM Summary

MONTANA FAMILIES THRIVE ON PUBLIC LANDS

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brett_french_mother_son_fishingPhoto Credit: Brett French

Summer is upon us…and every mom in Montana knows what that means. Our local playgrounds, swimming pools, trails and rivers become classrooms for our wee ones for the next three months. The longest days of the year are spent catching frogs, roasting marshmallows on camping trips, and dodging elementary-aged neighborhood biker gangs pedaling off to their next adventure.
Moms across Montana wouldn’t have it any other way.

I beam with pride at the end of the day looking at my three little ladies from across the dinner table: knees scraped, hair a tangle of knots and pine needles, and faces flushed from a day of playing under the big sky…instead of having spent the day indoors glued to an iPad screen. Their memories will be peppered with urban adventures right out our backdoor, thanks to public lands and rivers.

The Montana Mountain Mamas spoke out early and often in support of programs such as the Land and Water Conservation Fund, because we rely on public lands every day to raise our kids. Even if we aren’t on a backpacking trip in the Bob Marshall, riding the Going-to-the-Sun Road in the springtime on bikes, or running the rapids on the Gallatin River – our public spaces positively affect our kids every single day. And as parents, we’ll protect their right to access public spaces that enable them to scrape knees and get muddy.

LWCF supports vital local urban spaces like community parks, trails, playgrounds, swimming pools, fishing access sites and soccer fields. Our public lands are so much more diverse than national parks and big game hunting grounds on forest service land. Our public lands are all around us, every day.

Programs such as LWCF are a win-win for all Montanans. LWCF is not a tax that we see; instead the funding is derived from offshore oil and gas exploration. It tackles big-picture conservation issues such as checker boarded public lands that effect wildlife migration, but also closer-to-home solutions such as funding for a local lacrosse field and urban connecter trails so that kids can take a trail from their homes all of the way to their school.

For most Montana parents, our public lands are where we raise our children. We depend on fishing access sites to float and fish our blue ribbon trout streams, we hold birthday parties in our neighborhood parks, and we make home purchases based upon proximity to playgrounds.

Kids who grow up in Montana get the best of both worlds. They understand the need for big country for big game, and often spend every autumn weekend hunting on our public lands with family and friends. However they also enjoy the local, close-to-home benefits public lands offer…like that evening casting session for trout in urban waterways across Montana.

The Montana Mountain Mamas are dedicated to raising our kids with plenty of fresh air, clean water, and access to it all. We are proud to speak out on behalf of our kids and our public lands. Visit www.montanamountainmamas.org to sign up for our newsletter, check out our latest gear review, or read our most recent blog post from gals across Montana.

Becky Edwards lives in Bozeman with her husband and three daughters, and is the Director of the Montana Mountain Mamas.

Jeff Lukas – MWF Elk Campaign Manager

Jeff Lukas

Elk Campaign Manager

Jeff Lukas is a passionate conservationist who has been fishing and hunting his entire life. Whether it’s floating a small stream chasing trout, pursuing elk in the high country, or waiting in a blind for ducks to set their wings, Jeff is always trying to bring more people afield to show them what we are trying to protect. He loves being in the arena, and he will never shy away from conversations about the beautiful and unique corners of Big Sky country.