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Public Lands Transfer

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

Montanans Speak Out: Don’t Giveaway our Public Lands!

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Representatives from the American Lands Council (ALC) spoke at the Swan Lake Community Center in Condon last Tuesday evening to push their agenda of transferring and selling our public lands – the lands where most of us hunt, fish, hike and otherwise enjoy the outoors. An overflow crowd of more than 100 people attended the meeting, and an overwhelming majority spoke against efforts to transfer or sell our unique public lands heritage.

ALC speakers blamed federal land management for wildfires, mountain pine beetles, increased crime rates in rural communities and even rape. (Seriously: One of the presenters claims that a woman was raped because the town where she lives had a “budgetary shortfall” from “lack of logging revenue” from public lands)

The ALC claims that states would do a better job of managing our public lands. But several studies and economic analyses conclude that states like Montana could not afford to manage all the lands now managed by the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and other federal agencies. Plenty of precedence shows that states like Montana would most likely have to sell these lands to private interests. (The state of Idaho has already sold more than 40 percent of their state lands because they could not afford to manage it all.)

The ALC speakers presented half-truths, misconceptions and distortions, grossly oversimplifying and misrepresenting complex issues such as forest health, wildfire and wildlife management while dismissing sound, scientific research and ignoring we hunters, anglers, hikers and other local citizens who use, understand and cherish our public lands.

The American Lands Council and other industry-led efforts to sell or transfer our public lands insinuate that management decisions are dictated by bureaucrats from Washington DC. Actually, these decisions are made by local district rangers, foresters, engineers, wildlife biologists and other resource professionals who live and work in our communities — people who are our friends, family and neighbors. Their decisions are based, in large part, on local public needs, desires and input. Balance is achieved through the concepts of “multiple use,” or, as the first man Theodore Roosevelt appointed as Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, Gifford Pinchot, put it: “The greatest good for the greatest number of people.”

Efforts to sell and transfer our public lands are funded by out-of-state developers who would like to get hold of our lands for the sole purpose of unsustainable logging, mining, and vacation home development without safeguards to protect our fish, wildlife and wild places – safeguards brought about through the tireless efforts of we local hunters, anglers and others who enjoy public lands. The people behind the push to transfer and sell our public lands don’t really seek balance or compromise; they selfishly and greedily want it all. They don’t care about the health of our wildlife and wild places, and the hunting and angling opportunities they provide; they care only about profit. They’re not trying to find solutions to complex problems; they’re trying to rob us of our unique American heritage.

If the ALC truly wanted to support a “lawful, peaceful path to restore balance for a healthy environment, abundant outdoor recreation, and safe, vibrant communities,” they would not suggest selling and transferring public lands — they would, instead, support efforts such as the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project (BCSP). The BCSP is a locally-driven, grassroots collaborative effort to protect and enhance a variety of traditional land uses – including hunting, fishing, hiking, wilderness, logging and snowmobiling — in the Blackfoot and Clearwater Valleys while creating and maintaining jobs and helping local communities. It achieves true balance and protects and enhances true, traditional Montana values and activities.

It’s cooperative efforts like the BCSP that cut through the divisive rhetoric that often dominates discussions about public lands and achieve compromises and solutions that benefit us all. As the people of Condon made very clear last week — selling or transferring our public lands is not a viable or acceptable solution.

Thanks to all who defend our public lands legacy. As Theodore Roosevelt said of the public lands he so passionately fought to protect and defend: “We have fallen heirs to the most glorious heritage a people ever received, and each one must do his part if we wish to show that the nation is worthy of its good fortune.”

Dave Stalling is Montana Wildlife Federation’s Western Field Rep. To reach him about the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project or other issues email him at dstalling@mtwf.org

MWF Lauds Governor’s Plan to Protect Montana’s Public Land Heritage

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mountain-mamas-479 Photo courtesy of Montana Mountain Mamas

Our public lands are crucial to Montana’s heritage and our economy. Montanans hunt, fish, camp, and hike on public lands more than anybody else in the nation. Our access to the outdoors is why we live here, and it’s why tourists from all over the world visit Montana. Just last week, a poll found that 83 percent of Montanans believe that public lands are important for “protecting our culture and heritage.”

Over the last few years, Montanans from across the political spectrum have been working together to fight against proposals to transfer and sell off our public lands. These proposals are being advanced by special interests who believe that our public lands should be developed and sold off instead of protected for future generations. Thanks to the hard work of thousands of Montanans, we have stopped the public land grab dead in its tracks. Not a single bill has made it through the Montana Legislature, and our Congressional delegation is united in opposition to this idea at the federal level.

But fighting bad ideas isn’t enough. We also need to push forward to expand public access the outdoors and protect more lands for future generations. Our heritage, our economy, and our Montana way of life depend on it.

Today, Governor Steve Bullock announced a plan to defend and improve public access to public land in Montana. The Governor has called for:

• Continued vigilance against the transfer and sale of our public lands
• Full funding of Habitat Montana, which uses hunting license fees to open up access and protect habitat
• Creating a new Office of Outdoor Recreation to support outdoor economic development
• Creating a Public Access Specialist who will work to address specific problems with land and water access

These proposals will help Montana’s hunting, fishing, and outdoor heritage and support our economy.  Now we need to work to get our Legislature and other Montana leaders on board.  You can send a message to the Governor about his plan by visiting mtgreatoutdoors.org.

Public Land Debate: State Takeover Remains an Unpopular, Unworkable Idea

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Over the last few years, a small group of politicians and ideological activists have been promoting the idea that national forests and other public lands should be handed over to state management. Their efforts attracted attention last winter, when the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge was taken over by a group of armed activists who also called for all wildlife refuges, national forests, and other public lands to be transferred to states and sold off for private development.

Last week, MWF Executive Director Dave Chadwick was invited to participate in a debate over public land management with Ken Ivory, a state legislator from Utah who advocates the state takeover of public lands.

The debate spotlighted yet again the many reasons why handing national lands to state management is a fundamentally flawed, unworkable idea.

In calling for the state takeover, Ivory harshly criticized national public lands and suggested that national forests need to be managed like backyard gardens. He recommended that the federal government revive nineteenth century land disposal policies and transfer national public lands to state control. Under state management, these lands could be used to maximize revenue from oil drilling, logging, and mining in order to balance state budgets.

Offering a defense of national public lands, Chadwick focused on the many benefits that public lands provide for wildlife habitat, outdoor recreation, and the economy. He cited data on the economic benefits produced by both resource development and outdoor recreation on public lands. Finally, he noted the overwhelming public support for protecting public lands for all Americans and opposition to transferring lands to state management.

We’ve known for a long time that the state takeover of public lands would cut off public access and ruin wildlife habitat. Rejecting the multiple-use approach to public land management would be bad for hunters, anglers, hikers, bikers, and every other public land user. Budget realities would force states to manage lands for maximum revenue and ultimately sell them off.

In addition to being a bad idea, last week’s debate confirmed that the state takeover of public land is also completely unworkable. The whole concept is full of unanswered questions, empty promises, and speculative assumptions. During the 90 minute discussion, Mr. Ivory couldn’t answer the most basic questions from the audience about how state transfer or management would actually work, even if it were a good idea.

The state takeover of public lands has received more than its fair share of attention over the last few years – and it has been thoroughly rejected by the democratic process. It continues to move forward only because of the efforts of well-funded ideological lobbyists and headline-grabbing incidents like the takeover of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Public land management is a complex issue that merits thoughtful action and bipartisan agreement. Reforming wildfire funding, supporting local collaboration, expediting timber harvesting and restoration to improve forest health, and fully funding federal land protection programs are all ideas that enjoy bipartisan support. Speculative philosophical debates about state management of national public lands do a disservice to the American people.

Montana’s massive public lands rally, one year later

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President’s Day is a good time for Montanans to look back a year ago at the remarkable display of support for public lands that came together in a massive rally at the state Capitol.

On that day, 500 Montanans crammed the rotunda to show how much public lands mean to them. Organized by MWF, Montana Wilderness Association, and Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, the rally brought together everyone from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation to Montana Audubon – and the crowd included hunters and hikers, bird watchers and ATV riders, berry pickers and photographers. It included Montanans of all walks of life, every political persuasion and all ages. Our mountains, forests, foothills, prairies and rivers are more precious than gold, and it showed in the enthusiasm of the crowd.

The rally came in the midst of a state Legislative session that saw an unprecedented attack on our public lands. Some state legislators pushed for the “transfer” of national forests and other public lands to state ownership. They glossed over the details, including that such a transfer would require the largest expansion of state government since statehood and massive tax increases to cover the management costs including firefighting. Ultimately, the state would be left to sell off our lands to cover those management costs.

The transfer of public lands would also dramatically curtail the access that Montanans enjoy. It would lead to less multiple-use recreation, which is the charge of the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.

Proponents of the transfer had their talking points down, and they didn’t want to let facts get in the way of their story line. But we’re not falling for it. And the 500 people who turned out to keep public lands in public hands helped defeat every bill looking at the transfer of federal lands.

The takeover of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge last month in Oregon brings another point about last year’s public lands rally into sharp focus. While our members were passionate and fiery, nobody brought guns (even though many were life-long hunters with cabinets full of them). Nobody vandalized public property, threatened public servants, or laid claim to owning public buildings or land.

The Malheur occupiers espoused the public land transfer agenda by invading a community, taking over public property, and threatening government employees. Here in Montana, we defeated the public land transfer agenda by exercising the constitutional right to peaceably assemble. We should all be proud of our democratic process and grateful to our elected officials for hearing the will of the people.

Nick Gevock is the conservation director for the Montana Wildlife Federation.

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.