MT Federal Land Transfering to the State!!!

[jjenness]

So with the legislative session going on right now there is renewed effort to transfer Federal Land in Montana to the State of Montana. One of the problems with this is the fact that the State of MT's tax burden will go through the roof and it will not be able to properly manage the land, which inevitably will require the sell off of certain parcels of public land to the highest bidder. There are special interest groups that are pumping money into this initiative so that they can buy the land that they want for themselves. Just Google the Durfee Hill's land exchange and you will get just a brief snipit of what I am talking about. When people like this can't buy the public land they want, even though they have billions of dollars, they turn to the politicians.

I urge you to read through this petition, and if you believe that all Federal Land belongs to all of us, regardless of what state you live in, I would encourage you to sign the petition and send this link to everyone you know. Thanks and God Bless.

http://www.mtgreatoutdoors.com

jjenness

 

[ceby7]

Signed proudly!

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Here, Here!

 

[shootbrownelk]

If the western states ever get title & control of federal lands you can kiss DIY public land hunting goodbye. It will as jjenness stated above, be sold off to the wealthy ranchers or speculators. It's all of our kids and grandkids that I feel sorry for. Can I sign again?

 

[Don K]

Signed, and sent to some friends.

 

[Alabama]

Signed but not a resident of Montana so I don't think my voice will be heard as loudly as some of yours.

 

[tdcour]

Any way the eastmans can put something on Facebook about this? Might be easier to forward and get more people to sign.

 

[gonhunting247]

Signed this morning! Thanks

 

[missjordan]

Signed, thanks for sharing!

 

[jjenness]

Just to give you some perspective on how State Land is currently managed, partially, here in MT. This first link shows how the State can exchange land to basically anybody, who has land they want to trade to the State. So essentially this only happens when a land owner wants a piece of Public property that their private property surrounds, IE like the Durfee Hills I mentioned. Problem is that rarely, if ever, does the private land owner want to exchange property of equal value, let alone higher value. But the State still can trade our State public land away.

http://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/77/2/77-2-203.htm

This second link basically says that the State of MT is allowed to determine what public land it will sell, which can be to anybody in an auction format within the county the land sits, as long as the State of MT benefits from the sale of the land. IE if the state were to inherit all Federal land, the tax burden would be too much to carry so they would surely sell of certain parcels of public land to create some revenue. Most likely it would be public land that is land locked currently, which the private land owner who borders that property would then be able to purchase.

http://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/77/2/77-2-301.htm

 

[Don K]

In the "big picture" this isn't just a Montana issue.

If it happens in MT it will happen in other states as well............

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Most likely it would be public land that is land locked currently, which the private land owner who borders that property would then be able to purchase.

http://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/77/2/77-2-301.htm

I'm not sure I'd trust any of them..............

 

[PlainsHunter]

I signed the petition as well- thanks for generating awareness.

 

[25contender]

Done on this end..... Mark

 

[Musket Man]

Im not understanding what is so bad about the Durfee Hill's land exchange. From the articles I found on it the exchange would give access to alot of BLM and most of the BLM that would be exchanged is land locked and cant be used by the public anyways and the 1 area some hunters are flying into doesnt seem very usable to the public or practical for most public land hunters. The BLM also seemed to be in favor of it.

 

[jjenness]

MM, the land in the Durfee Hills is single handed some of the best elk hunting/habitat in the state of MT. Now with that being said, you are right in that the general public does not have access and you do have to have a plane to access it. But there are many people who do access it each year.
The land that they wanted to exchange had at one point a road through it that the public was allowed to use to "drive" into the BLM area, and once they new owners bought that private land they shut off the road to the public. Many people speculate that the ranch that was bought, was bought with no other intention other than to exchange it for the Durfee's. Also the BLM land that was cut off is still accessible through a very long hike, but non the less still accessible. The problem is that with accessing it this way makes it unfeasible to hunt very effectively due to its large size. As of right now the BLM is building a road back into that area keeping the road on the public land so that people can effectively use the land again.

 

[mtnmikem]

Signed and thanks for keeping this going!

 

[buckbull]

Signed. Don K hit the bullseye. If this goes through other states will soon follow.

 

[libidilatimmy]

Signed. Wyoming currently has a bill in the works to provide funding for a study on the impacts of taking over land from the Fed's.

 

[go_deep]

Signed. Wyoming currently has a bill in the works to provide funding for a study on the impacts of taking over land from the Fed's.

Wyoming SF56 passed last Thursday and they will study what means/how they would manage federal lands if they where to gain control. I don't like that they are exploring the options.