Montana Untamed

When it comes to accessing public lands, the Bullwhacker Road dispute south of Havre has been one of the longest simmering and most contorted in Eastern Montana.

For 18 years the public, agencies and landowners have jousted over motorized access into a section of the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument via the road.

It provides vehicle access to between 35,500 and 50,000 acres of public land, depending on how it’s counted. The rugged coulees peppered with pine trees is located north of the Missouri River, west of Cow Creek and south of the Bears Paw Mountains.

Driving the Bullwhacker Road to reach the land, overseen by the Bureau of Land Management, requires traveling across almost 4 miles of private property. That’s where the dispute started.

On this episode, Brett French, outdoors and natural resources reporter for the Billings Gazette newspaper, untangles the back and forth of public access into the Bullwhacker area.

Montanans of all stripes seem to agree on at least two things: They care deeply about conservation and public lands, and life here is getting worse. 

Those were some of the key findings from a recent statewide poll conducted by the University of Montana. The results were released last Tuesday morning.

With me today is Joshua Murdock, outdoors and natural resources reporter at the Missoulian. He reported on the poll results and has covered results of similar polls across the West.

 

After more than 40 years and 1,200 holes, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has dug its last pit latrine on the Smith River. 

Starting this year, floaters are now required to carry with them something they have always been able to leave behind - their excrement.

According to FWP, the Smith River corridor was the only permitted river in the lower 48 that did not require people to pack out human waste.

In early April, I joined personnel from the U.S Forest Service, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks and volunteers from the Montana Vet Program on a five-day trip down the river to remove and raft out the latrines, officially ushering in the new era of recreational management on the river.

On this episode I sit down with Colin Maas, manager of Smith River State Park, to talk about the past present and future of managing the river.

The Smith River is a crown jewel of Montana’s natural splendor, but a proposed copper mine at its headwaters in central Montana has many people worried about negative impacts to the river’s pristine waters.

After years of litigation, the state Supreme Court approved a mine permit for the operation in February. 

But, environmental groups also took the state to court over the mine company’s water permit — a key regulatory hurdle for mine construction and operation to commence. 

On March 29, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Missoula over the mine as part of the court’s annual visit to the law school at University of Montana. 

There’s no decision yet but a decision either way will set precedent in Montana and could have wide-ranging effects. 

Billings Gazette Reporter Brett French has covered the mine extensively for years. But with me today is Joshua Murdock, outdoors and natural resources reporter at the Missoulian, who reported in person on the oral arguments before the Supreme Court.

 

Missoula County is reeling from the announcements recently of two huge wood products industry businesses closing and laying off all employees. 

Pyramid Mountain Lumber, the largest employer in Seeley Lake for 75 years, announced on March 14 it is permanently shutting down this spring. Less than a week later, Roseburg Forest Product’s Missoula particleboard plant announced it is permanently closing in May. 

Combined, the two companies are eliminating 250 jobs. They are the last two remaining large wood products businesses in the county, and the closures mark the end of a 150-year-era of wood products as an economic driver in the county.

With me today is David Erickson, a reporter at the Missoulian newspaper who’s been covering the news.

 

When the big game season ends in November, there is a guaranteed influx of goose hunters along the Yellowstone River east of Billings.

Since 1958, a portion of the river has been closed to waterfowl hunting. From the junction of the Yellowstone and Bighorn rivers, downstream to the Rosebud-Custer county line, the river has been off-limits to waterfowl hunting.

The closure was initiated when goose and duck numbers were low in the region. A survey in 1961 found only 500-some geese. By 2013 the same section held almost 40,000 geese. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has proposed reopening the river section to hunting.

The Fish and Wildlife Commission will consider the idea at its April 17 meeting.

Brett French, Billings Gazette outdoor editor, recently wrote about the issue and is here to discuss what he found out.

Moose hunting in southeastern Montana?

That may sound like the punch line for a off-beat joke, but Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is offering its first moose hunting permit for Region 7 this spring. The lone tag is being offered as the population of the largest member of the deer family has steadily grown in the region.

This seems at odds with what’s happening with the long-legged creatures in what is considered their native habitat, where populations have declined.

To learn more about the story, Brett French, outdoor editor at the Billings Gazette, is here to talk about the story he recently wrote.

The mission of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers is to “ensure North America's outdoor heritage of hunting and fishing in a natural setting, through education and work on behalf of wild public lands, waters, and wildlife.”

The national hook and bullet conservation organization has state based chapters in all but two states nationwide.

In Montana, the group advocates for protecting large parcels of backcountry fish and wildlife habitat, as well as the opportunity for traditional non-motorized hunting and fishing experiences.

With me today is Kevin Farron, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers regional policy manager for Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota to discuss how the organization work to shape policy.

 

Last week the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission debated what’s become a hot-button issue – restrictions on nonresident upland game bird hunters.

The debate arose after Fish, Wildlife & Parks Director Dustin Temple asked Commissioner Lesley Robinson to carry two amendments to the group. One would push back the nonresident bird dog training season by two weeks, the other would delay the nonresident bird hunting season by two weeks.

Here to discuss what led up to the discussion and the resolution is Brett French, Billings Gazette outdoor editor.

The Great Burn is referred to as “one of the last best places” by wilderness and wildlife advocates, snowmobilers and mountain bikers. All of them revere the quarter million-acre jumble of peaks along the Montana-Idaho border. 

But wilderness and wildlife advocates  — who have long pushed for bikes and snowmobiles to be banned from the area — now worry that new U.S. Forest Service plans could chip away at what they believe is the would-be crown jewel connecting the largest chain of wilderness in the Lower 48. 

The issue is a tangled bureaucratic web ensnaring two national forests, two states, one Forest Service regional office, a variety of user groups and a history of conflicting management on one shared landscape full of animals who can’t see boundary lines on maps. 

With me today is Joshua Murdock, the outdoors and natural resources reporter at the Missoulian, to help explain the issue.