Rancher/outfitter close public road in eastern MT

[BourbonSnowCone]

@Big Shooter should know the details?

I expect he knows them better than anyone else.

 

[DP_PublicLands]

PLWA did a good job summarizing the issue:

(https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...3059/Key+Quarterly+Spring+2025_compressed.pdf)

PLWA is also a good resource for updates on these types of issues - Alex and crew will work hard.

 

[Forkyfinder]

Copied and pasted:

By installing a gate strategically
at their property line just 1,000
feet from the BLM boundary
(image right), the new
landowners have effectively
challenged the public status of a
road that accessed thousands of
acres of public land, including
the Seven Blackfoot Wilderness
Study Area. The image below
gives context to the amount of
public access to public land that
was lost. The distance between
the shores of Fort Peck Lake
(closest public access point) and
the gate on Seven Blackfoot
Road is approximately 4 miles.

An uphill battle. The Seven Blackfoot Road access issue is indicative of broader trends that we are seeing transpire across the State. As large properties change hands and exclusiveaccess to wildlife and public lands becomes more valuable than the agricultural potential,
we will continue to see public access challenged. While all is not lost on Seven Blackfoot
Road, we are facing and uphill battle and need additional evidence to take any sort of legal
action. We use this issue to illustrate what’s at risk and how easily access to thousands of
acres of public lands can be lost and almost forgotten in a rural part of Montana.Next Steps. With our options dwindling we are looking for folks that have additional information on Seven Blackfoot Road or have used this former access point in the past (to
document evidence of prescriptive use). We are also looking for any former or current
Bureau of Land Management employees that have accessed public ground administratively using this access point.
As you will see and hear from us in the coming months, Seven Blackfoot Road is just one example of a recent loss for the recreating public. As these losses continue to mount, we need your help now more than ever before. Please tell your friends, family, acquaintances and anyone that will listen about PLWA and consider making a contribution to help us continue
to fight for the special places in Montana, like Seven Blackfoot.

 

[Forkyfinder]

For emphasis - reiterating this - if you have used this for access previously please reach out to them.

With our options dwindling we are looking for folks that have additional information on Seven Blackfoot Road or have used this former access point in the past (to
document evidence of prescriptive use). We are also looking for any former or current
Bureau of Land Management employees that have accessed public ground administratively using this access point.

 

[Rack Daniels]

I figured it had nothing to do with trespassing except thinking it’s his airspace you’re traveling through even just staying on the road until you hit the public. It’s all for the outfitting dough. Could have guessed he’s not from MT

 

[cgasner1]

PLWA did a good job summarizing the issue:

(https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...3059/Key+Quarterly+Spring+2025_compressed.pdf)

PLWA is also a good resource for updates on these types of issues - Alex and crew will work hard.

met him a few months back at pint night solid guy great organization

 

[brockel]

Probably seen quite the uptick in hunters with 410 going limited entry

 

[Forkyfinder]

I figured it had nothing to do with trespassing except thinking it’s his airspace you’re traveling through even just staying on the road until you hit the public. It’s all for the outfitting dough. Could have guessed he’s not from MT

47.56167, -107.50048

Ive got a hard time seeing where the trespassing is going on, considering how little private land there is.

 

[brockel]

47.56167, -107.50048

Ive got a hard time seeing where the trespassing is going on, considering how little private land there is.

This place is surprisingly quiet about this whole situation.

 

[Gulf of America]

This place is surprisingly quiet about this whole situation.

The zone is sufficiently flooded.

 

[Forkyfinder]

This place is surprisingly quiet about this whole situation.

All depends i guess.

Here i thought you said "Matt Rinella" and bam the thread made it to 10 pages in a few hours.

 

[cgasner1]

This place is surprisingly quiet about this whole situation.

Curiously waiting for some information but it looks like a gate that shouldn’t have been put in

 

[PablitoPescador]

A few years back I had my bachelor party at Devils creek. There was an older guy camped there who was canoeing the whole length of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. He told us that he got caught in a bad storm there on Peck and nearly capsized. His words to us were “I like rivers. This isn’t a river. It’s an ocean.” He said he had talked to a couple local guys who had offered to load him and his canoe up and drop him off below the dam. Sure enough, they showed up toward the end of our time and loaded him up. Turned out it was a couple of the Phipps. The same people that had let me hunt their land and shoot my first deer and antelope when I was a kid. This guy barely had a dollar to his name and I doubt they let him pay them.

I tell this story because that’s the culture and code of that part of the world. The idea of closing a public road because you’re tired of pulling people out of the mud is absurd. People in that area do that kinda thing all the time and expect nothing in return. This rancher is breaking some major written and unwritten rules of the area

 

[INMT]

I’ve been donating to PLWA for years now. If they can beat this they will.

Would flooding the Garfield County Commissioners with phone calls do anything?

 

[Eric Albus]

If I still cared to hunt, I would love this. There’s plenty of access to all of this ground via the lake.

 

[Forkyfinder]

If I still cared to hunt, I would love this. There’s plenty of access to all of this ground via the lake.

Quite the boat ride, isnt it?

 

[Eric Albus]

Yes it is.

Some more FYI; gas tax roads have never been “legal access roads”.
The road in question is not, has not, and won’t be open to the public.
If you think the outfitter in question thought there was a chance that it was legal access he wouldn’t have touched it.

 

[Forkyfinder]

Some more FYI; gas tax roads have never been “legal access roads”.

Interesting. Id have assumed the public paid for it -- they had access. Is that in code somewhere?

 

[cgasner1]

Wonder how many people have access to the key to this gate. If lighting or something causes a fire or there is a medical emergency it could cause some serious issues for the guy that put the padlock on.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

When Solberg installed a gate and locked it, Rinella called the county sheriff and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks warden to see if it was a legal closure. When he was told it was a public road, Rinella hiked in to scout the terrain in the spring of 2024. Attached to his vehicle when he returned was a note telling him he had trespassed.

Rinella called Solberg who told him he had trespassed. Paschke also called Rinella to complain.

I'm curious how Rinella allegedly walking on a road to BLM in the spring inconvenienced @Big Shooter?

Wonder how many people have access to the key to this gate. If lighting or something causes a fire or there is a medical emergency it could cause some serious issues for the guy that put the padlock on.

Dont most first responders keep "Master Keys" on them?