Glad to see this starting to get more traction and the timing of it couldn't be any better.
Here is a huge encroachment on the north side, on the best elk travel corridor along the north public-private boundary. The exact location of these signs were provided to the BLM. I sent them an email with exact details of everything, upon our return from the hunt in October. The BLM asked if they could share my email with the Wilks Brothers. I told them to provide anything they want to the Wilks. In addition to the pic of this sign, I have screen shots of the GPS showing how far off it is at this critical point.
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How funny that the most important crossing on the north property boundary now has encroachment by 260-450', depending upon which corner you measure from. Just enough to influence the travel patterns of the elk coming from the private to the public at this key spot in their travels. Every other place on the north boundary looks to be +/- 20 feet of the boundary. To be so far off in this one place the elk use to get to the public is not accidental. I know it, the fence guy knows it, and the BLM knows it.
There is no doubt the BLM knows of this encroachment and its impact on elk hunting on the public lands. Had the Wilks followed the boundary lines here, as they did in the other places I looked at, the elk hunting on the Durfee BLM pieces would have been close to what it had always been. Yet, the Wilks now have it fenced in a way that when the elk come to the fence they put way over on BLM, the elk are then funneled west along the encroaching fence and over to the Wilk's property.
The Wilks can call it what they want. If the BLM does not investigate this and change it, things need to be looked at within the BLM. The fact that it has taken them this long and has required this much diligence from Kat is a bad sign. If the BLM had encroached and the landowner complained, I could envision Secretary Jewell making a personal to apologize and fix it immediately. Yet, when it is the reverse, somehow it is pretty low down the priority list.
I suggest anyone who wants to defend the Wilks and their actions take their GPS and go in there to see what has happened. Odds are, you will realize defending those actions is a lost cause.
And now I hear, the Wilks are pumping up some big round table in Helena next week. This is perfect evidence of how they play the game. Personally, the odd of them convincing me to support any land exchange with people who operate like they do, is very low. They think it is cute to pull some fifth grade playground BS of "I'll show them" and do all they could to mess up the elk hunting on public land. Knock yourself out boys, 'cause it is having the opposite affect with people like me.
I originally was hoping some solution could be worked out that would make sense for everyone and give the public better access to some great elk hunting opportunity, as not everyone is as crazy as I am and willing to fly in there. Had they come forward with something that made sense, rather than bending the public over the rail with the lame proposals they've thrown out there, I think they had a chance to get something accomplished.
But, they chose to go the other route. When they did not get their way and the public was not willing to sign on to a terrible exchange they proposed, they decided to kick dirt in the public's face and pull the crap of the tall fences, the encroachment, and all the other adolescent pranks. And now, they expect the public to kiss their feet and view them as some great folks with altruistic intentions. I ain't buying what they're selling.
The BLM needs to walk a very fine line on this one. If the BLM continues to delay and somehow this just gets swept under the rug, it will be a huge credibility crisis for the BLM. At least with MT folks. I doubt that will happen, given the profile of the case. A few days in DC showed me that we peasants out here in the hinter lands don't have a fraction of the input the slick-dressed lobbyists of big money have back in DC, so I am relying on the BLM folks to stand up and represent the public for whom they work.
