Read the fall 2015 issue of Wild Montana

Tony Bynum, www.tonybynum.com
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A PIVOTAL MOMENT
FOR OUR PRAIRIE
WILDLANDS
FROM THE PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
THE ROADLESS LESS TRAVELED
Montana Wilderness Association works with communities
to protect Montana’s wilderness heritage, quiet beauty, and
outdoor traditions, now and for future generations.
OF F ICE RS
COUNCIL MEMBERS
Lee Boman, Seeley Lake
President
Mark Hanson, Missoula
President Elect
Wayne Gardella, Helena
Treasurer
Yve Bardwell, Choteau
Scott Friskics, Great Falls
Barb Harris, Clancy
Gerry Jennings, Great Falls
Len Kopec, Augusta
HE LE N A OFF ICE
Allison Linville, Missoula
Addrien Marx, Seeley Lake
Charlie O’Leary, Butte
Rick Potts, Missoula
Bernard Rose, Billings
Greg Schatz, Columbia Falls
Patti Steinmuller, Bozeman
Alan Weltzien, Dillon
Jo Ann Wright, Great Falls
80 S. Warren, Helena, MT 59601 • 406-443-7350 • [email protected]
Brian Sybert, Ext. 104
Executive Director
[email protected]
John Gatchell, Ext. 106
Federal Lands Policy Director
[email protected]
Cedron Jones, Ext.112
GIS Mapping Specialist
[email protected]
Denny Lester, Ext. 105
Creative Services and
Technology Manager
[email protected]
Laura Parr, Ext. 110
Business Manager
[email protected]
Sarah Shepard, Ext. 102
Development Director
[email protected]
Carl Dietchman, Ext. 104
Finance Director
[email protected]
Ted Brewer, Ext. 109
Communications Manager
[email protected]
Amanda Hagerty, Ext. 108
Special Projects Coordinator
[email protected]
Kelsee Dalton, Ext. 111
Development Coordinator
[email protected]
Molly Severtson, Ext. 103
Donor Relations Manager
[email protected]
James Sutcliffe, Ext. 101
Development Assistant
[email protected]
CHAPTERS
F IE L D OF FICE S
Billings Field Office
Charlie Smilie
Eastern MT Field Director
2822 3rd Avenue N. Suite 204
Billings, MT 59101
406-690-3725
[email protected]
Great Falls Field Office
Mark Good
Central MT Field Director
1400 1st Ave. N.
Great Falls, MT 59401
406-453-9434
[email protected]
Bozeman Field Office
105 West Main St., Suite 2B
Bozeman, MT 59715
406-404-1000
Libby Field Office
Ashley South
108 East 4th St. Suite 205
Libby, MT 59923
406-291-2708
[email protected]
John Todd
Conservation Director
[email protected]
Salley Cathey
Southwest MT
Field Director
[email protected]
Choteau Field Office
Casey Perkins
Rocky Mountain Front
Field Director
P.O. Box 37
Choteau, MT 59422
406-466-2600
[email protected]
Missoula Field Office
118 W. Broadway, Suite 1
Missoula, MT 59802
Gabe Furshong
Deputy Director
406-461-6897
[email protected]
Zack Porter
Western MT Field Director
406-823-0695
[email protected]
Kassia Randzio
Community Engagement Manager
406-830-6035
[email protected]
Clayton Elliott,
State Policy Director
307-272-6298
[email protected]
Eastern Wildlands Chapter
2822 3rd Avenue N, Suite 204
Billings, MT 59101
[email protected]
Whitefish Field Office
Amy Robinson
Northwest MT Field Director
750 2nd St. W, Suite A
Whitefish, MT 59937
406-730-2006
[email protected]
Flathead-Kootenai Chapter
750 2nd St. W, Suite A
Whitefish, MT 59937
[email protected]
CDT Program
Shannon Freix
CDT Program Manager
912 2nd Ave W.
Kalispell, MT 59901
406-499-2309
[email protected]
Meg Killen
CDT Field Crew Leader
406-250-3439
[email protected]
Sonny Mazzulo
CDT Field Coordinator
301-651-5818
[email protected]
Island Range Chapter
1400 1st Ave. N.
Great Falls, MT 59401
[email protected]
Madison-Gallatin Chapter
105 West Main St., Suite 2B
Bozeman, MT 59715
[email protected]
Shining Mountains Chapter
118 W. Broadway, Suite 1
Missoula, MT 59802
[email protected]
Seeking the perfect getaway? Consider an adventure off the
beaten path in eastern Montana.
First, make sure you take along Buttes, Breaks, and Badlands,
MWA’s new geotourism map of southeast Montana and your
guide to everything that makes this corner of the state special.
Visit our online store at wildmontana.org to purchase your copy.
Second, speak up for the wild places you visit and be aware
of how the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is managing
those places.
In September, the BLM released its Record of Decision on the
Hi-Line and Miles City Resource Management Plans (RMP),
determining how the BLM will manage 5.2 million acres of public
land in eastern Montana for the next 20 to 30 years.
The Hi-Line RMP included healthy protections for sage grouse
that went a long way towards protecting other wildlife and
wilderness values on the landscape, such as primitive recreation
and the opportunity to enjoy the amazing solitude you can find
on the Hi-Line.
That’s the good news. Unfortunately, of the 400,000 acres the BLM identified as having
wilderness character on the Hi-Line, the agency plans to only manage 16,000 acres for
their wilderness value. That will leave special places such as Carpenter Creek, Lower
Grant Coulee, and Caravan Marsh Hawk Hills unprotected.
Out of more than 2.7 million acres covered by the Miles
City RMP, the BLM has chosen a mere 5,200 acres to
be managed for its wilderness characteristics. That’s a
paltry .2% of the 2.7 million acres the BLM manages in
southeast Montana.
Speak up for the wild
places you visit and be
aware of how the BLM is
managing those places.
So, get your Buttes, Breaks, and Badlands map and have an adventure in southeast
Montana, but make note of your experiences and share those impressions with the BLM
(the number of the state office is 406-896-5012). Tell your friends too! The more people who
enjoy and appreciate eastern Montana’s wildlands, the more likely we and our children and
grandchildren will continue to have wild places to experience in eastern Montana.
Enjoy, and Keep It Wild!
PRAIRIE WILDLANDS
M O N T A N A
FA L L 2 015
On the cover: Sun setting over
the Frenchman Creek area,
northwest of Glasgow.
Montana Shares, PO Box 883, Helena, MT 59624 800-823-2625 [email protected] www.montanashares.org
Wild Montana is a publication of the Montana Wilderness Association. Excerpts may be reprinted with permission.
Design and layout: Real World Design. Wild Montana is printed on recycled paper.
2
Brian Sybert, MWA
Executive Director
Wild Divide Chapter
80 S. Warren
Helena, MT 59601
[email protected]
Montana Wilderness Association is a proud member of Montana Shares and sends a huge thanks to
everyone who contributes to MWA through workplace giving. Montana Shares provides MWA with a
reliable and consistent source of income from participants in workplace giving campaigns.
www.wildmontana.org
Lee Boman,
MWA President
www.facebook.com/wildmontana
W I L D M O N TA N A
SOUTHEAST
MONTANA
A new geotourism map
features this often-overlooked
corner of the state
UPDATES FROM
THE FIELD
The latest from MWA’s
on-the-ground work around
the state.
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12
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Tony Bynum, www.tonybynum.com
by Mark Good
areas left in the Great Plains
where you can experience
the buttes, breaks, badlands,
coulees, island mountain
ranges, and open forests the
way Lewis and Clark did in
the early 19th century or as Charlie
Russell painted these lands in the early
20th. Public lands in central and
eastern Montana, home to some of
the last unbroken prairie in all the
Great Plains, offer that opportunity.
In September, the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) released the final
drafts of three resource management
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W I L D M O N TA N A
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plans (RMPs) that cover many of these
lands, including those in the Hi-Line,
Miles City, and Billings districts. In
addition, we expect a draft RMP
covering central Montana’s Lewistown
District in early 2016. Together, these
four plans will guide the management
of several million acres of public lands
across the eastern two-thirds of the
state for the next 20 to 30 years.
MWA staff and volunteers have spent
hundreds of hours in the field over the
last several years collecting data that
demonstrates the wildness of landscapes
across these parts of the state. That data
continued
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Tony Bynum, www.tonybynum.com
Devil’s Creek, for its wilderness
characteristics—a mere 5,200 acres,
or .2%, of the entire district.
Left out were almost all of the wild
and remote public lands in southeast
Montana, including Rough Creek and
Dry Creek, where buttes rise from
rolling hills and unbroken grasslands,
places that offer rare opportunities to
experience profound solitude on our
high and lonesome prairie.
has helped us make a forceful case
for protecting our prairie wildlands.
As a result of our work, the BLM has
significantly increased the number
of places it recognizes as “lands with
wilderness characteristics,” a term
the agency uses for places that are in
a natural condition and provide
opportunities for solitude and
primitive recreation.
6
The BLM created a nearly one-millionacre “focal area” along the Hi-Line to
protect core sage grouse habitat. Any
kind of surface-disturbing activities—
such as oil and gas drilling, mining,
new roads, transmission lines, and
pipeline lines—are now prohibited,
with no exception.
All in all, the three plans released in
September are a mixed bag. The BLM
made a concerted effort to protect
sage grouse and to avert their listing as
an endangered species but gave far less
consideration to explicitly protecting
areas with wilderness characteristics.
Here’s a short overview of the plans
for Hi-Line and Miles City districts:
These focal areas include Marsh
Hawk Hills, Long Coulee, and
Carpenter Creek to the north of the
C.M. Russel National Wildlife Refuge,
as well as Frenchman Breaks to the
north of Malta. Offering exceptional
habitat for deer, elk, bighorn sheep,
raptors, and upland birds, these
areas will remain as they are into the
foreseeable future as long as there’s a
concerted effort to protect sage grouse.
Covering more than 2.4 million acres,
BLM lands in the Hi-Line District stretch
from the Sweet Grass Hills north of
Chester to the Bitter Creek Wilderness
Study Area northwest of Glasgow.
Unfortunately, the BLM has decided
to manage only a tiny fraction of the
Hi-Line’s public lands explicitly for
their wilderness character. Carpenter
Creek, Lower Grant Coulee, and
Caravan Marsh Hawk Hills—all north
of the C.M. Russell National Wildlife
W I L D M O N TA N A
Refuge—are a few of the areas that
didn’t receive protection as sage
grouse focal areas or as lands with
wilderness characteristics. These are
places where mule deer, elk, and
bighorn sheep thrive and where you
can have a prairie experience that
recalls Montana’s frontier history
and culture.
MWA won’t give up on all the special
places the BLM chose not to protect in
its RMPs and will continue to hold the
agency’s feet to the fire as it releases its
draft RMP for the Lewistown district
and the travel plans for the Hi-Line and
Miles City districts. Working with our
members and partners, we will work
towards solutions that give wilderness
the long-term protection it needs.
This BLM district includes 2.8 million
acres of public lands scattered across
much of the eastern portion of the
state. Like the Hi-Line plan, protecting
sage grouse was a priority, but the plan
didn’t come close to including all of
the areas that need protection. In fact,
this may be one of the least protective
RMPs the BLM has issued since the
beginning of the Obama administration.
Frenchman Breaks area north of Malta
(above) offers exceptional habitat for
bighorn sheep, as well as deer, elk,
raptors, and upland birds.
Brent Brooks
The BLM has a duty to manage our
lands for multiple values, and that
means protecting sage grouse as well
as wilderness.
The BLM will protect 2.3 million acres
as sage grouse habitat, though will
still allow limited development on
1.4 million of those acres. The field
office will manage only one area,
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OFF THE BEATEN
PATH IN SOUTHEAST
MONTANA
Following National Geographic’s lead, MWA presents
Buttes, Breaks and Badlands: Off the Beaten Path in Southeast
Montana, a geotourism map of this beautiful corner of our
state and the perfect companion for exploring its unspoiled
landscapes, rich history, and colorful communities, including
museums, eateries, and more. Here’s a sampling of the
many fantastic destinations you can visit with our map as
your guide. To learn more about the map or to order one,
please visit wildmontana.org or call Amanda Hagerty
at 406-443-7350.
Forrest Theisen
MWA’s new geotourism map of southeast Montana
is your guide to everything that makes this corner
of the state an adventurous and enriching destination.
National Geographic defines geotourism as “tourism that
sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place—
its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the wellbeing of its residents.”
The map features a wealth of wildlands, eateries, and museums all the way
from Bridger to Sidney, from the Pryor Mountains to Makoshika State Park.
Looking out over Chalk Buttes near Ekalaka
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More Buttes, Breaks and Badlands
Forrest Theisen
Forrest Theisen
The Tongue River Breaks near Ashland
Forrest Theis
en
Pronghorns in the
Powder River Valley
near Broadus.
Forrest Theisen
The Carter County
Museum in Ekalaka, a
treasure trove of
homesteading history,
Native American artifacts,
and paleontology.
Capitol Rock National Natural Landmark near Ekalaka
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UPDATES
FROM THE FIELD
Robert Childs
TEN YEARS STRONG IN THE BLACKFOOT
BUNKER & UPPER SULLIVAN CREEK — A LOGICAL
ADDITION TO THE BOB MARSHALL WILDERNESS
Blackfoot
Valley wetlands
near Ovando
–Zack Porter, western Montana field director
Mike Brown
Sullivan and
Bunker Creeks
are important
travel corridors
for mountain
goats, grizzly
bears, and
wolverines.
Located in the Swan Range south of the Jewel Basin and adjacent to the treasured Bob
Marshall Wilderness, Bunker and upper Sullivan Creek is one of those areas that not too
many people seek out as a destination. It’s remote and it’s hard to get to. As such, it serves
as outstanding wildlife habitat.
The U.S. Forest Service appears poised, however, not to recommend Bunker and upper
Sullivan for wilderness in its forest plan. We need to change the agency’s mind.
In 1983 renowned biologist Doug Chadwick wrote about the importance of Sullivan and
Bunker Creeks as travel corridors for mountain goats, grizzly bears, and wolverines. He
highlighted the importance of protecting the North Fork of Bunker Creek, particularly near
Bruce Ridge, which he describes as “a major travel corridor for goats, grizzlies, and elk
moving from Bunker and Addition Creeks up toward Thunderbolt Mountain and across
into Lost Creek.”
One year later, Gerald Stokes, the Recreation, Wilderness and Lands Staff Officer
for the Flathead National Forest, concluded that this area should be added to the
Bob Marshall Wilderness.
In 1985 The Wilderness Institute wrote, “There is no question in our minds that
Bond/Bunker Creek has the prerequisite qualities necessary for consideration as
wilderness. Bond/Bunker Creek provides outstanding opportunities for solitude as well as
primitive and unconfined recreation…. The area appears primarily affected by the forces
of nature.”
John Weaver, a biologist for Wildlife Conservation Society, recently described this area
as being “especially important” for wildlife.
Today the Forest Service manages this area as grizzly core habitat, but still doesn’t think
it should be managed as wilderness. To change course, the agency needs to understand
that broad support for wilderness has existed for decades and exists today.
Please share your story, your heart, and your support for the protection of Bunker and
upper Sullivan Creeks. Contact me today at arobinson@wildmontana or submit your
opinions to Forest Supervisor Chip Weber at [email protected].
In 2005 snowmobilers and wilderness advocates in the Blackfoot set aside their
differences and agreed to a proposal that added more wilderness in exchange for an
established winter recreation area.
This year we celebrate the ten-year-anniversary of this collaborative effort that would
go on to be called the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project.
Soon after that 2005 agreement, the group began attracting outfitters, wildlife
advocates, community leaders, and timber industry representatives. By 2008, the group
reached consensus on a suite of forest management goals, including the addition of
90,000 acres to the Mission Mountains, Scapegoat, and Bob Marshall Wilderness Areas,
a move that would safeguard the West Fork of the Clearwater River (a stream crucial for
bull trout) and the wildlife-rich slopes of the Swan Range above Seeley Lake.
A year later, Sen. Jon Tester stood in front of the Seeley Lake Chamber of Commerce
and announced that he had selected the Blackfoot Clearwater proposal as one of three he
would wrap into the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act. Though FJRA has yet to be passed,
the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project is stronger than ever and has become the
standard for collaborative efforts in the West.
Over the past six months, MWA has helped guide the collaborative through revisions
to its proposal. The group will take its renewed agreement on tour this fall to showcase
its strong support and encourage our congressional delegation to prioritize our proposal.
Join us this winter for events in Missoula, Ovando, and Seeley Lake to learn how you
can help get this innovative effort across the finish line. Also, contact Sen. Tester at
(202) 224-2644, Sen. Steve Daines at (202) 224-2651, and Rep. Ryan Zinke at (202) 225-3211
and let them know that you want to see ten-years of collaboration pay off in the Blackfoot.
For more information about the upcoming events in Missoula, Ovando, and Seeley Lake,
visit wildmontana.org.
–Amy Robinson, northwest Montana field director
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UPDATES
FROM THE FIELD
A BUSY SEASON IN THE BADGER
The end of summer and early fall brought an abundance of changes to the Badger-Two
Medicine area, including a landmark recommendation by a federal panel and the end of
another trail-stewardship season for a group of Blackfeet youth.
This August, MWA expanded our commitment to the youth of the Blackfeet Reservation
by creating two trail crews that each worked for two weeks. In all, 10 young people helped
clear and maintain trails in the southern region of the Badger, near Swift Dam. The crews
worked hard, had a great time, and learned about conservation issues and opportunities
from camp guests. They also forged lasting connections with this sacred landscape,
connections that will help them safeguard this important wild place as the work toward
permanent protection begins.
On the heels of this successful summer program came an unprecedented field hearing
in Choteau held by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP). This federal panel
came to Choteau to gather public input regarding proposed oil and gas development in
the Badger. MWA partnered with the Blackfeet Tribe to get the word out. As a result,
more than 100 people packed the room on September 2. All but one speaker, the lawyer
representing the company that wants to drill in the Badger, called for the cancellation of
all remaining leases in the Badger, citing the Badger’s tremendous spiritual, cultural,
historical, and ecological values.
Heeding this call for cancellation, ACHP urged the Departments of Interior and
Agriculture to work together to ensure development never takes place in the Badger.
We expect Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell to decide in the next month whether
drilling should or should not occur in the Badger.
Stay tuned for more exciting news on the Badger and visit wildmontana.org for
the most up-to-date information.
Why am I a member?
Because we can’t
afford to lose a single
wild acre. There’s
far too little wild land
left. Plus, I love
volunteering on the
Continental Divide Trail,
where you see no trail or
poor trail at the beginning of the
week and new trail at the end.
I enjoy the accomplishment of
doing something good for the
wildlands and the people who
want to traverse these places
in a quiet way. And, of course,
I really enjoy the people.
WHY I
GIVE
–Karen Porter, Butte, MT
MEMBERS MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Thanks to the new members who joined Montana Wilderness Association from July 8 to October 9, 2015.
BUTTE BEAVERHEAD
AREA
Shawn Christensen
John Fort
Fred Josozvich
Mark & Abbie Phillip
EASTERN WILDLANDS
CHAPTER
Cora Crecelius
Shirley McDonald
FLATHEAD-KOOTENAI
CHAPTER
–Casey Perkins, Rocky Mountain Front field director
Shandra Anderson
June Burgau
Scott Daniels
Wm. Fred Frost
& Natalie Neckumann
Paul Heitschmidt
Kurt Kress
Mary Kujawa
Fred Lebow
David Leishman
Shelley & Abe McCoy
Marlin McKeever
ISLAND RANGE
CHAPTER
Virginia Abbott
Peter Briant
Mitch Forsyth
Larry Gannon
& Trudi Gannon
Sandra Kempa
Kaylee Lewis
Josy McLean
Tamara Podry
Maggie Carr
MADISON-GALLATIN
CHAPTER
SHINING MOUNTAINS
CHAPTER
John Baden
Barbara Brill
Jeanne Dehart
Jessica Geary
Ann Halverson
Scott Hamburg
Dixie Hooper
Billy Howard
Malcolm Kay
Spencer Kirkemo
Sarah Lingo
James Martin
Ellen Ornitz
Metta Ravenheart
Louise Weldon
Chelsea Angel
Sarah Barnes
James Boyle
James & Elaine Brock
Edward Brown
C Diane Conner
Emily Dubrawski
Silke Jauck
Arlene Tande
WILD DIVIDE
CHAPTER
Christina Ardary
Maureen
& Lawrence Cole
Sally & Josh Dickinson
Emma Elson
Richard Gilsoul
John Murray
Philip Tullis
Van’s Thriftway
OUT OF STATE
Evelyn & Frank Ansley
Sheila Bowley
Kenneth & Linda Briggs
Shirley Call
Robert & Diana Gillespie
Robert & Jessica Gilliam
Bridget Johnson
Neil Kiernan
Gayle Kravik-Blair
Ann Mackaben
Robert & Patricia
Mazzullo
Kelly Posewitz
Karen & Vince Rizzo
Ben Tickle
MWA HIRES NEW EASTERN MONTANA
FIELD DIRECTOR
MWA is pleased to welcome our new eastern Montana field director,
Charlie Smillie.
A third-generation Montanan, Charlie was born and raised in Billings. His
grandmother Marie was a schoolteacher in Ekalaka before moving to Glendive,
where she raised Charlie’s mother Margie and her five siblings.
Before departing for the University of Montana’s College of Forestry
& Conservation, he developed a deep appreciation of eastern Montana.
Both the vast, subtle beauty of the High Plains and the grandeur of
the soaring Beartooths shaped his outlook as he worked on behalf of
wilderness with the Selway-Bitterroot Frank Church Foundation and
Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards.
As a newly minted MWA field director back in his hometown, Charlie
will work creatively to enrich the community of Montanans who value our
prairie wildlands for their ecology, history, recreational opportunity, and,
of course, their sheer beauty.
PARTNERING FOR THE WILD
Mystery Ranch has joined forces with
MWA to protect Montana’s wildlands.
Mystery Ranch is donating 5% of sales of
its Metcalf and Marshall Wilderness Packs
to ensure that we have plenty of places
to roam with nothing but our wits
and a great backpack.
www.mysteryranch.com
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Montana Wilderness Association
80 S. Warren, Helena, MT 59601
Visit our online store at wildmontana.org or call Amanda at 406-443-7350 ext. 108.
Order your 2016 Picture Wild Montana Calendar today.
Celebrate the diversity of Montana in all seasons.
Permit #151
Great Falls, MT
PA I D
Non-Profit Org.
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