Montana Third Judicial District Court, Deer Lodge County - Judge Ray Dayton Although PLWA was not a party to this action, the results were extremely favorable to the cause.It involved closure of a road leading to private property of the Schillo's , other parties, and the national forest. The plaintiffs made the case that the road had been in existence since 1869, and that they and other parties had used the road without permission since the 1800's. The uses included, logging, stock movement, and hunting. The court found that clear and convincing evidence had been presented to prove a prescriptive easement existed on the road through "open, notorious, exclusive, adverse, continuous and uninterrupted" during the 5 year statutory period." (These are the esoteric and arcane legal tests of a prescriptive easement. ) The court examined testimony proving public use from the late 1800's up through the time when the Lampert's locked the gate.   ... (more)

Lodgepole Road - A MAJOR SUCCESS STORY ! The status of the northern end of this county road which extends northerly from the town site of Limestone, northwest of Nye, MT has been an issue for many years. It is now open for public travel. The last two miles which access thousands of acres of the Beartooth front and an extensive trail system, had been gated off by an adjoining landowner / outfitter who attempted to control the road. After extensive negotiations and action by PLWA and FWP, Stillwater County now acknowledged that it was a county road .(It was also critical for access in fighting the Derby fire in 2006. ) The road had fallen into disrepair and dropped off the county road system.   ... (more)

In a unanimous decision of Nov 17 ,2008 the Montana Supreme Court decided the Mitchell Slough is open to recreation under the state’s stream access law. The court ruled the 16-mile long slough/side channel roughly followed the century old historic course of a waterway and therefore was subject to public access and permitting like other natural waterways. Local ag interests and residents of an affluent subdivision which was crossed by the side channel , had closed access, claiming the slough was essentially a ditch belonging to them . They claimed their improvements on the ditch changed the nature of it to the point that it was not subject to stream access law. The Bitterroot River Protection Association argued that the "slough" was, and remains, a natural side channel of the Bitterroot branching from and returning to the main stem of the river. Montana FWP joined in the suit and argued that if landowners could manipulate waterways, they then could get them declared "not natural" and subsequently declared private property The decision overturned two earlier rulings by state district courts that ruled the slough was not a “natural, perennial-flowing stream.” If these decisions had not been overturned , the implications for stream access could be very dangerous.   ... (more)

The Circle R River Ranch and adjacent BLM land sit along nearly 5 miles of the north bank of the Yellowstone River, 30 miles east of Billings and northwest of Pompeys Pillar National Monument.Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks purchased the ranch for $5,298,300, which is $267,000 less than its appraised value and nearly $1 million less than the $6.25 million listed price. The money came from a combination of sources, including FWP's Habitat Montana program and the Governor's Access Montana Initiative. Habitat Montana is funded exclusively by hunting license fees. It is now called the Yellowstone River Wildlife Management Area . The new state park includes 3,976 deeded acres, 621 acres of leased State School Trust land managed by the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and 69 acres of federal Bureau of Land Management land.   ... (more)

A CASE WITH STATEWIDE IMPACT. In 2004 Mr. James Cox Kennedy, a major stockholder in the Cox Communications empire and owner of a 3,200 acre ranch on the Ruby river in Madison County took action to stop the public from entering the river on his property. Three public road bridges cross the Ruby river on the ranch and had been used frequently by anglers for decades. Fences at the bridge abutments on Duncan Road , Lewis Lane , and Seylor Lane were wired up to keep people from accessing the river - including electric fences at some places. This infuriated local anglers and floaters who organized a symbolic “float in” to bring attention to the situation. PLWA, not wanting to see this go unchecked brought action against the Madison County Commissioners to require them to stop Mr.   ... (more)

State lands are by law open to recreational public access unless very special safety issues dictate otherwise. However , State Land Sections 8 and 20 northwest of Billings had been closed by the local DNRC office for the better part of 20 years. DNRC Area Office Manager, Dick Moore made a decision on July 22 ,2008 to open the sections to the public. PLWA and PLWA members have been lead advocates for this opening. Because of their close proximity to Indian Cliffs and Lone Eagle Subdivisions, hunting will be restricted to archery. Both sections are bisected by Highway 3. Section 8 is bounded on the North by Alkali Creek Road.   ... (more)

Carten Creek Road near Gold Creek is a county road that had been used for decades to access a state section and a large block of BLM land. In 2003 a new owner installed locked gates at both ends of the road. This was a blatant attempt by a private party to privatize public land by blocking access. The Carten Creek Protective Association working with the Powell County Commissioners and private parties brought suit to challenge this closure and were successful in getting a temporary injunction keeping the road open in mid 2007 . On April 29, 2008 a settlement was reached in a public access case involving Carten Creek Road. The road is used for logging, mining activities, recreational use and access to private property, and in this case, Abel Trust and the Dutton Hereford Ranch sought to have the road declared private and not open to the public. Under the settlement the road will eventually be closed and a according to a press release by the Powell County Attorney's Office, the public will use Brock Creek Road instead.   ... (more)

(Blain County 2007.) The Bullwhacker Road southeast of Havre is now open after several years of closure and controversy. The road which serves as the only reasonable access to over 50,000 acres of BLM and state land – much of it in the Missouri River Breaks, had been closed , or open only by landowner permission, for several years. Prior to that it had been used by land managers, ranchers, and recreationists for half a century. Thousands of dollars of public money had been spent on maintenance . PLWA (formerly "PLAAI" ) expert volunteers researched road history and developed voluminous documentation proving it to be a “ public highway”. This was presented to the County Attorney who agreed and issued an opinion to that effect which opened the road.   ... (more)

Alexander Road leading to a state section just north of Billings was closed at the request of landowners a number of years ago. PLWA took the lead and with cooperation from other groups, prevailed with the Yellowstone County Commissioners to have the road be reopened to the corner of the state section . The FWP working with Montana DNRC and PLWA volunteers have opened a parking lot at the corner of the state section. This now opens 640 acres of state land for hunting, hiking, and wildlife watching neat the state’s largest urban area.   ... (more)

(Butte -Silver Bow county – 2007 ) Although the Highland Road had been open to the public since 1866. the C bar D ranch and the ranch owner locked up a gate, informing the public that the road was now private. The ranch owner advertised the ranch for sale at $4,000.000 hoping to capitalize on private access to thousands of acres of public land. PLWA officer Tony Schoonen spearheaded community action which resulting in Butte-Silver Bow commissioners voting unanimously to officially designate Highland Road as a county road and open to the public. In late 2007, District judge Kurt Krueger ruled that the county had acted within its jurisdiction to remove gates and locks from the well traveled route.   ... (more)

On December 12, 2007 the Fergus County Commissioners recognized County Road 606 as a county road as petitioned from Middle Bench County Road to Surenough Road . Road 606 had been padlocked up by a private party . PLWA attorney Devlan Geddes was hired by a group of citizens to stop the closure. The evidence was so overwhelming the defendants accepted the commissioners decision and chose not to go to court. Revised Statute 2477 ( "RS2477") , which presumptively creates a right of way for roads constructed on public federal land prior to 1976 was used to support the case. Because the dispute was between private parties, and did not involve access to public land, PLWA was not a party to the action. However, it is a great text book example of how citizen action can defeat illegal road lock ups .   ... (more)

Recreationists are now able to use the Fishing Access Site and a new boat ramp on the Yellowstone river near Pompey’s Pillar National Monument . PLAAI (Now "PLWA") working with Magic City Fly Fishers, Billings Rod and Gun Club, and others were able to determine that the island on which the site is located was , in fact, owned by the BLM. It had been claimed by a private party . This was the culmination of a five year effort .   ... (more)

The Jellison Road once served as an access to a section of Montana State School Trust Land near Billings. Back in 1964 County Commissioners closed the road crossing state land. In 2005 PLWA requested that the closed portion of the road be reopened for public use. Due to the efforts of PLWA and the Magic City Fly Fishers the road is now open to over 800 acres of state land with more than one half mile of frontage on the Yellowstone River.   ... (more)

The fence that restricted recreationists from access Cherry Creek where it flows into the Madison River was removed giving unrestricted access to the recreational corridor along the creek for approximately one mile, and then access at the bridge under Montana Stream Access Law. This was an out of court settlement of the Turner Land Exchange that PLAAI ( now "PLWA" ) had contested in the courts.   ... (more)

( North end of Crazy Mountains – 2006 ) Senator Conrad Burns inserted a rider into an appropriations bill granting a rancher outfitter out of Two Dot, access to large areas of the national forest across public land, without granting reciprocal access to the public. President John Gibson led the successful fight and large scale PLWA lobbying effort to get this removed . Had it gone through, the rancher would have made his nearly private access to almost 10,000 acres permanent, and would have presented the bill for the EIS to the public. (See also story in billingsgazette.   ... (more)

With the support of PLAAI and other sporting organizations, legislation was passed in the 2005 legislature which prohibited abandonment of highways providing recreational access to public lands or waters unless another road provides substantially the same access. (HB269) Here is a portion of the resulting statute :Montana Code Annotated (Montana Law) 2007 60-2-107. Abandonment of highways -- exchange of roadways -- public notice required. (1) Except as provided in 60-4-213 through 60-4-218, the commission may abandon highways on the federal-aid systems and state highways. (4) The commission may not abandon a highway, road, or right-of-way used to provide existing legal access to public land or waters, including access for public recreational use as defined in 23-2-301 and as permitted in 23-2-302, unless another highway, road, or right-of-way provides substantially the same access. Caveat : Provided for information only. Always seek appropriate legal advice before taking any legal action .   ... (more)

A agreement was reached with two landowners near Dillon to open state section #36 to the public, plus much of adjacent private lands. The road will be jointly built by the landowners.   ... (more)

( 1988 )As part of the original statehood action 5.2 million acres were deeded to the State of Montana to be used for school funding . . These lands are leased for farming, ranching, and logging. Prior to 1988, a citizen who wanted to recreate on school trust lands had to get permission from the lessee. This was often difficult because many lessees had contracted with outfitters or restricted access to friends or relatives. In 1988, two members of Public Lands/Water Access Association, Tony Schoonen and Jack Atcheson, filed a lawsuit against the State Public Land Department to open these public lands to the public.   ... (more)

Prior to the 2005 legislature, The Department of Transportation was under no obligation maintain stream access when replacing a bridge . In fact, when negotiating right-of way for new bridges, MDT was negotiating away access to save money. PLWA I working with MWF and other sporting organizations was instrumental in getting legislation (HB269) signed into law requiring MDT to insure that access at new bridges could be no less that at the old bridge. Here is a portion of the resulting statute from the 2007 Montana Code Annotated (Montana Law ) .Montana Code Annotated (Montana Law) 2007 60-2-107. Abandonment of highways -- exchange of roadways -- public notice required. (1) Except as provided in 60-4-213 through 60-4-218, the commission may abandon highways on the federal-aid systems and state highways.   ... (more)

In the late 1970’s , harassment of anglers and floaters on Dearborn and Smith Rivers lead to a lawsuits by which culminated in a historically important Montana Supreme Court ruling . One of the cases involved the Dearborn River and the late Michael Curran of Wolf Creek . The other involved the Beaverhead River and Lowell Hildreth of Dillon. Attorney Jim Goetz working with PLWA members Tom Bugni, Jerry Manley , and Tony Schoonen in the name of the Montana Coalition for Stream Access, prevailed in both cases. In 1984, after an unsuccessful attempt had been made to resolve the issue in the legislature, the Montana Supreme Court ruled “The public has the right to use Montana’s rivers and streams that are capable of recreational use, up to the ordinary high water mark.”. ( It is interesting to note that the unsuccessful legislation asked only for access to the larger navigable rivers.   ... (more)

(Madison county – 1988 ) The opening of this trail was one of the earliest projects of the Public Land Access Association . Closed by a New York businessman, it lead to the “ Cowboy Heaven” east of Ennis lake. PLAAI (now "PLWA" ) initiated legislation and won the judgment. Following the court order, Montana Power and BLM financed construction of a handicapped fishing access site and a trail head which exist to this day.   ... (more)

(2005)The road, near Fairmount Hot Springs, leading to the Hye Rye Ranger Station and the Mount Haggin Wildlife Area was locked up by a privatge landowner. PLAAI (now "PLWA" ) working with local sporting clubs and the Goetz law firm ,supplied the Silver Bow authorities the information necessary to verifying public status of the road. Evidence was overwhelming and no lawsuit was required. Commissioners agreed and the gate and signs were removed.   ... (more)

Repeated attempts have been made to sell public lands in Montana and the West. These are usually supported by those politicians who see any part of the public domain as a threat to private property rights . The latest was in 2005 when Rep. Richard Pombo of California , slipped in an amendment allowing anyone to stake claims on public lands under the guise of mining, and buy them for as little $1000 an acre . It did not have to be mined in order to get the patent. All that had to be done was demonstrate some type of “sustainable economic development’ . This could be condos or subdivision.   ... (more)

PLAAI (now "PLWA") worked with BLM to open road along lower end of Big Hole River.New gates were installed and the locks removed.   ... (more)

(Powell County – 1998 )These roads leading to extensive public lands in the Lincoln Ranger District , were padlocked closed by a landowner outfitter . After extensive research by PLAAI (now "PLWA" ) the status of the roads as public roads was acknowledged by the county attorney, and action taken by the sheriff to keep the roads permanently open.   ... (more)

(Gallatin County - 1983) The road leading to a spectacular canyon just a few miles southwest of Bozeman had been illegally closed by a landowner for over 20 years. Efforts by a PLWA member with a cabin permit in the area resulted in a ruling by a district judge that the road was a prescriptive easement right of access. Now an established county road leads to a trailhead and 20,00 acres of public land. Bozeman’s own mini--wilderness is permanently open for to public access .   ... (more)