A.G. Steve Bullock addresses PLWA Annual Meeting

Bozeman - April 4 -2009

The PLWA Annual Meeting, and confab was a great success. Newly installed Attorney General Steve Bullock, a strong supporter of public access law, was the keynote speaker . ( Steve did the legal work for the Attorney General office when the stream access laws were challenged by the Mountain States Legal Foundation . He won. ) A.G. Bullock indicated strong support for the access cause - particularly where illegal road closures occur - and pledged cooperation to the maximum extent possible within the statutory and professional constraints of his office. He said " When someone locks up a gate leading to public land, it makes Montana a little bit smaller for all of us ".

In addition to A.G. Bullock, Shane Colton the new Chair of the Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks Commission attended , and gave us valuable insights, as did our attorney Devlan Geddes .

The following directors and officers were elected :

Board of Directors to serve 3 year terms:

Tony Schoonen, Dennis Grundman, and John Gibson .

Officers:

John Gibson -Pres

Dennis Grundman -VP

Lee Gustafson –Secretary

Bernie Lea – Treasurer

Dennis Grundman was given standing applause for his long, dedicated , and effective service as secretary / treasurer .

related articles I-161 Guest Opinion ( 08/18/2010 )   Citizen Initiative 161 is sponsored by Montana resident hunters, tired of battling negative impacts caused by the current law guaranteeing Montana hunting outfitters 7,800 non-resident clients. These impacts include the loss of hunting access and the privatization of our wildlife. Sixteenmile Creek Acquisition Project ( 07/06/2010 )   Sixteenmile Creek Acquisition Project Needs Support and Comment. Two members of Public Land/Water Access Assoc.

public land issues Cherry Creek Road - Sweetgrass Cty Cherry Creek Road The Cherry Creek Road nine miles south of Big Timber, east off of Highway 298, crosses about a quarter-mile of Lee Smoot's property and then three-quarters of a mile of George Matelich and Michael Goldberg's ranch before reaching the Gallatin National Forest boundary – and 16,000 acres of public land. SCENIC VIEW ROAD - April 2010 IMPORTANT LOCAL ATTRACTION CLOSEDPrairie County commissioners are taking action approximately 2 years after a landowner erected a gate, installed a cattle guard and posted a sign across a road that leads to a popular scenic overlook northwest of the town of Terry.     10 more public land issues