There are numerous islands on the Yellowstone River for which ownership is not clear. Initial research tells us some are being illegally claimed by private parties. Because of changes in the riverbed since the original meander surveys around the turn of the last century, ownership determination is best handled on a case by case basis . Our goal is to research all significant islands on the river, and determine public ownership. In addition we know many county and public roads leading to the river have been illegally closed . Each of these will require research and presentation to appropriate county commission .

In 2008, PLWA was fortunate enough to get a grant from the Cinnabar foundation to study island ownership on the river -primarily in Yellowstone county. Womack and Associates , an engineering firm from Jackson Wyoming specializing in issues like this, completed the study in mid 2009 . PLWA is reviewing the study , and developing a plan for presentation to appropriate officials with the goal of using it as part of an access improvement effort. The following article from the Billings Gazette summarizes status as of August 23,2010.




Courtesy of Billings Gazette

Research IDs lands along Yellowstone River that may be public
BRETT FRENCH Of The Gazette Staff | Posted: Monday, August 23, 2010 12:00 am
Research done by a coalition of local groups has identified 10 tracts of land along and in the Yellowstone River between Laurel and Billings that may be public.
Our Montana, the Yellowstone River Conservation Forum, the Cinnabar Foundation, the Billings Rod and Gun Club and the Public Lands/Waters Access Association collaborated on the study.
Ultimately the groups would like to see public islands and former islands opened to river travelers for camping, hunting and recreation along the Yellowstone’s entire length, said Mike Penfold, who’s leading the effort.
“The Yellowstone, being such an active river, it does create the potential for public land up and down the river,” he said. “Some islands have deer and turkeys on them, so they’d provide hunting opportunities.”
Although identifying the lands and then having them ruled public takes time and money, Penfold said the process is still cheaper than buying land.
“We’re trying to raise more money to get grants,” Penfold said. “Most of the work is done on a volunteer basis. We can look at county tax records, but we need somebody technically trained to do the geomorphology.”

River studied

To find the lands, the groups first commissioned a geomorphology study of the river by Womack and Associates, a geology and engineering firm. The study showed which islands may have existed before Montana became a state in 1889. Islands that formed before Montana became a state are state lands, even if they later attach to the bank. Islands in the river at the time Montana became a state that were never patented are federal land, even if they later attach to the bank.
From that survey, the groups identified 22 tracts between Billings and Laurel that were potentially public.
“That gave us a lot of areas that might fit that category,” Penfold said. “Then we looked at where taxes were being paid.”
The research of tax records showed no taxes were being paid on eight of the tracts and that 10 of the 22 appear to be in public ownership — including tracts that may be owned by the state and the Bureau of Land Management. Two large tracts are just upstream and downstream from Laurel.
Penfold in June sent a copy of the study to the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, which still hadn’t reviewed the work, and copied BLM and the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks as well.
Joe Lamson, deputy director of the DNRC said the state hasn’t undertaken a review yet.
“We have to look at aerial photos taken in the 1930s,” he said.
The photos have to be requested from the national archives that are stored in Oklahoma.
“It’s a lengthy process,” he said. “We need to do a lot of record searches.”
Even if islands are found to be state land, Lamson noted that the law doesn’t allow camping on state trust lands except at designated sites.
According to Lamson, deputy director of the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, it is not just islands that were present at statehood that belong to the state. Any island forming from a navigable riverbed since statehood also belongs to the state. Navigable riverbeds belong to the state therefore any island arising from those state-owned riverbeds belongs to the state.
Similar situations

The BLM and FWP, while supportive, haven’t been involved in the work.
“It’s certainly going to be a labor-intensive exercise,” said Gary Hammond, FWP’s Region 5 supervisor. “But as time goes by and the public is more interested in water-based recreation, there are questions the public is asking that they haven’t asked before.”
Hammond said that when FWP recently purchased land upstream from Columbus along the Yellowstone, it was up to the agency to determine who owned islands next to the property.
“We solicited help from the DNRC and appraisers to look at old maps to see what islands were created after statehood,” Hammond said.
In the end, the agency discovered that some of the island was state land.
The BLM underwent a similar situation dealing with a Yellowstone island upstream from Pompeys Pillar. After a year of research and a state ruling, the property was assigned to the BLM.
“It was difficult, it really was,” said Tom Carroll, BLM’s realty specialist in Billings. “There aren’t any easy answers on islands.”

Places for the public

Penfold said it was the Bundy Bridge island that prompted the groups to collaborate on a more intensive study of island ownership along the Yellowstone.
“Thinking about that addition to the public estate, especially along a river corridor like the Yellowstone, it can be pretty significant,” Penfold said. “It also was an illustration of how important access is to our rivers and along the rivers so people can stop and enjoy the river without trespassing.”
Contact Brett French, Gazette Outdoors editor, at french@billingsgazette.com or at 657-1387.