Montana legislators introduce open-lands bills

Montana legislators have introduced a pair of bills to improve public access to public lands by keeping public roads open.

The Montana Wildlife Federation and Public Land/Water Access Association are pushing the bills to address the growing problem of people blocking off large tracts of public land by gating public rights of way. The bills have been carefully planned to ensure that they protect both public access to public land and wildlife and private property rights, said Dave Chadwick, executive director of the Montana Wildlife Federation.

The first bill, HB 304 sponsored by Mitch Tropila, D-Great Falls, would increase the penalty already in state law for gating a public road from $10/day to $500/day.

The second bill, HB 286, would require that individuals wishing to close a public road first contact local officials and legally prove that the road should be closed.  A disputed road would have to remain open until it’s proven to be a private road.

The sponsor of HB 286, Rep. Tom Jacobson, D-Great Falls, said, “Access is the most important issue to Montana sportsmen. This bill keeps roads open during legal disputes. The burden of proof should not be on the public who have used these roads for decades."

Tropila said his bill is meant to increase the penalties to address the growing issue of access to public land being cut off.

“For people who hunt, fish, bike, hike, ski, wildlife watch and pursue all kinds of outdoor recreation on public land, access is key, and county roads are essential to reach our favorite destinations,” Tropila said. “This bill will clarify language in our state laws, raise the penalty for failing to remove an obstacle and ultimately solve disputes over access quickly and fairly for everyone involved.”

For years Montana hunters, anglers and recreationists have had to fight battles to get gated public roads reopened, said John Gibson, president of the Public Land/Water Access Association. These bills are meant to address the issue so the public can enjoy its public lands, waters and wildlife.

 “After years of PLWA fighting these road closures, we decided it was time to do something proactive and settle this issue,” Gibson said. “In some cases these closures are done by outfitters who are privatizing not only the public land behind the gate, but also our cherished public wildlife, and that’s wrong.”

“Responsible hunters value private property rights as much as they value public access to wildlife,” Chadwick said.  “Our goal is to elevate and protect both of these important Montana values.

“Our beef is not with landowners, it’s with people who unilaterally decide to close public roads.  Law-abiding farmers, ranchers, and other property owners should support these bills,” he continued.

MWF and PLWA issued a joint report last year titled Roadblocked and Landlocked: How Montanans are being kept out of their public lands.  It outlined instances of road closures around the state in recent years.