Montana Listening Sessions Alert Update

Shawn Tabb | June 2, 2010 | 0 Comments

BRC MONTANA ACTION ALERT
OBAMA ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES MEETINGS ON NEW CONSERVATION INITIATIVE
UPDATE!

Greetings BRC Montana Action Alert Subscribers,

This is an update on a previous Action Alert regarding important meetings scheduled for June 2.

Kerry White over at the Bozeman-based Citizens for Balanced Use (CBU) sent an email alert yesterday with some additional info on the America’s Great Outdoors “listening sessions” scheduled for June 2 in Helena, Missoula and Bozeman.

Speaking of CBU, be sure to check our their excellent website, and don’t miss their “Latest News” and “Hot Topic” pages. I’ve got them bookmarked and you should too!

Kerry’s email confirmed that these so-called “listening session” meetings will be held between 9 am and 11 am, and he also has a new contact for information. He has also dug up some information indicating that Montana’s Governor Schweitzer knew about the America’s Great Outdoors / Treasured Landscapes Initiative, including the plans to lock up more than 6 ½ million acres of Montana’s public and private lands. We’ve pasted Kerry’s email below. Montanans should be outraged. DO NOT MISS THIS.

We also wanted to pass along two responses we received to our action alert, one from Chris Horgan, the main brain behind http://www.savethetrails.us/ and another from Montana’s Capital Trail Vehicle Association (CTVA).

Both Horgan and the gang at CTVA made suggestions on the online ‘idea generator’ hosted on the Department of Interior America’s Great Outdoor’s website. Check it out, and if you want, vote for Horgan and/or CTVA’s idea — or even submit one of your own!

LISTENING SESSION INFORMATION:
Helena from 9 am to 11 am at the Red Lion Colonial Hotel, 2301 Colonial Drive in Helena.

Missoula at 9 am on June 2
University Center at University of Montana

Bozeman at 9 am on June 2
Strand Union Building at Montana State University

IMPORTANT NOTE:
To RSVP, send an e-mail with your name, address and telephone number to John Hagengruber with the U.S. Forest Service, at jhagengruber@fs.fed.us. Hagengruber also can be reached at 444-4490 to answer questions.

Kerry says you may also email Bart Huber with Montana’s USDA with your name, address and telephone number to register: bart.huber@mt.usda.gov

As always, please call or email if you have any questions or comments.
Brian Hawthorne
Public Lands Policy Director
BlueRibbon Coalition
208-237-1008 ext 102

CITIZENS FOR BALANCED USE EMAIL:

The leak of internal memos has revealed an effort by the Obama administration to create another 6.5 million acres of National Monument land in Montana. According to the maps of these areas over 2/3 is privately owned. Under the name of Treasured Landscapes and in cooperation with organizations like World Wildlife Fund and The Nature Conservancy the government agencies of Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, and the Department of Interior are working to remove people from the land and take private property.

Bitter Creek landscape total acres 2,491,836
Montana Glaciated Plains total acres 4,138,593

In one of the released emails dated September 9, 2009 from Gina DeFerrari (WWF) to Ned Farquhar the following statement was made by Gina:
“You had asked where Governor Schweitzer’s ranch is-it’s in Judith Basin County, which is on the western boundary of the Nothern Plains ecoregion, as we define it, but outside these two landscapes.”

It is clear the Governor was aware of this project back in September of 2009 and was concerned his private property would be included in the proposed Monument designation. I would hope he would extend the same concern for those property owners included in this designation and fight for their property rights.

Many U.S. House of Representative members including Denny Rehberg have demanded the Department of Interior release all communication regarding the Treasured Landscape agenda. Both Senator Tester and Senator Baucus have known about this for quite some time and it remains to be seen whether they will oppose this federal land grab in Montana.

In response to the leaked memos and critizim from the public because of the secrecy this agenda has been under, the Department of Interior, the Department of Agriculture and the White House Council on Enviromental Quality are sending staff to attend 3 public meetings in Montana. All 3 meetings will be held beginning at 9 am on Wednesday, June 2, 2010, in Helena, Missoula and Bozeman.

INFO FROM CHRIS HORGAN AND CVTA: Here is the email we received from Chris Horgan:

Great information Brian. Thanks for providing it.

You folks may wish to make comments on the America Great Outdoors site in order to keep multiple use listed as priority

It is interesting to note the topics I posted a month ago, about the need to provide more wheeled vehicle recreation, enough wilderness and the need to actively manage our forests to promote forest health, had me rated as the the top contributor with the most popular topics. Then mysteriously my password stopped working and it took them two weeks to restore my access, during which time some new posters joined and their ideas moved to the top spots.

If you register you can vote for the topics I posted or any that strike your fancy in order to keep multiple use at the top of the list. You can also vote against an idea, so feel free to demote any ideas you think are unworthy.
You can bring up all the ideas I posted by clicking here
http://tinyurl.com/34w4cs5

Or by scrolling down the right side of the web page. Then click on my name and then click on the IDEAS button at the top of my page. Then vote for them if you like the idea, which promotes it.
You may wish to encourage others to take part in the voting process so that we remain “engaged in the discussion”

And from CVTA:

We have provided a motorized comment at the following location
http://tinyurl.com/35n4pyr

Or search for “Enhance motorized access and OHV recreational opportunities”. You can add your support to the motorized idea (basically a vote) by clicking on Promote at the link above.
Please feel free to pass this action alert on to other supporters. Note that the Demotes have already found the motorized idea. It would be great if we could get an large number of “Promote” votes and outnumber them.

BRC’S ACTION ALERT

BRC MONTANA ACTION ALERT
OBAMA ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES MEETINGS ON NEW CONSERVATION INITIATIVE

SITUATION:
The Obama administration has announced a “listening session” regarding something called the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative. Events are planned for Helena, Missoula and Bozeman.

The meeting in Helena is planned for June 2, 2010, from 9 to 11 a.m.at the Red Lion Colonial Hotel, 2301 Colonial Drive in Helena.

Meetings are planned the same day, at the same time, at the University Center on the University of Montana campus in Missoula and at the Strand Union Building at the Montana State University campus in Bozeman. However, we do not have any other information on these meetings.

All of the meetings are open to the public, however, people are being asked to RSVP online by 10 p.m. Thursday so the event organizers can plan accordingly.

To RSVP, send an e-mail with your name, address and telephone number to John Hagengruber with the U.S. Forest Service, at jhagengruber@fs.fed.us. Hagengruber also can be reached at 444-4490 to answer questions.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:
Recreational users need to attend these meetings to find out exactly what affect this initiative may have on your recreational access. There is precious little information about what this initiative will do, but it is reasonable to assume the effort will include additional protective designations for public lands.

Organizers have asked attendees to think about four questions:
What are new land conservation strategies and obstacles?
Hhow to better connect people with the outdoors and obstacles?
How the federal government can work better with local public and private recreation groups?
and What can make current efforts more successful?

Here are some ideas to stimulate thoughts.
Some ideas….
What are new land conservation strategies and obstacles?
All too often “conservation” means reducing public access and recreational uses. The AGO Initiative should explore ways to enhance a diverse range of recreational uses, including motorized and non motorized recreational uses, across federal, state and private lands.

How to better connect people with the outdoors and obstacles?
Federal land managers too often limit or restrict public recreation activities. Federal land managers should focus on recreation friendly management plans that are not restrictive and embrace a wide range of diverse recreational uses, including motorized and non motorized recreation.

How the federal government can work better with local public and private recreation groups?
Ironically, the AGO initiative, and these meetings in Montana amplify this problem. Few recreational advocacy groups know anything about the AGO initiative and what it is. The few recreational groups seem to have close political ties with the administration. This is poison to any initiative that seeks wide public support. The AGO should “go back to the beginning” and invite a wide range of recreational users to the table.

What can make current efforts more successful?
Full disclosure of all information related to the AGO initiative as well as companion efforts such as the Treasured Landscape Initiative.

BRC will blast additional information regarding these meetings as we get it. Please tell your friends and family about these meetings and encourage them to sign up to receive BRC’s Action Alerts.