EMWH Newsletter

Putting the "Public" Back In "Public Trust"

"I say, the wildlife and its habitat cannot speak so I must and I will and YOU as the employees of the taxpayers of America are obligated to do the same."
Susan Reneau

Due to too many irons in the fire this month, I have not included the normal news links and public victories, just immediate attention items until the end of the month.

Missing Elk Hunter Update: Aaron Joseph Hedges, 38, missing in the Crazy Mountains since Sunday, Sept. 7th is still missing. If anyone sees or hears from Hedges, they are asked to contact the Park County Sheriff's Office Dispatch Center at 406-222-2050.

Greg Todd , explained the efforts they are taking, such as taking search crews and making helicopter drops, so they dont waste time and resources getting to specific areas hiking in. They have checked the two trails mentioned, as well as the Sunlight Lake, a number of times. Even though the weather is better, they do not wish to take on volunteers at this time for several reasons: it adds another dimension to their rescue efforts that could divert time and resources from their search if a volunteer became injured and they had to then deal with the volunteer; they would legally be liable for the well being of any volunteers and their resources are already being utilized at the maximum right now (such as radios, team leaders, equipment).

Celebrating Out Public Trust Dinner Sept. 27th - Bozeman

Earlier in the day in Helena, from 12:00 - 1:30 PM, there will be a National Public Lands Day Rally at the Capitol, 1301 E 6th Ave, Helena, Montana
"At high noon on Saturday the 27th, hunters, anglers, hikers, horsemen, and Montanans of all stripes will converge in Helena to set up elk camp on the Capitol lawn. We plan to send a clear message to state and federal decision-makers: keep your hands off our outdoor heritage."

Blatant Attacks against our Public Trust Fighters
Through this EMWH Newsletter, rather than hiding in the background, I let y'all know of the blocklisting/blacklisting attacks against us. We are not alone in this. I was going to post a recent newsletter link from PLWA (Public Land Water Access Association), which does awesome work fighting for our Public Trust. But their website had a suspended message. So I contacted Lee, just in case they were not aware that the renewal was up. It turns out that it is not a renewal issue, they have been repeatedly hacked recently, including their membership list. I dont think that is a coincidence.

So I am asking those of you that also have sites, groups, etc., to shore up your logins, passwords (remember to use longer strings of a variety of uppercase, lowercase, letters, numbers and symbols and dont use anything that involves personal information like birth years or used with other accounts), etc to make yourself more secure. But also to keep eyes and ears out for other attacks, please let us know so that we can keep the Public Trust community aware of what the adversaries to our Public Trust are attempting.

Public Wildlife
Sept. 18th Deadline for National Bison Range Public Comments. Please comment Alternative A - No Action to protect our Public Trust from mismanagement and special interests.
Susan Reneau, "I further remind all of you that TWICE the CSKT has been removed from the National Bison Range Complex for the previous two Annual Funding Agreements and you need to examine why that happened because it goes to the heart of the problems associated with such an intrusive and illegal Annual Funding Agreement that violates many levels of federal law and insults many levels of federal workers that are dedicated to the betterment of the entire National Wildlife Refuge System, but especially the National Bison Range Complex."

Public Lands
Please Sign and share the Save Our Smith Petition "Please contact Governor Bullock and Director Stone-Manning by signing the petition. Let them know that the Smith River is an incredibly important place for the people of Montana and across the country and world, and should not be sacrificed for temporary and risky mining activities."

Wilks Brothers Ranch - The link is to Randy Newberg's Hunt Talk forum where Wingman flew into the BLM Durfees Hills for an elk hunt. He has been photo documenting the fencing that the Wilks Brothers are doing, directly around the our BLM Public Land and possibly has crossed onto the BLM at certain spots, helicopter flyovers, ripped up trees, trailer parked in runway to block it. An additional issue is the illegality of such fencing, as the Unlawful Inclosure of Public Lands Acts prohibits such obstructing of our Public Lands.

I have been posting links to a variety of documents involving the fencing laws. Housed at this Public Trust Fencing Page where additional documents will be uploaded. I would strongly suggest that people download and print a copy of the BLM Fencing Handbook to reference. There are probably more cases of this involving our Federal Public Lands that we need to fight for.

Thank you to Jack Jones of Butte, who provided links to the Red Rim news articles and was mentioned in the Montana Standard with the Turner Fencing case years ago, referencing the BLM Fencing Handbook which I found online.

The BLM Central MT District Office in Lewistown 406-538-1900

I would like to thank the following contributors for supporting EMWH. Your gift is very much appreciated.
Karla Brandt

Skyline/Anaconda Elk Litigation Fund
PO Box 173, Butte, MT 59701
Skyline Sportsmen and Anaconda Sportsmens Associations lawsuit against FWP & the FWP Commission

Thank you,
Kathryn QannaYahu
406-579-7748
www.emwh.org