"At the end of a dirt road along the northeastern edge of Montana's Crazy Mountains, a simple sign warns visitors they are now entering private property. For fifth-generation Montanan Brad Wilson, the notice marks a defeat with implications far beyond the Crazies. "The fate of our public lands and our rights are in jeopardy right now," Wilson told Floodlight."
"The road beyond the gate next to Wilson leads into what was, for more than a century, one of two historic public trails into the east side of the Crazies. The U.S. Forest Service relinquished the public's access to the trail early last year as part of a land swap with the Yellowstone Club - an exclusive mountaintop retreat for the megarich located 100 miles away in Big Sky. "It doesn't make any sense to me to give this up," said Wilson."
"For many Montanans, the swap has come to symbolize the growing influence of wealthy private interests spreading across America's public lands and provides a glimpse of what could come under the Trump administration. There are more than 600 million acres of federally owned public lands across America - from iconic national parks and monuments to forests, grasslands and seashores. But now, nearly 90 million of those acres are at risk of some kind of development due to what critics describe as an un"
A sign at the end of a dirt road in Montana’s Crazy Mountains marks the shift from public access to private property. Brad Wilson, a lifelong hunter and former sheriff’s deputy, describes the loss of access as a defeat with consequences for public lands and rights. The road leads to one of two historic public trails into the east side of the Crazies. The U.S. Forest Service ended public access to the trail after a land swap with the Yellowstone Club, an exclusive retreat for wealthy members located about 100 miles away. The swap reflects growing influence of private interests over public lands and raises concerns about what could expand under a future Trump administration. Federal public lands total more than 600 million acres, with nearly 90 million acres at risk of development.
Read at High Country News
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