According to OnX, Montana has more than 1.5 million acres of inaccessible state lands. Many of these are acres that hunters, anglers and recreationists can’t get to, and may be less profitable for the state. Land swaps – or trades of isolated state parcels for private lands elsewhere – are, in theory, a useful tool to consolidate land ownerships and address this predicament.
But what’s a fair trade and what’s not, and how do we ensure the public isn’t getting a raw deal? Thanks to the actions of the Land Board at the May meeting, those questions just got more complicated, and far more political.
Previously, the Montana Department of Natural Resources (DNRC) was the first line of defense to ensure that Montanans’ interests were upheld. If proposals didn’t clearly meet the criteria for a swap, and weren’t in the state’s best interest, DNRC would simply deny them.
Despite that, some exchanges that made it through this filter were still controversial. Land swaps require a willing landowner but also must serve the state’s best interests; this balance is easier said than done. It also takes time.
Now, the process has been sped up and the entire authority to trade away state lands rests with the five-member Land Board. DNRC can no longer deny exchanges. Every proposal will now be considered, and consultants and lobbyists have to convince just three people to get their way, ushering in a heightened level of political interference in a crucial process.
The new policy tips the scales in favor of wealthy interests, allowing hand-picked consultants to sideline the experienced and professional staff at the DNRC. Paid for entirely by the landowner/applicant, consultants can now represent both sides of the transactions, with their scope of work potentially including “preparing information to support the MEPA analysis … obtaining surveys, timber cruising, planning and facilitating the public hearing… reviewing and summarizing public comments, etc.” Consultants can even use the certified appraisers and surveyors of their choosing.
The potential for one-sided sweetheart deals becomes even more worrisome as the criteria for land swaps has also changed, making it harder to determine if the public is getting a fair deal or not. For example, the current administration views corner-to-corner access as inaccessible, thereby substantially devaluing these lands that could be swapped and the recreational value they provide. Similarly, any state lands that don’t include direct, year-round legal access for resource extraction are deemed inaccessible. These also include state lands opened via public access programs like Block Management or Public Access to Lands Act. These are places currently accessible and valued by public hunters, but assigned no real value in these trades.
The new process also makes it much easier to trade publicly accessible state lands bordering navigable waterways; no longer do these exchanges require comparable acres that are also water-accessible. These are some of the highest value state lands we have – it’s no wonder outside interests have their eyes on these waterfront parcels.
Another concern: all previous changes in this process have come directly from DNRC with transparent public scoping and comment periods. None of that happened this time. Governor Gianforte acknowledged this failure and motioned for a 30-day comment period, but Attorney General Knudsen, Superintendent Hedalen and Commissioner Brown all voted him down. Then, despite public opposition and repeated requests to hit pause, Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen joined the three nays above and voted to pass the new policy 4-0 while Governor Gianforte abstained.
All Montanans should all be alarmed, disappointed, and paying attention. The rules for land exchanges have changed, and our vigilance has become more critical.
Thomas Baumeister is vice chair of Montana Backcountry Hunters & Anglers; Jeff Herbert is with the Leadership Group of Montana Sportsmen Alliance; Mike Mershon is the Montana Wildlife Federation board president; and Dylan Pipinich is the Public Land Water Access Association board president.