(USCA) September 10, 2009 - The U.S. Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) has sent a letter to Prairie County (Montana) Commissioners urging the commission to reconsider its decision to initiate an October 1 deadline to file a lawsuit against a private landowner over public access on private property.
The focal issue of the letter is public access on the Scenic View Road, which leads to an overlook view point of the Terry Badlands. The Scenic View Road, which in part winds through deeded property, has never been petitioned as a county road, nor has the county obtained a right-of-way easement for the road. In March 2008, the affected landowners exercised their right under an agreement with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), to restrict public access across their private property.
In August 2009, Prairie County Commissioners passed a resolution presented by Commission Chairman Todd Devlin, a rancher, to establish an October 1 deadline to file a lawsuit against the landowners. The resolution was approved in a 2:1 vote, with Commissioner Ann Marie Davis, a rancher, casting the lone dissenting vote.
“We urge you to rescind your motion for commencing litigation,” said USCA in its letter to commissioners. “We understand that yours is an agricultural county and believe this action is precipitous and not in the best interest of either the ranchers, farmers or other property owners in Prairie County. We urge you to find a way to resolve this dispute locally.”
“You, as County Commissioners, are the protectors of the rights of the landowners in your county, perhaps one of the most rural counties in Montana,” continued USCA. “The course that you have selected thus far is a course that may have far-reaching implications for property owners, not only across the State of Montana, but the West. By its own admission, the Bureau of Land Management recognizes and honors its agreement with the landowners. We request that the County Commission also honor this agreement. No one should appreciate the value of a hand shake or an agreement better than those who live in rural America.”
“I understand that the Prairie County Commissioners have said that their actions to date against this ranch family are due to pressure from outside, special interest, public land access groups,” commented Leo McDonnell, USCA Director Emeritus. “But, county commissioners should be defending such property right issues and not doing the dirty work for groups that want to liberalize the property rights of this country. Hopefully, once they have studied the consequences of their actions, commissioners will decide to stand with the ranchers and farmers in their community.”
“Adding insult to injury is the use of property tax revenues, collected in a predominantly agriculture county, to challenge ranchers’ property rights or to threaten their property rights,” continued McDonnell. “An example of such is Prairie County’s representation by its attorneys to potentially reopen old abandoned county roads that lead to no where if this family doesn’t give up their property rights. Such unreasonable demands set a dangerous precedence for all land owners and demonstrate a lack of good faith negotiations to resolve this dispute.” |
