I'm forwarding this on behalf of a devoted duck hunter. I know this isn't directly related to Big Game, but it could influence Public Access in the Future.

Subject: Montana public access

http://www.petitiononline.com/MTAccess/petition.html

Hi guys, sorry for the mass-mailing, but there is an issue that needs some attention by hunters and fisherman in our state. Mitchell Slough, a little stream in the Bitterroot, has been the center of a large legal battle over the past decade. Landowners, attempting to prevent public access were attempting to label the slough as an irrigation ditch. If there slough were labeled a 'ditch' then all public access would be illegal. Last year, the MT Supreme Court ruled that the slough was a stream and as such was subject to the same stream access laws as all streams and rivers in MT.

Well, the landowners (led by Charles Schwab and Huey Lewis) didn't like the ruling and so now are attempting to take the law into their own hands in order to prevent public access. They have petitioned the state to eliminate public access for hunting along the slough in order that they will retain their own private hunting preserves. They have begun 'baiting' portions of the slough accessible to the public, with corn feeders and knowing that it is illegal to hunt over baited waterfowl, they have essentially shut down hunting for the public (a back-door means to eliminate access and 'get their way'). They have even been so brazen as to put up signs along all road crossings saying that the slough is baited and that hunting it is illegal.

Last week they formally filed a petition with MTFWP to shut down public hunting on the slough. MTFWP is on the public's side, but we need to show the state that we do not support privitization of public resources.

This is just a little slough and doesn't directly affect most of us, but the reprocussions and future implications of this will be far reaching. What is to stop any landowner, on any river, from filing the exact same request? For almost a decade now, Mitchell Slough has been the battleground for Montana's Public Access precedents and the fight isn't over yet.

Please sign my petition and pass it on to everyone you know who may feel the same way about public access.

Thanks folks,Ben

This is something we all should sign. Even if you don't hunt of fish in Montana presently, this law is gives you the right to fish and hunt there at some point.

Thanks,

ddj

Done.

Things like this are a big threat to hunting and fishing in the Rockies. Several years ago, in my native Colorado, Michael Douglas bought a fair sized ranch and immediately began to fence off public access roads across the ranch to "protect his privacy". Colorado told him to knock that shit off.

Hope you guys win your fight over this. And as to the baiting, if someone can prove they are putting out the feed, then I'm pretty sure they can be ticketed regardless if they are hunting or not. I'd look into the law up there on that subject if I was you.

FWP and FWS already know they are baiting. They found a loophole.

Wouldnt their baiting be considered an unlawful obstruction of a legal activity,and therefore illegal?

i signed it. hope many more will. thanks

Signed.

quote:

Originally posted by jb:
Wouldnt their baiting be considered an unlawful obstruction of a legal activity,and therefore illegal?

Technically since they are not hunting over the bait it is not illegal. The FWS strongly suggests not feeding, but from what I can find it is not illegal. There are some dependency and disease issues that FWP has identified and will address at a meeting in Hamilton, MT on Dec 9 @ 6:30

Signed...

Done

Signed

Signed

Done deal.

378 Total Signatures
I'm 378.


Don Buckbee

I'm 452

I'm 521

I am #603. Seems that maybe its time to give a few people a community beating...of the physical kind. Sometimes thats the only way to get your point across as these people have loads of money to keep the public at bay thru the legal systems. Give them a good beating that they won't soon forget. Money don't make bruises heal any quicker.

Does Montana have any "Hunter Interference Laws???"

It seems to me that baiting a public hunting area, thus making hunting there illegal...

Would constitute Interference with Legal hunting.

Maybe if they sent a few weeks in jail with BIG Leroy, they might knock that activity off.

888 and glad that someone brought this petition to my attention.

You should retaliate by planting some marijuana gardens and starting a couple of meth labs on their property... then tip off the D.E.A.

Where is mitchell slough on a map? I can't find it

quote:

Originally posted by Kenati:
You should retaliate by planting some marijuana gardens and starting a couple of meth labs on their property... then tip off the D.E.A.

You are real "creative".. I admire that in a man..

It's near Hamilton, MT. I've never been there so I can't give you exact details.

We are nearing 1000 signatures...the minimum we were looking for.

Bummer...the petition site was spammed. Now our efforts are skewed and corrupted.

ONCE AGAIN THE OUT OF STATE DOOGOODERS SCREW SHIT UP. SEND THERE ASS BACK TO CALIFORNIA AND DON'T SELL THEM ANY LAND. SOUNDS LIKE FW&G ARE ATTEMPTING TO KEEP PART OPEN FOR HUNTING.

quote:

Originally posted by twilli:
ONCE AGAIN THE OUT OF STATE DOOGOODERS SCREW SHIT UP. SEND THERE ASS BACK TO CALIFORNIA AND DON'T SELL THEM ANY LAND. SOUNDS LIKE FW&G ARE ATTEMPTING TO KEEP PART OPEN FOR HUNTING.

++++1!!

Home / News / Local

FWP Commission votes unanimously to keep portion of Mitchell Slough open to hunters
Story Discussion By PERRY BACKUS Ravalli Republic | Posted: Friday, January 15, 2010 6:15 am

HAMILTON - The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission voted to deny a petition to close a portion of Mitchell Slough on Thursday.

The commission also directed state wildlife officials to work with landowners and sportsmen to attempt to develop an access plan on the controversial waterway in the Bitterroot Valley.

"I don't know if it will work or not, but we're going to try," said FWP regional supervisor Mack Long. "We will begin contacting landowners over the next couple of weeks to see what kind of interest there is out there."

Longtime Bitterroot ranchers John and Kathy Lewis filed a petition last summer saying the stream was too narrow and winding for hunters to legally hunt waterfowl without the potential of wasting game. Shooting over the narrow access corridor also put people, livestock and buildings at risk, the couple claimed.

The state received 1,584 comments on the proposal from across Montana and 31 other states. The comments overwhelmingly favored FWP's recommendation to leave that portion of the slough open to waterfowl hunting.

The slough runs a little less than a half-mile along the eastern boundary of the Lewis property. The waterway ranges from 17 to 24 feet wide.

Duck hunting became an issue this fall after some landowners, including rock musician and ranch owner Huey Lewis, turned to baiting waterfowl on the slough to effectively close it to waterfowl hunters. Under federal law, it is illegal to hunt waterfowl in an area where they are being fed.

John and Kathy Lewis are not related to Huey Lewis.

The Montana Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that Mitchell Slough was a natural stream, ending a long battle between landowners who claimed the waterway was an irrigation ditch and sportsmen who said the slough should be open for public access under the state's stream access law.

The commission voted 3-0 to keep the slough open.

"I think it's the right decision for now," Long said. "It protects what the Supreme Court found in its ruling and, at the same time, it allows us to begin working with landowners and sportsmen. We'll have to wait to see where that goes."

Ravalli Republic editor Perry Backus can be reached at 363-3300 or at editor@ravallirepublic.com.



Posted in Local on Friday, January 15, 2010 6:15 am Updated: 6:39 am. | Tags: Bitterroot Valley, Mitchell Slough, Montana Supreme Court, Montana Fish Wildlife And Parks,