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Billings residents who don’t shovel the snow on their sidewalks face an initial penalty of $300, then up to $500 per day thereafter until the sidewalk is cleared.

In Helena, if a resident’s lawn sprinklers shoot water onto the street or sidewalk “to the annoyance of passersby,” they can face a fine of up to $500.

But if someone gates a county road that leads to public land – and keeps the public from enjoying thousands of acres of their land – they face a fine of $10 per day under state law.

It’s ridiculous. In fact, it’s so low that nobody can find any examples in which it’s ever been levied.

The result: there are examples around the state in which people have put a gate across a county road and had exclusive access to vast swaths of National Forest, Bureau of Land Management and other federal and state public lands.

That in effect turns our public lands into private playgrounds. It keeps Montanans from enjoying hunting, angling, hiking, backpacking, wildlife watching, and so many other outdoor activities. It makes the areas of public land that are accessible that much more crowded. And it impedes wildlife management for state biologists, who need to spread out hunters and help spread out the wildlife in a way to get the needed harvest, keep them from zeroing in on private lands and damaging crops and fences, and prevent concentrations of wildlife.

The Montana Wildlife Federation last Legislative session brought a bill to increase the fine for gating a county road to up to $500 per day, with no minimum fine. This session, we plan to bring the bill back.

This bill would increase public access to public land, respects private property rights, and gives county attorneys a powerful tool to resolve gated county roads right away. It’s just good public policy.

The stiffer fine would serve as a strong deterrent to prevent roads from being gated in the first place. It’s similar to the fines for not shoveling snow. The goal isn’t to fine people – it’s to have the sidewalk cleared. The road fine would be the same thing. Montana’s hunters, anglers and outdoor recreationists don’t have an issue with landowners, but rather with lawbreakers, and this bill would go a long way toward improving public access to public land.

It’s long overdue.

Nick Gevock is the conservation director for the Montana Wildlife Federation.

Important bills are awaiting action to provide protection for important lands and waters in Montana. Two of the most crucial are the Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act and the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act.

The Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act would permanently block mining in the headwaters of the Yellowstone River, just outside Yellowstone National Park. The bill has strong support from residents and businesses in the Paradise Valley and across Montana and has the support of Senator Tester, Senator Daines, and Representative Gianforte.  

The Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act would add new wilderness lands in the headwaters above Seeley Lake while also supporting much-needed forest management activities and the development of more recreational trails. The bill is the product of more than a decade of local collaboration and enjoys strong local support, and it has been championed by Senator Tester. 

Even with a number of contentious national priorities on the agenda, our elected officials should be able to move forward bills with such broad support.  MWF will be working hard to make sure that the voice of Montana’s hunters, anglers, and other conservationists are heard in the final days of this Congress. And if anything does not pass before the end of December, we stand ready to raise these issues again in 2019.

Just west of MacDonald Pass lies the Spotted Dog Wildlife Management Area (WMA). Consisting of nearly 38,000 acres of prime wildlife habitat, this land was placed in the public trust ensuring quality wildlife habitat and increasing hunter opportunity in an area where access is shrinking. MWF strongly supported acquiring the Spotted Dog WMA and believed that this acquisition would permanently conserve and provide recreational opportunity for thousands of Montanas. This fall, I chose to see this country for the first time while hunting for elk.

We struck out in the dark. It was snowing and the moon reflected off each flake, making our headlights unnecessary. We trudged along, cutting a trail through the freshly fallen snow. After two miles we reached our destination, a saddle where a swath of open meadows meandered between thick stands of pines. As we stood in the stillness, snow falling, our breath suspended in the air, an elk stepped into the meadow.

First one elk, then another stepped into the clearing. With no cover available, we dropped into the snow to blend in as much as possible. Moving quickly I dropped my pack and propped my rifle on the frame. But the elk had become conscious of our presence and, giving no shot, turned and made their way up the hill. My heart sank. Out of nowhere, two more elk wander into the meadow. I settled back in, took in a breath, let it out, and squeezed.

This hunt, like so many others, was made up of moments when things when right that could have gone wrong. But for me, the moment that defines this hunt and that I can stop thinking about was the moment when the Spotted Dog WMA became public land in perpetuity. That conservation effort made my moment on that snowy hillside possible and has provided similar opportunities for so many other Montanans. The efforts to secure and open access to public lands must continue, or future generations will miss out on opportunities such as this. We should not begrudge them their moment in time.