The land exchange proposal reflects the shared interests of the Wilks’, the BLM and a broad array of landowner, sportsmen, conservation and recreation groups who have engaged in constructive dialogue in an attempt to satisfy as many needs and desires as possible, while still achieving the overall goal of the exchange.  The proposal represents an equitable exchange of land, and a significant improvement in public access to public lands. 

 

This proposal includes the following:

 

• The fee transfer of over 5,100 acres of private land to the BLM, over 3,600 of which lie within or immediately adjacent to the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument.  This provides permanent and indisputable access to over 60,000 acres of public land within the Monument that is currently inaccessible by motorized vehicle.

 

• The remaining 1,500 acres of private land involved in the exchange would provide nearly four miles of roadway frontage on Red Hill Road, greatly improving access to approximately 10,000 acres of USFS land in the Big Snowy Mountains, and providing legal access to a recreational trail leading from Red Hill Road to the summit of Old Baldy.

 

• The fee transfer of twelve (12) isolated federal inholdings to the NBar, totaling approximately 4,900 acres that consolidate private land and reduce agency management costs.

 

• A permanent access easement from Cow Island Road, across Anchor Ranch property, to access approximately 1,000 acres of land within the Monument for multi-use recreational and/or improved management purposes.

 

• A permanent access easement off the east side of Red Hill Road, across NBar property, to provide improved access to several thousand acres of USFS property for multi-use recreational purposes.

 

In sum, this amounts to improved roadway access to over 70,000 acres of public land, with no loss of public lands having roadway access.