http://montanauntamed.com/hunting/article_4354243d-612e-52b4-88f2-39351529d48b.html
Hope this link works but happy to see the MT adding some land.
Hope this link works but happy to see the MT adding some land.
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Was this piece of property just to big and high priced to sell locally? I am all for having more hunting and rec ground. But feel that the local farmers and ranchers don't need to be competing against the state to purchase ground. Makes sense if it was on the market for awhile and no one local bought it. I see it was already owned by an out of state corp that wanted to be ranchers. In that case I would rather have the state have it then another out of area corp that just wants an investment.
The state can only pay appraised value for the land. That's the law. This is a land banking project and yes, it's a good one for the trust and for school revenue, with about $350,000 per year earned off of the yield. It's a high intensity monoculture system that is designed for ag production, not wildlife habitat or recreational opportunity, however. It's not going to be much different in the fall than those big antelope racetracks we see all over state lands. There's bound to be a few birds in the draws, maybr a few deer here and there, but it pales in comparison to many other offerings out there that this land board won't act on in terms of recreational value or wildlife habitat.
Overall, Landbanking has been a great program to consolidate checkerboard lands and open up access to landlocked public land. We fought off attempts by Rosendale & the majority leadership in 2017 to steal Habitat Montana and turn it in to a land banking program. Apparently our land board didn't understand the concept of this program after taking office.
Ben or whomever,
The $ made by the state ownership (350k per year(?)) what are the various ways this money is made? Grazing, timber (if there was much), mineral extraction, what accounts on this land for 350k per year or am I not understanding the content?
I believe it is worth noting the state will not be paying county taxes on this land compared to PILT’s and Bankhead Jones from federal land.