"Zinke said he’ll look into the Wilkses’ proposal..."
Again, "The
class which has
the power to rob upon a large scale
has also the power
to control the government and legalize their robbery."
~ Eugene Debs
to control the government and legalize their robbery."
~ Eugene Debs
This is what I
woke up to this morning, the gift that keeps on giving. Which reminded
me, I had received my final BLM FOIA response to the Wilks Brothers damage to our public lands
(summer 2014) in December, when I was in Brady for a month. My BLM FOIA
request was made well over a year before. With all the Crazy Mountain
issues and research, I had not even made time to open the package and
view the response. I just now went through the 313 pages of documentation. The above photo collage is a sample of the damage.
Quick note, I saw a BIllings Gazette write up that mentioned my FOIA requests (which are so important for transparency, more of the public needs to be engaged), Gazette opinion: Government needs sunshine.
"Kathryn QannaYahu, a public land access advocate based in Helena, filed
Freedom of Information Act requests pertaining to the transfer last year
of the Livingston district ranger who had defended public access in the
Crazy Mountains. Information she obtained through FOIA revealed that a
Facebook post falsely attributed to Ranger Alex Sienkiewicz, caused
private property owners to complain to Sen. Steve Daines, who complained
to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, who ordered the ranger to be
reassigned and investigated. Sienkiewicz has been reinstated."
A wee rabbit
trail, our Friends of the Crazy Mountains and EMWH public meeting was
held on March 13th. We had about 80-90 people present. We had a
videographer record the meeting (receiving the DVD today), so I will get it uploaded, as well as the Trail video tours and pdfs of all the documentation that we supplied at the meeting;
so that y'all can see the facts (such as easements and access)
presented for yourself. It may take me another day to get all the links
completed and uploaded, so keep an eye on the page linked below and
please submit a public comment to the Forest Service after you have
reviewed the video and materials.
Here is a rundown on the trespass settlement we, the public, took a huge hit on.
In discussions between the BLM and the Wilks Brothers about the trespass settlement, on March 21, 2016, Farris Wilks sends a reply back to the BLM,
disagreeing with the $66,613.00 charge. He states, "We propose to pay
50 percent of the cost of the entire survey, which would bring our
portion of the Lewistown Field Office Allocation to $32,662.50, plus the fine for the timber, which brings our settlement offer amount to $33,950.00."
By June 3, 2016,
BLM Field Manager Peter McFadden, replies, "If agreement to settle based
on terms of this letter is not reached, a demand for payment of the
full amount of all costs totaling $319,849.63 as described in section
5.3 on page 44 of the Resource Damage Assessment (minus $8,716.00
associated with the Billings Field Office portion of the Cadastral
Survey Costs) will be issued. Rehabilitation and stabilization work
would be completed by a BLM contractor that would not include your
private lands. Finally, a separate proposed grazing decision regarding
violations of BLM grazing regulations as described in the September 4,
2015, Notice will be issued... Furthermore, our settlement offer did not
account for additional administrative costs beyond the survey costs
($65,325)."
That settlement
offer was eventually signed by Farris Wilks on July 14, 2016, 12 days
after I filed my BLM FOIA request involving the trespass investigation,
charges and Rehabilitation/Stabilization Plan.
Here are some of the key points from the report:
- Total acres of BLM public land disturbed - 5.27 of total disturbance 29.86 acres.
- Total linear feet disturbance for BLM was 22,536 feet, 4.27 miles.
- Total linear fenceline in Trespass 14,880 feet, 2.82 miles.
- Wildlife - "The 5-wire barbed wire fence is altering wildlife movement and appears to have caused elk mortality from entanglement on one occasion thus far. Trailing (primarily by elk) parallel to the fence was ubiquitous and exacerbated by the generally high top-wire height (averaged over 44 inches, with a range from 25.5 to 52 inches), generally low bottom wire height (averaged under 11 inches, but with a range from 0.5 to 19 inches), steep slopes, cut slopes, and debris piles of debris created from clearing trees. The areas where elk use was most concentrated included fence corners and drainage bottoms."
- "Direct injury to BLM land (our public lands) includes tracked equipment marks, tracked equipment soil berms from turning, clearing of forest and understory vegetation, root wad and stone holes, excavation of up to 2 feet of topsoil, excavation resulting in cut slopes 5 inches to 8 feet in height (greater than 45%), creation of mixed timber & soil debris up to 30 feet wide and 10 feet high, blockage of natural drainages, construction of fence. Three segments are currently experiencing hill slope failures (two on BLM managed land and one on private land). Many of the segments assessed (on both private and BLM) are currently experiencing rill or gully erosion."
- Weeds, disturbance due to fence construction - "Approximately 72 acres of leafy spurge were inventoried in or immediately adjacent to the fenceline disturbance (both BLM and private lands) during the injury assessment. An increase in abundance and density of leafy spurge is having direct and indirect impacts on BLM administered lands as the spurge is outcompeting native vegetation, reducing native plant diversity, and reducing forage availability for wildlife and livestock."
- Rangeland Management - "This fence serves no practical purpose for cattle distribution due to the lack of water on BLM administered lands and does not allow for orderly administration of the grazing permits. Construction of the fence has effectively eliminated use of the permitted AUMs associated with both permits unless it is removed to allow cattle to water on private land and forage on BLM administered lands." There is a spring on the BLM lands that is in jeopardy of being ruined by cattle congregation within the fenced area.
- Forestry/Timber - "Damage to BLM timber resources occurred primarily on the southern half of the Durfee Hills parcel... it was determined that 23 thousand board feet (MBF) or 161 tons of merchantable timber was cut on BLM. A subsequent appraisal was completed and the value of the timber was found to be $4/ton. Under part 9239 of the CFRs, BLM may assess 'twice the fair market value of the resource at the time of the trespass,' which would equate to $8/ton and a total value of $1,288."
- Direct Impacts, 5-wire barbed wire fence - "Continuous debris piles, some exceeding 10 feet tall and 30 feet wide, created an additional barrier parallel to the fence in several segments."
- Soil Resources - "Approximately 4.27 miles of corridor clearing are located on BLM managed land. THe total area of bladed disturbance is approximately 29.9 acres: ~5,25 (17.7%) of BLM managed land and ~24.6 acres of private land (~82.3%)."
- "No Range improvement Project applications were submitted by the Wilks organization. Construction of the fence was not evaluated under NEPA. Additional actions, agreements or settlements that allow for all or portions of the newly constructed fence to remain in place and be authorized by the Lewistown Field Office would be subject to existing laws and regulations including but not limited to NEPA, FLPMA, and 43 CFR 4120 and 4160."
- Resource Damage Cost Calculation: "Resource Damage Cost $211,378.10; BLM Salary & Expenditures $115, 899.53; Timber Fair Market Value* $1288.00; Total $328,565.63"
To add insult to injury, the Wilks are now discussing a land exchange with DOI Secretary Ryan Zinke, when the public has repeatedly fought back against losing these public lands and wildlife habitat.
I will be getting this FOIA segment uploaded to the website in about a week.
Truly, the "government needs sunshine".
Click to be a
Contributor or Subscriber
to
Enhancing Montana's Wildlife & Habitat
Thank you,
Kathryn QannaYahu
406-579-7748
www.EMWH.org
Helena, MT
Enhancing Montana's Wildlife & Habitat
Thank you,
Kathryn QannaYahu
406-579-7748
www.EMWH.org
Helena, MT
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