McKean's unprotected wilderness presentation draws biggest crowd yet

Vizsla Brewing hosted Andrew McKean, editor of Outdoor Life Magazine, who gave a presentation on unprotected landscapes in northeast Montana Wednesday.

The presentation was attended by almost 50 people, making it the largest of the four showings on McKean's speaking tour so far, which includes Billings and Miles City. The last stop on the trip was his hometown of Glasgow, but he said there was one thing different in Havre.

"This is the first place we've had beer," he said.

The comment drew a round of laughter from the audience.

McKean said he has experience with many of Havre's local landscapes, but that he didn't want to be presumptuous and talk about them because he's not a local, and those places may not have the same significance to him as they do to members of the audience.

He talked about areas near Glasgow.

"What I wanted to do, was talk about places that really matter to me," he said.

McKean's presentation featured photos of familiar landscapes, many of which featured his children. He said that as he was going through pictures when putting the presentation together, he found an atypical trend.

"They all have people in them," he said, "Which, I think, is really different from a lot of wilderness presentations which are more focused on landscapes. It's really important as I think about my relationship with the land. Something happened in those places usually with my family."

McKean went on to tell a story of how his son, who was 7 at the time, attempted to adopt and smuggle home a young greater short-horned lizard that he named Trelawmy. A name whose origins elude McKean to this day.

McKean discussed was the Upper Missouri River Breaks, among other places.

"Places that mean a lot to me mostly as a hunter, but also as an outdoor adventurer because they have some sort of land use designation that keeps them wild," he said.

McKean said that, despite his love of hunting and the personal feelings he has for many of these places, there is a value to implementing policies that enforce limited access. He used the example of Burnt Lodge which is southwest of his hometown. It's one of the only public areas in Region 6 where elk can gather without fear of excessive hunting.

"This is one of the arguments I would make when it comes to limiting access," McKean said.

McKean also talked about Bitter Creek and how its protected status has helped Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks study of the migration patterns of mule deer along with many other creatures.

"One of the reasons I think it's so important to have this conversation in eastern Montana is I don't think we have enough talking about the value of protected land," McKean said.

He urged members of the audience to get involved and pay attention to policies and plans regarding the landscapes they love.

"I don't care what your involvement is, just get involved," McKean said.

During the question and answer section after the main presentation a member of the audience also encouraged people to put pressure on lawmakers to enact the protections they want to see.

"What is very obvious to me is that if you are relying on the legislative process to do it, just by contacting the Legislature without creating pressure, you are not going to get what you want," he said.

Another audience member asked McKean about his feelings regarding the American Prairie Reserve, which has goals including introducing free-roaming bison in northeastern Montana. He responded by saying he was conflicted.

"I love a lot of the conservation instincts and ethics of APR. I'm excited about what they're doing. One of the things I'm nervous about is loss of access over time," he said.

McKean said he wished APR was more willing to talk to and connect with members of the public. He said he's happy people exist who care about Montana's wilderness, but a feeling exists among the public that APR represent an outsider perspective that many are skeptical of.

"I feel like people have not loved our land as long as we have," he said.

Montana Wilderness Association East Montana Field Director Aubrey Bertram spoke after McKean's presentation about a specific issue that concerns McKean and her organization.

Bertram said that recent resource management plans put together by the Bureau of Land Management, combined with outdated national policies, have opened the door for oil and gas companies to exploit areas of Montanan wilderness through excessive land speculation.

"We really see oil and gas being prioritized over other uses," she said.

She said this is partially due to how the federal government leases land to private businesses.

Under the current administration, competitive lease sales are held four times a year with companies bidding on pieces of land, Bertram said, but when a piece of land is evaluated as being unlikely to have oil or gas deposits by the BLM no one will bid on them. This lets companies use a loophole which allows them to lease the land for as low as $1.5 per acre for up to 10 years, a price that has not kept up with inflation.

She said companies will use these vast land acquisitions to pad out their portfolios and make themselves look bigger and more prosperous than they are in order to attract investors. Bertram added that these leases are excessively skewed to favor the interests of the oil and gas companies leasing the land, even when there is little to no indication that there is any oil or gas on the land.

"When the federal government issues a lease for oil and gas those sub-surface values trump any surface uses and trump surface values," she said, "So at the end of the day, when push comes to shove, the interests of the private company that holds that mineral lease is going to override any interest that anyone else has on the surface. Which means things like access, which means wildlife habitats, which means cold and clear and clean water for fisheries, which means things like opportunities for recreation."

Bertram also referenced a recent report by Taxpayers for Common Sense that said Montanans have lost $110 million over 10 years due to these policies.

"At the end of the day, it's the citizens of Montana that lose out," she said.

Bertram added that she believes the value people place on public land is more complicated than economic returns.

She said the association will hold a rally and march on the BLM's state office in Billings March 19 at noon, starting in Amend Park, to get what they view as outdated laws changed. She said the association is going to try to set up carpools out of Bozeman and Lewistown and is hoping to create an online forum for supporters who cannot make it to the march.