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Land buys by nonprofit conservation groups concern locals
By LORNA THACKERAY
Of The Gazette Staff
Easements aren't the only conservation measures viewed with alarm.
Phillips County Commission Chairman Troy Blunt admits he's worried about nonprofit conservation groups' purchases of big chunks of ranch land in his rural north-central Montana county.
"No one is sure what they are trying to preserve," he said of land acquired in the past few years by the Nature Conservancy and the American Prairie Foundation. "They're trying to preserve what's already there. The ranchers have been preserving it for the last 100 years."
The conservation groups maintain they are saving the land from developers and rich out-of-state hunters, he said. "I'm not sure I buy that argument," Blunt countered.
Subdivisions and big commercial development are improbable in the sparsely populated Hi-Line county, he said. Hunters have shown some interest, but are mostly attracted to small acreages with river frontage.
It's not just the nonprofit holdings that trouble him. Large properties are being sold to wealthy absentee owners, the commissioner said.
"The scope of management is changing," he said. "It's going from family-oriented farms and ranches to nonprofits or rich individuals who live out of state and buy land as an investment or a tax write-off."
The result is fewer people on the land, he said.
"We have a steady decline in population and some of it can be attributed to them," Blunt said. "Absentee landowners are always a concern. They don't send their kids to school here or shop here or go to church here. Those are the things that keep a community going."
He believes that a majority of Phillips County residents are uneasy about the growing presence of the nonprofits and absentee owners. They have made no secret of their ambition to buy more land, he said.
Fellow commissioner Lesley Robinson said her constituents are especially anxious about the American Prairie Foundation "buffalo preserve" on the edge of the CMR Wildlife Refuge. People are not comfortable with the reintroduction of bison into an area that has been ranched for 100 years, she said.
"It's something we're watching," Robinson said.
By LORNA THACKERAY
Of The Gazette Staff
Easements aren't the only conservation measures viewed with alarm.
Phillips County Commission Chairman Troy Blunt admits he's worried about nonprofit conservation groups' purchases of big chunks of ranch land in his rural north-central Montana county.
"No one is sure what they are trying to preserve," he said of land acquired in the past few years by the Nature Conservancy and the American Prairie Foundation. "They're trying to preserve what's already there. The ranchers have been preserving it for the last 100 years."
The conservation groups maintain they are saving the land from developers and rich out-of-state hunters, he said. "I'm not sure I buy that argument," Blunt countered.
Subdivisions and big commercial development are improbable in the sparsely populated Hi-Line county, he said. Hunters have shown some interest, but are mostly attracted to small acreages with river frontage.
It's not just the nonprofit holdings that trouble him. Large properties are being sold to wealthy absentee owners, the commissioner said.
"The scope of management is changing," he said. "It's going from family-oriented farms and ranches to nonprofits or rich individuals who live out of state and buy land as an investment or a tax write-off."
The result is fewer people on the land, he said.
"We have a steady decline in population and some of it can be attributed to them," Blunt said. "Absentee landowners are always a concern. They don't send their kids to school here or shop here or go to church here. Those are the things that keep a community going."
He believes that a majority of Phillips County residents are uneasy about the growing presence of the nonprofits and absentee owners. They have made no secret of their ambition to buy more land, he said.
Fellow commissioner Lesley Robinson said her constituents are especially anxious about the American Prairie Foundation "buffalo preserve" on the edge of the CMR Wildlife Refuge. People are not comfortable with the reintroduction of bison into an area that has been ranched for 100 years, she said.
"It's something we're watching," Robinson said.