The Crazy Mountains, Park/Sweetgrass Counties, Montana

The Crazy Mountains, Park/Sweetgrass Counties, Montana

Crazy Mountain Summary

At this time, PLWA formally opposes the Preliminary Environmental Assessment for the East Crazy Inspiration Divide Land Exchange (ECIDLE). For the most recent updates, and to read our full comments, click HERE.

November 2022 - Submit comments regarding the EA HERE.

The Crazy Mountains are primarily US Forest Service public lands administered by two Forests (established in the late 1800s) – the northern part by the consolidated Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest and the larger southern portion by the consolidated Custer Gallatin National Forest. The northern portion is located in Meagher and Wheatland counties and the southern in Park and Sweet Grass counties.

The Crazy Mountains involve a checkerboard of private and public lands, which originated with the Federal government granting alternate sections to the Northern Pacific Railroad; compensation for building track. Eventually, private landowners purchased sections from the Railroad. Some checkerboarded private land parcels have been sold or transferred to the Forest Service, enabling the Forest Service to consolidate some of the checkerboarded parcels.

The Forest Service has a number of trails/roads in the Crazy Mountains which have been historic public access trails, appearing on map publications dating back almost 100 years as well as being part of Travel Management Plans.

In the 1940’s, with the popularity of Dude Ranches and outfitting, certain private landowners began cutting off public access to these trails, which have been a source of continuing contention for decades. With Montana’s law of Reverse Adverse Use being 5 years, the Forest Service and the public need to diligently defend our historical public access to our public lands.

Beginning in 2001, the Big Elk Canyon issue began, with landowner Mac White seeking to build a road to access his private parcels, across the northeastern USFS Crazy Mountains parcels, south of Big Elk Canyon, to reach his checkerboarded parcels within. White wanted road access to log and ranch, yet he did not want to allow public access through his property. He proposed only that the Forest Service have administrative access. Federal regulations require seeking reciprocity, or public access, in return for private access. White sought the assistance of Sen. Conrad Burns to force the Forest Service’s hand through a legislative rider. It did not succeed.

Some of the Trails involved are: Trails 267, 195, 267, 268 part of the Porcupine Lowline trail system on the west side; Swamp Creek on the southeastern side; Trail 115/136 (East Trunk Trail) and Trail 122 (Sweetgrass) on the east side.

Recently, public lands and access issues reared their head again when Yellowstone District Ranger Alex Sienkiewicz became the District Ranger and began managing for multiple use, according to Region 1 Forest Service policy. In pursuing public access and maintaining historical trails, Sienkiewicz drew the ire of certain Sweet Grass and Park County landowners who began targeting him and his position. Utilizing their various positions in organizations, such as the Montana Outfitters & Guides Association, Montana Farm Bureau, and the Montana Stockgrowers Association, the landowners complained to Senator Steve Daines (including false allegations), Forest Service Chief Thomas Tidwell and newly appointed Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. Sienkiewicz was removed from his District Ranger position on June 16, 2017.

PLWA responded with a letter of support, refuting the special interest landowner allegations with FOIA and other documents obtained by Enhancing Montana’s Wildlife & Habitat the previous fall.

The Forest Service initially reported Sienkiewicz was being investigated for the landowner allegations and removed due to pressure from Sen. Daines and Ag. Sec. Perdue. The investigation would not be made public, nor subject to a FOIA. Numerous letters of support for Sienkiewicz were sent to Congressmen, the Forest Service, Perdue, newspapers and publications. On Oct. 11, 2017, it was reported that Alex Sienkiewicz was being restored to his Yellowstone District Ranger position, effective about Oct. 20th.

PLWA is currently in data gathering mode and conducting research concerning the Crazy Mountain public access trails situation. Our response to the current EA is below.

Update 2: November 2022

The meeting attended by PLWA and members of the general public the The Commons in Bozeman highlighted several concerning issues. While the East Trunk proposal element brings positive changes in the consolidate of trail and forest service parcels together, moving trial onto mostly public land, new concerns regarding the Sweetgrass Basin were brought to light.

It appears that the Forest Service does not plan to reserve trail and road rights to Sections 8 and 10 when it cedes them into private hands, areas which are currently public and which clearly important to public recreation. There also seems to be a lack of due dilligance in pursuing historical claims and evidence of prescriptive use and documentation of public possession for example in railroad right-of-way on odd numbered sections by the Forest Service. The Forest Service stated that they do not find recorded USFS easements on the Sweetgrass Road or county road status since the 1970s, which PLWA does not contest. However, this does not negate the possible history of public use, prescriptive ability, or other methods to show a public thouroughfare. PLWA is continuing its work on this issue and hopes to have a coherent and complete accounting of its documentation by the end of the year.

Particularly we are looking for volunteers to help with this process in Sweetgrass and Park Counties, Gallatin County, and Lewis & Clark County.

See the article about the meeting here.

UPDATE 1: November 2022

The East Crazy Inspiration Divide Land Exchange Preliminary Environmental Assessment Available for Public Review was released, and is available for review here.

Our response to the proposal can be found here.

There is a public comment meeting in Bozeman at The Commons on Tuesday, November 15th from 6-8 PM.

There is a public comment meeting in Big Timber at the Elementary School on November 16th from 6-8 PM.

All are welcome to go and share their thoughts.

UPDATE: August 2022

PLWA is working to compile the information found during research, in consultation with Goetz Law Firm.

UPDATE: December 2020

PLWA has voted to designate additional funding for research in the Crazies, in consultation with Goetz Law Firm in Bozeman, Montana.

UPDATE: April 2020

PLWA authored a letter to USFS Supervisor Mary Erickson commenting on the proposed East Crazies land exchange. PLWA’s letter advocates for a solution, and is encouraged by dialogue around the hampered public access in the East Trunk section, but not at the expense of the public’s access in the Sweet Grass Creek drainage.

UPDATE: JUNE 2017

Recently, one of our Forest Service employees was removed from his position for doing his job, because certain private landowners in Sweet Grass County want to increase privatization of our public resources.

There have been long running public access issues in the Crazy Mountains for decades. PLWA applauded that there was a public trust employee doing his job – Yellowstone District Ranger Alex Sienkiewicz. Sienkiewicz has maintained trails, like the FS Trail 115/136, and advised the public which trails were on Forest Service maps and in their Travel Plans, including public hunter Rob Gregoire, who used the trail to hunt the Crazies in the fall of 2016.

This not only drew the ire of certain Sweet Grass County residents, but led to concerted efforts to have Sienkiewicz removed as District Ranger, which occurred on June 16, 2017.

Brett French wrote an article on the subject, connecting a number of the dots – District ranger faces internal investigation over Crazy Mountain access dispute.

In it, Custer Gallatin National Forest Supervisor, Mary Erickson is quoted:

“The reassignment was made to ‘create some separation between Alex as district ranger and allegations raised concerning access issues in the Crazies,’ said Mary Erickson, forest supervisor.

Erickson said allegations from an assortment of landowners in the Big Timber area were ‘raised to the level’ of the Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue, and Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont.”

Letters were from ranch owners, some of whom are outfitters of the public resources in the Crazy Mountains, with stated membership in the Montana Farm Bureau and Stockgrowers organizations, as well as the Montana Farm Bureau Federation who brought up the discussion at the January Montana Outfitters and Guides Association meeting in Helena, making false allegations and questioning Sienkiewicz’s management.

PLWA Vice President John Gibson (retired Forest Service) roared, “Don’t reassign him; I say, CLONE HIM! You need more rangers with the intestinal fortitude to protect and enhance access to the national forest.”

Retired public agency employee and PLWA Director, John Gibson, carries the torch of a three decades’ long line of PLWA public access advocates in Montana, beginning with retired Gallatin National Forest Supervisor Lewis (Gene) Hawkes, in 1984. By founding PLAII (later changed to PLWA), Hawkes and other retired agency employees would not let retirement stop them from pursuing the public access defense they were previously employed to defend on our behalf.

An example of that access defense is an August 2002 Forest Service Briefing Paper involving the Gallatin National Forest, which states, “The growing demand for dispersed recreation on public lands, and the changes and trends in private landownership, have brought considerable attention to the trails issue on this Forest. At an increasing rate, landowners are questioning the status of trails across private land. Private land within and adjacent to this Forest continues to be sold. New owners may or may not recognize the existing public access through their lands. Some trails on private land are being lost through subdivision, closure or obliteration.

As a result, it is critical for the Gallatin NF to continue to have a strong and consistent policy and presence in:

(a) signing and maintaining our trail system across private lands;

(b) defending historic trail access rights if challenged; and

(c) perfecting trail access rights across private lands whenever that opportunity exists.”

In the Direction and Policy section they wrote, “Under FLPMA and FSM 5460 direction…In situations where an existing NFS trail crosses private lands, and no deeded easement exist, the Forest Service position is as follows: The United States has acquired a right-of-way from the trail through development, maintenance and continuous use of the trail. As a matter of law, the Forest Service believes that there is a public access easement for the trail. The Forest Service is a beneficiary of this public right of access, will continue its efforts to defend the public’s right of access.

(1) Protect and maintain historic evidence, including trail blazes, signs, maps, photos and maintenance records.

(2) Maintain and sign the trail on a regular basis, and keep records and photos of this maintenance, and

(3) Take prompt action in the event that landowners threaten or take action to close or obliterate the trail.”

Not only have certain Sweet Grass County landowners threatened and taken action to close or obliterate public access FS trails in the Crazy Mountains, but they have threatened and taken action against our public trust District Ranger, Alex Sienkiewicz, who was following FS Direction and Policy in defending our public trust from privatization – basically, doing his job.

PLWA encourages you to show this same defense of our public access and request Alex Sienkiewicz’s reinstatement as Yellowstone District Ranger, by raising your concerns to the same officials that the privatizers just did.

Articles: The Crazies