And it gets better. The 90 acres is strategically important to access a further 6,000 acres of prime wildlands adjacent to the Missouri Breaks National Monument. These 90 acres open up a lot more land for people to enjoy.
Photo above by Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. The land contains both rolling grasslands above and rugged breaks as in the photo somewhere below.
As you might have guessed I didn't buy this land all by my lonesome, I belong to an org that bought it. That org, The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF), enjoys a reputation of conservation not headlines, they work with rather than against private landowners, other stakeholders, and our government. The RMEF continues it's amazing growth in membership every year, built on a foundation of volunteering and raising money to purchase habitat via dinners and raffles. A member of the Foundation who lived in the area alerted the RMEF that the land might be available, and the RMEF along with the Cinnabar Foundation, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, all came together and made it happen.
Above the land leading into the "Breaks". Though it looks barren the Breaks supports a wide diversity of species leading down to the Missouri River. Bighorn sheep, grouse, elk, mule deer and other lesser critters call the breaks home.
Above Charles Russell's "The Wagon Boss" Shows the area close to the land purchase. The trail in the painting is the Cow Island Trail leading up from the Missouri. The land of the gift is accessed from that same Cow Island Trail which is still a dirt road. This part of The Breaks has a colorful history and for twenty years was one of the only freight routes into Montana in times of low water. Wiki Cow Island Dear ART.COM please don't bust me for the copy, I'll buy a print, promise.
If one were of an exclusionary bent you'd think the land would have been bought only for elk hunters, and their use only, ya? Most other orgs who buy land keep it in some sort of conservancy or land trust and limit its use to the like minded. Thankfully the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation doesn't see things that way. Photographers, hikers, bird watchers, campers, all welcome on these multi use lands.
The US government representing all the people in the US is the best responsible steward of the land. Public lands belong to all the people for all of their use and enjoyment. The RMEF doesn't seek lands to facilitate tax breaks or for the exclusive use of it's members. Everyone is welcome to use these lands.
If you own land used by elk please consider donating or arranging a sale to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, they are the only org I know of that turns donated land into public land.
http://www.rmef.org/...
Special thanks to MT Miller for helping to put up the sign last week.
Update: Much gratitude for the recs and the eyeballs for what I believe to be a good cause. Some might be reading expecting a different BLM. For those unfamiliar with the agency, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administers 1/8 of the landmass of the United States, mostly in 12 western states.