After 16 years, a crucial road to one of Montana’s most beloved national parks is once again open to the public. It’s a stunning win for land access that sparked immediate celebration among Montana’s hunting and conservation groups.
The Bullwhacker Road has long been one of Montana’s biggest ongoing battles between private landowners and public land advocates. Back in 2009, a judge sided with a private landowner to close the road, which remains the most reliable access to the northern portion of the Missouri River Breaks National Monument. A 375,000-acre unit of the National Park System, the monument offers abundant opportunities for hunting, fishing, hiking, and other outdoor recreation.
But with private landowners owning much of the surrounding territory (including parts of Bullwhacker Road), it had become nearly impossible for most people to access the monument’s rugged northern zone. Thanks to a land purchase announced Thursday by nonprofit American Prairie, the Bullwhacker Road — as well as 50,000 acres of previously privately owned land — is now available to anyone.
“This is a huge one for public land access, without question,” Beth Saboe, public relations manager for American Prairie, told GearJunkie. “We saw it as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to secure land for public land access and for conservation of an intact prairie ecosystem in Montana. It’s incredible.”
Texans Sell Montana Land to Nonprofit
Land access in Montana is complicated. While the state has a wealth of public lands, much of them are effectively locked up by private land on all sides. In fact, two Texan billionaires known as the Wilks Brothers bought property that contained a portion of the Bullwhacker Road in 2012.
Soon after, these conservative oilmen continued banning the public from using the road, effectively blocking access to the monument. Then, they tried to use the road and other private land as bargaining chips to convince the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to sell them the Durfee Hills — one of Montana’s most beloved areas for elk hunting. The BLM, along with a coalition of Montana organizations, refused and galvanized support from the public.
Now, after years of fighting for even more of Montana’s best public lands, the brothers (already the second-largest landowners in the state) apparently decided to give up. They just sold Anchor Ranch, a 67,960-acre property, to American Prairie. That land includes the 3.8-mile section of Bullwhacker Road that landowners like the Wilks Brothers had used to prevent access to the Missouri River Breaks.
It’s a huge win for anyone who wants to experience the area, but especially for Montanans like John Sullivan, who grew up using it.
“Growing up, I didn’t know that wasn’t a public road,” Sullivan, a member of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, told GearJunkie. “The reason we’re talking about this today is because we took a stand and told the Wilks Brothers, ‘You can’t have the Durfee Hills.’ And now access is open again.”
More Than the Breaks
To be clear, Montanans have even more to celebrate than just renewed access to the Missouri River Breaks.
By purchasing Anchor Ranch from the Wilks Brothers, American Prairie will open about 50,000 acres of previously private land to the public. Located 69 miles southwest of Havre, Mont., the Anchor Ranch includes 22,837 acres of deeded land and 45,123 leased acres. That makes it the second-largest land purchase in the nonprofit’s 24-year history, and significantly advances its mission of prairie ecosystem conservation, the group said.
And that’s not all. The nonprofit also purchased 1,888 deeded acres adjacent to the south side of Anchor Ranch. And in a third and separate transaction in the Cow Creek basin of Blaine County, the organization acquired an additional 5,401 acres, consisting of 1,188 deeded acres and 4,213 leased acres. This property is located in the northern portion of the Breaks and extends American Prairie’s shared fence line with the Fort Belknap Indian Community.
The properties feature important wildlife habitat for elk, deer and pronghorn, as well as upland birds. It also provides landscape connectivity for wildlife migration through the Breaks National Monument to the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge and further north to the Bears Paw and Little Rockies mountain ranges.
“We’ve been losing so much access to so much public land in the same area,” Alex Leone, executive director of the Public Land Water Association, told GearJunkie. “To gain something back like this — it’s huge and rare.”
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