State-managed programs that provide access to private property during the hunting season are critical for public land hunters in Western states. But despite increased hunting pressure, programs like Block Management in Montana and Private Land Open to Sportsmen (PLOTS) in North Dakota, have dwindled from historic highs in the early and mid 2000s.
The reasons are varied. They include difficult-to-address issues like ranches being sold and new property owners declining to participate. But according to experts, one of the biggest drivers is a lack of will by national politicians to bump up funding for the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program—a piece of the Farm Bill that provides grants to the states and tribes that administer private access programs. That funding cap has made it difficult for states to sign more private access agreements and grow the acreage in their programs, despite proven economic returns.
Thankfully private organizations are stepping in to fill the void. One shining example is the Public Access to Habitat (PATH) program, a partnership between Pheasants Forever and OnXHunt. Though the criteria differ from state to state, PATH essentially adds extra monetary incentives for private landowners to enroll properties in existing state-managed private access programs. In North Dakota, for instance, PATH landowners must create and maintain at least 40 acres of new grassland habitat and allow public access through PLOTS for at least 10 years. In return, they get a one-time incentive of $50 per acre.
“Here in North Dakota, we’ve lost over 2 million acres of CRP from our historic high of 3.4 million acres,” explains Emily Spolyar, Pheasants Forever North Dakota State Coordinator. “That’s one reason our PATH program is hyper-focused on habitat creation as well as increasing public access.”
“A core tenant of our business is to give back to public land and access,” adds Ben Brettington, Marketing Manager at OnX Maps. “This partnership is exceptional for multiplying the impact of dollars spent.”
Reviving Block Management in Montana
Meanwhile, in Montana, a local nonprofit is taking a different approach: simply buying and enrolling properties. While American Prairie has taken flack for scooping up family ranches and running bison (which some worry could spread diseases such as brucellosis), the organization has single-handedly enrolled over 82,000 acres in Montana’s Block Management program—a hunter-access program that’s seen its acreage decline over the years. The group has also unlocked significant landlocked public parcels by allowing the public to cross its deeded land to access public lands without restrictions.
Like PATH, American Prairie not only increases public access, they also improve the overall hunting experience by managing habitat. Buying land primarily through the funds of private donors is expensive, but it’s also effective. Still, some hunters worry that having one non-profit own such a large amount of acreage could prove dangerous if American Prairie later decides to restrict hunting access—or if it sold its properties to someone else who would do the same.
According to American Prairies Public Access Manager Anna Schale, there are safeguards to prevent this from happening. “A pillar of our mission is public access,” she says. “The heart of our staff is in public access and that is well-known by our board. We have bylaws in place that say if American Prairie were to cease to exist, that the sale of the land would have to go to an organization that provides public access.”
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Aside from supporting the conservation groups that run these and similar programs, another way to ensure that private-access programs live on is by being a good steward to the private land you’re hunting on, and the landowners who continue to enroll their properties despite downward trends. According to Spolyar, many of them do so largely because they appreciate the importance of hunting traditions. Using mapping apps like OnX, it’s easy to find their mailing address and send them a letter thanking them personally for doing so.
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