11 May 2016

Kudos, Cowgirl, on the Gianforte easement report

Kudos to Montana Cowgirl for her report that Greg Gianforte, the Bozeman businessman running for governor as a Republican, tried, and not that long ago, to eliminate a one-acre easement that allowed public access to the East Gallatin River.

Cowgirl’s initial report became the hook for a story on the issue by the Lee Newspapers. Today, Cowgirl provides the fascinating backstory on how she became aware of the issue.

Public access to public water is an important issue in Montana, especially in the state east of the Rockies. Gov. Steve Bullock is a stalwart supporter of liberal access to stream laws, deserving considerable credit for his efforts.

The issue never will go away. Many wealthy landowners never will stop trying to close access to streams running through their property.

Gianforte did not succeed in extinguishing the easement, but he did obtain some mitigation measures that settled the issue while preserving public access. Looking back at events, he may now wish he had neither filed suit nor hired Art Wittich as his attorney.