Southeast Montana landowners recognized for providing public access

More than 40,000 hunters utilized Block Management in area last year

MILES CITY – Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Region 7 is taking this week to celebrate the landowners who provide public access to hunting and recreation through the Block Management Program.

Region 7 hosted two appreciation dinners, this week, one in Miles City on Tuesday and one in Glendive Thursday, to thank landowners for their contributions.

Travis Muscha, access manager for Region 7, provided a review of the 2022 Block Management Program. There were 321 cooperators throughout southeast Montana who enrolled 243 Block Management Areas. That amounts to more than 2,031,000 acres open to public access in this region alone – 1,485,000+ acres of private land and 546,000+ acres of state and federal lands. He noted that landowner participation in the program is holding steady, with 18 new cooperators this year.

Matt Rinella of Montana Hunters for Access, a local group of sportsmen, told the Miles City audience that the group is trying to round up sportsmen volunteers for work days to benefit Block Management. The group also fund-raised to supply prizes awarded at the dinners as a thank you to those providing access. 

Muscha also offered a snapshot of the hunters who tap into Block Management. In 2022, 40,686 hunters utilized BMAS in this area – 23,598 of them residents and 17,088 non-residents. Those sportsmen and women combined to spend 69,192 hunter days afield – 41,515 days for residents and 27,677 days for visitors.

Comment cards returned by some of these hunters indicated that 73 percent observed game, 31 percent harvested game, and 93 percent were satisfied with their hunt.

Hunters overall contribute substantially to Montana’s economy, with all types of hunting combining for an estimated $486 million in expenditures in Montana in 2022.

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