When Montana became a state they were granted 5.9 million acres. They now have 5.1 million acres.
Montana State Land holdings have declined by 800,000 acres since statehood.
As to the State land issue regarding hunting/fishing/camping/recreational access...Jack Atcheson Sr. and the Skyline Sportsmen began a campaign to keep the lease holders from denying hunting, fishing, and other recreation from State lands.
It was the first time I became actively engaged in fighting for public access to public lands...do it all the time now, as recently as a couple weeks ago when myself and a handful of dedicated sportsmen testified in front of the Laramie County Commission to keep 2 county roads open that were petitioned by a landowner to be abandoned. If there was no opposition, recreationists would have lost access to a bunch of BLM lands.
