Ranch Family Fights For Montana Heritage (and against Wilderness)

Ross, Luke and Mark

For the better part of two years, since our first reporting on The Heritage Act, The Sun Times has heard from a number of Ranchers along the Eastern Slope who challenged the assertions of politicians and the media on the effects this undefined legislation would have on the state’s Ranchers. But getting a Rancher to sit still long enough to tell their side, a story not yet told, was the challenge. Recently we had the opportunity to interview Jim “Luke” Salmond and his sons, Mark and Ross. If there is a single ranch along the Eastern Slope of the Rocky Mountains that serves as the front line between the Cattlemen and those in the government and radical environmental groups that want to push them out of the foothills, it’s the Salmond Ranch. The ranch’s early history goes back to the late 1870’s when Nat Collins and his wife, Elizabeth, moved to a homestead west of Choteau. The history of federal action leaves no doubt as to the effect on Ranch life in the foothills. “It comes back to this Heritage Act,” Salmond says, “they make it a wilderness area and you’re gone.” Asked if there have been other attempts to move the family from the ranch, Luke Salmond doesn’t mince words, “Oh, yes! But we wouldn’t move because they would never offer what the land was worth, they wanted to steal our place… take it away from us. They would show up and want us to sell them an easement. They would make promises, but when it came time to show the money, they never did.” Easements, say the Salmonds, are a bad move for Ranchers. According to Luke, Ranchers lose much of the value of their land once they turn over their control by entering into an easement. “There’s a ranch north of here,” says Mark, “and the owner is wanting top dollar for it, but an easement was signed on the ranch. When potential buyers find out, they run from the deal.” Easements also have an adverse impact on local counties by reducing the amount of taxes paid on the land, says Luke. “The easements are a tax write-off. No Ranchers we know are in a position to take advantage of a write-off.” When asked if anyone from Senator Baucus’ office had been in touch, Mark says no one from the Senator’s office had initially reached out to the family. “One day we did get a phone call from one of the green groups pushing this anti-ranching agenda. I did not know the caller, but we did speak. He wanted to meet with me.” Mark says that instead he gave the caller “about ten or twelve names,” all the Ranchers along the Slope who would be affected by the Act. “I told him that if he contacted the other Ranchers and set up a meeting with all of us, we would be there. I never heard from him again.” The Salmonds have attended many of the public meetings on the Act, but feel that some of them were set up just to put pressure on Ranchers. “We had a meeting in Choteau, and four Forest Service officials showed up,” says Mark. “They only needed one.” At a meeting in Choteau, a member of Senator Baucus’ staff claimed that they had addressed the Salmonds’ concern that the wilderness area would be moved to their private land, removing the “buffer” zone of about eight miles. “This fellow slides a map over to me, and says ‘we moved the line so that the wilderness does not touch your land’.” Mark examined the map and saw that the wilderness had been moved back 120 yards. “I shoved the map back at him, I told him that was just insulting.”...more

Read the above and you'll come to an understanding of what the Cox family and other ranchers in Dona Ana County have been going through for the last 6+ years.