BRETT FRENCH | bfrench@billingsgazette.com
A Garfield County landowner has closed off an access point to a 20,250-acre Wilderness Study Area after placing a gate across a road that provides entry to the rugged badlands terrain south of Fort Peck Reservoir.
The Seven Blackfoot Wilderness Study Area is managed by the Bureau of Land Management and includes a section of state land, which adds another 640 acres to the WSA.
The study area’s name comes from Seven Blackfoot Creek, which is surrounded for much of its length by BLM land as the waterway winds north toward the huge Missouri River reservoir.
Ranch owner erects gate
Seven Blackfoot Ranch owner Dave Solberg said he gated the road to the BLM lands and his 30,000-acre ranch last year because no trespassing signs were being ignored, mainly by hunters.
“I can’t tell you how many ugly arguments I’ve had with trespassers,” he said, adding that he finally became “disgusted with the whole thing,” gated the Seven Blackfoot Road and leased his land to Sizzlin’ S Outfitters.
When asked why he didn’t place the gate three-quarters of a mile farther down the road, which would have preserved public access to the BLM land, he said that would allow public access to his entire ranch and let people into steep country where they would get their vehicles stuck and then ask him to help pull them out.
Other access points
“The best way to get in there is to go in by boat,” Solberg said.
The area is almost 40 miles west of Hell Creek Marina, the most easily accessible boat launch in the area. Devils Creek Recreation Area is about 12 miles away but the access road into the camping area and boat launch is steep and nearly impassable when wet.
On its website, the BLM suggests visitors access the area from the east, off West Snow Creek Road near Chalk Butte. That access point is about seven air miles from Solberg’s gate.
No fence on boundary
Solberg also said his land is not fenced where it borders BLM, a distance of about six miles. He said livestock doesn’t cross into the BLM from his land because the federal property is too steep. Without a fence to post no trespassing signs, Solberg said his hunting outfitter, Rod Paschke, would be inconvenienced.
“They walk onto private land that’s not fenced,” Solberg said of public hunters. “So unless these guys carry an onX (an online GPS program that designates land ownership) — which none of them admit to — I spend too much time dealing with them.”
Paschke’s website calls Solberg’s ranch “one of the best” for elk hunting in the area.
“It has been hunted lightly in recent years and holds not only high volumes of elk, but a great age class and outstanding quality as well,” the website said.
Hunting prices range from $2,850 for a three-day cow elk hunt to $8,950 for a five-day rifle hunt.
Public hunters locked out
Miles City hunter Matt Rinella, who hosts the “Hunt Quietly” podcast, said he used the Seven Blackfoot Road a half-dozen times to access the terrain to hunt elk during the archery season.
“We’re talking about some very rugged and expansive country,” Rinella said.
When Solberg installed a gate and locked it, Rinella called the county sheriff and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks warden to see if it was a legal closure. When he was told it was a public road, Rinella hiked in to scout the terrain in the spring of 2024. Attached to his vehicle when he returned was a note telling him he had trespassed.
Rinella called Solberg who told him he had trespassed. Paschke also called Rinella to complain.
Rinella then followed up by contacting the BLM, Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Department of Transportation.
“Everywhere I went I’d get a different answer” about whether the road was public or not, he said.
Rinella also reached out to the Public Land/Water Access Association which recently sent out a newsletter highlighting the gated road.
“We lose way more than we win,” said Alex Leone, the group’s executive director.
The group’s newsletter noted the Seven Blackfoot was just one recent loss for the recreating public.
“The Seven Blackfoot Road access issue is indicative of broader trends that we are seeing transpire across the state,” the newsletter said. “As large properties change hands and exclusive access to wildlife and public lands becomes more valuable than the agricultural potential, we will continue to see public access challenged.”
Even when the access group won a case challenging a Ravalli County landowner who gated a road, a lawsuit that went all the way to the state Supreme Court, the defiant property owner has continued to frustrate public access by gating and then blocking the road.
In one situation in Lewis and Clark County, a dispute over longtime access to public land led to the landowner shooting and killing a neighbor.
In 2011, a hunting outfitter and landowner gated a road and posted no trespassing signs in the Little Belt Mountains in central Montana. The issue was taken to court by then-state Attorney General Steve Bullock who won the case, but which took five years to wind its way through the courts.
Landlocked private property
That Solberg can lock out public access to federal lands whereas he needs access across BLM acreage to reach some of his private property adds incongruity to the situation.
Solberg owns 320 acres along Seven Blackfoot Creek that is surrounded by the Charles M. Russel National Wildlife Refuge property on three sides and BLM acreage to the south.
Another 370 acres of Solberg’s land along the creek bottom is surrounded entirely by BLM property.
Another point of public vexation is that Solberg has collected more than $2 million in federal farm subsidies over the years for the property, as well as another one that he owned in South Dakota.
BLM comment on road
A Miles City BLM spokesman said his agency has always asked permission to use the road into the wilderness study area, which is “pretty standard” when the agency has to cross private property to inspect a grazing allotment.
In 2017, the University of Montana’s Wilderness Institute Citizen Science Program was granted access via the road to conduct a survey to help the BLM collect data on weeds, roads and wildlife.
Beth Klempel, with the BLM’s real estate office, said in a statement, “There is no BLM right-of-way on this road.
“However, Garfield County’s records regarding road ownership are incomplete, partly due to a courthouse fire approximately 30 years ago that destroyed many documents. This has led to ongoing confusion about which roads are officially designated as county roads. Even if a road is maintained with taxpayer funds (gas tax road) it doesn’t automatically qualify as a county road unless it has been formally recorded or adopted as such. This has resulted in confusion over legal access.”
Gas tax road?
Solberg said he worked with the Garfield County Commission to have the Seven Blackfoot Road from his gate onward to his ranch house taken off the county gas tax rolls.
Counties receive a share of their revenue from the Montana Department of Transportation’s collection of gasoline taxes. The allocation is based on the number of roads “open to public travel,” according to the agency’s website, excluding highways.
However, the website also noted, “Maintenance is not a factor in Fuel Tax Allocations nor are the local governments required to maintain these routes.”
An MDT map shows the Seven Blackfoot Road from Solberg’s gate onward being a “fuel tax ineligible point.” The map said the reason the road was rejected was due to no trespassing signs and orange markings, which in Montana are a substitute for no trespassing signs.
Garfield County Attorney Adam Forslund said without having a day or more to research the situation by diving into the county’s records, he couldn’t comment on whether the road was public or private.
“People often confuse gas tax roads with being public roads,” he said.
A Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks representative said the agency’s research indicated it is “no longer a public road, as best we can tell,” and that the gate is legal. “Ultimately, the status of the road is a county matter.”
