Following the completion of an environmental assessment, Bureau of Land Management officials have decided to open a half-mile route into the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument. The short road will provide access to another 51 miles of routes spread across more than 35,000 acres of federal land south of Havre and north of the Missouri River. Access to this region has long been a goal, but it wasn’t possible with this scenario until Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks and the Square Butte Grazing Association reached a Public Land Access Agreement last year. That deal opened a section of road that made the BLM’s route a way for vehicles to reach the area. Bullwhacker Road is the main way into the federal land, but it goes through private land. The Blaine County attorney ruled the route was public in 2007. That decision was overturned by a district court judge on appeal. So since then, access via the route has only been provided with landowner permission. To learn more, check out my story at https://billingsgazette.com/outdoors/blm-bullwhacker-road-upper-missouri-river-breaks-national-monument/article_e2f4b0a4-07df-11ef-9427-7fd037010978.html.

Written by Brett French | Outdoors Editor for Billings Gazette
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Brett French