Citizens for Balanced Use

“The form 990 filing will be reviewed by the members at the next scheduled meeting.”

“The governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial information are made available to the public upon request.”

“Fish creek was originally owned by the anaconda copper company in butte and timber was harvested to provide shoring for the mines. Anaconda copper sold this property to champion company who harvest timber for their mill and the paper company in missoula and bonner. Later, champion sold the property to plum creek who continued harvesting timber for their mill in superior, the paper company in missoula, and the plywood plant in bonner. This provided good paying jobs and economic contributions to many communities. Plum creek finally moved out of montana and sold the fish creek complex to the nature conservancy which turned around and sold it to montana fwp for the purpose of a wildlife management area, a state park, and additionally creating an outdoor recreation multiple use trail system using some of the thousands of miles of old logging roads in the area. Mineral county is a depressed area of montana with high unemployment rate, low income, and nearly 90% of the county managed by the state and federal government. Over the years environmental groups have succeeded in shutting down the timber industry and the mining industry in this area. The local government has become dependent on payment in lieu of taxes (pilt) to support local services. Pilt funds are not always fully funded and in funded are only a small amount compared to what private property and industries would provide. Cbu supports fully funded pilt as well as supporting industries who use our public lands and resources that support local communities. The organic and the multiple use sustained yield act require federal land management agencies to manage our public lands for sustain yield of products and services. Many time the federal land management agencies ignore the multiple use sustained yield act and organic act in the development of the land management plans and forest plan revisions. Other regulations created under the johnson administration have also adversely affected small rural communities in keeping resource industries alive. The clean water act, the clean air act, and the endangered species act have added complex regulations and review procedures through the national environmental policy act (nepa) to any proposed project. This tangled web of regulations has made it very difficult for agencies to complete projects and in fact helped environmental groups succeed in stopping many projects that would benefit wildlife, the environment, and the economies of local communities. Such is the case with mineral county. Additionally, the equal access to justice act (eaja) has enabled environmental groups to benefit financially from litigation. The eaja allows litigants to collect their legal fees and witness fees if they prevail. Even if they only prevail on a single point of their case, they can collect their entire cost through the eaja. Cbu has found that these environmental groups often time "judge shop" to find a court that is sympathetic to their environmental causes. Court cases are often technical in complexity with the decision being made by a judge who will base the decision, not on the law, but rather on a bias against some industry. Environmental groups look for this bias in their search for a court in which to file. Cbu is in support of revising the eaja to prevent environmental groups from using the eaja as a business model rather than its intended purpose. Reports have shown the eaja has been abused and has compensated environmental groups and their lawyers to the tune of over $700 per hour in attorney cost and up to $1000 per hour in professional witness cost. Tracking these funds paid to environmental groups is difficult as they are paid by small fs and blm districts across the nation where the project was being proposed. Estimates have been reported that payments to environmental groups through the eaja to exceed a billion dollars per year. Cbu has been asking our congressional representatives to review this issue and bring possible solutions to the”

“In march cbu attended a new exclusive group named the beaverhead county collaborative (bcc). This group was formed by the theodore roosevelt conservation partnership (trcp) and trout unlimited (tu). Hand picked members of other environmental organizations include montana wildlife federation (mwf), the nature conservancy (tnc), wild montana (wm), one beaverhead county commissioner, 3 state legislators, a land owner, and a motorized recreation representative. Cbu was contacted by the motorized representative asking for help from cbu as this group was trying to designate more wilderness in beaverhead county. Even though the county commissioners of beaverhead county passed their county resource plan that included language that opposed any new wilderness in beaverhead county, this group would be proposing new wilderness from this hand selected group of wilderness proponents. The bcc was having meetings in whitehall, 2 counties away from beaverhead county and under the radar of the citizens of beaverhead county. Cbu attended this march meeting and requested a position on the committee. We were denied a position yet the group claimed to represent a broad range of stakeholders. Beaverhead county contains 5 wilderness study areas (wsa) which were the focus of this group and they planned to recommend designating these 5 wsas as new wilderness. Cbu brought this new group and their intentions to the attention of the public in beaverhead county. Cbu has hundreds of members from beaverhead county and these members expressed deep concern about the secret meetings being held far removed from the view of beaverhead county residents. The bcc began getting pushback from the residents in beaverhead county. The current management of these wsas were very restrictive and the blm was restricting use of these areas which prevented many uses. This adversely affected the citizens and the economy of beaverhead county. Environmental groups continue to push a false narrative of wilderness being good for the environment, good for the economy, and good for the people. The truth is much different as wilderness prevents active management of the forest allowing excessive fuel loads to build, catastrophic fires to occur, limited ability in these areas to fight fires, limited ability to manage grazing leases, limited ability to maintain water containment and conveyance facilities, oil, gas, and mineral development restricted, motorized, and mechanized recreation access prohibited, and ultimately creating an economic hardship on the county. As mentioned before the federal government compensates the county with pilt payments. In beaverhead county this equates to a mere 50 cents per acre. The wsas and potential wilderness prevents the county from collecting any additional revenue from resource development. Cbu represents the interests of our members and the public. Our members work and play in areas of montana where there are large areas of public land. Much of this land is currently designated as wilderness along with many areas designated as wsas. According to a poll conducted by north forty, 58% of montana residents oppose additional wilderness in montana. In response to this survey by north forty environmental groups contracted with the university of montana to conduct a push poll on support for additional wilderness in montana. Their results were much different as their push poll created questions designed to obtain a desired result. Because the environmental groups contracted with u of m to conduct the poll, they were the ones to determine the language in the questions. This is nothing new as environmental, pro-wilderness groups are in the business of creating new wilderness. But when push polls are used with deceptive questions to obtain a predetermined outcome, we find the results of these polls to be questionable and in fact false. They use these false push poll results to claim large support for additional wilderness in montana when in fact the majority of”

“The quarterly meeting of tsra was held in may. Discussions about water quality regulations and deq discharge rules were also discussed. These are important issues for cbu, for not only resource development but issue around sedimentation from roads and trails are always being used to close roads and trails. Agencies fail to recognize the large amount of sedimentation created by catastrophic fires. Sterilized and baked soil surfaces are ripe for massive erosion during spring runoff and snow melt but environmental organizations ignore this fact and instead blame outdoor recreation for the cause of sedimentation in our streams. Faced with threats of litigation the agencies cave to the threat and close roads and trails, forgo timber harvest projects, remove cattle grazing, and refuse permitting of any resource development. Also, in may cbu was invited to attend a meeting in dillon with a newly formed organization named the southwest montana conservation coalition (swmcc). Local business owners, legislators, and residents of beaverhead county came together to form this group to protect and preserve their way of life. They are experiencing an influx of state and national environmental organization coming to their area in an effort to shut down agriculture (cattle grazing and irrigation), mining, oil and gas development, and motorized recreation. The area of beaverhead county is rich in mineral resources and has a long history of mining in this area. It is notable that in beaverhead county the number of cattle outnumbers the population of people. Beaverhead county has a large amount of federally managed public land including state land, blm, and forest service. The members of the swmcc expressed concern about losing their cultural and historic heritage along with losing businesses and industries that provide good paying jobs and support the economies of numerous small towns in the county. Cbu will be supporting this new organization and offered our assistance in making this new group successful. We appreciate new organizations being formed that represent the needs of the local communities. In montana we continue to see out off state groups and organizations infiltrate rural communities in an effort to stop resource development, shut down agriculture, and remove people from the land. Groups like american prairie reserve, nature conservancy, theodore roosevelt conservation partnership, defenders of wildlife, wildlife federation, trout unlimited, native ecosystems council, earth justice, backcountry hunters and anglers, western watersheds, center for biological diversity, montana wilderness association, montana wilderness society, and more, all have a mission of removing people from the land. It is difficult for local residents in rural counties and communities to push back on these well-funded organizations. Cbu provides sound science and true facts and information to groups like the swmcc in order to help them in preserving their way of life in montana. As one of our members expressed, these environmental group's members are not educated in agriculture or our basic resource needs. They are apartment dwellers who swallow the propaganda from these environmental groups and donate to the environmental cause to obtain a good feeling of thinking they are doing the right thing when in fact they are donating to groups who are hell bent on destroying the very industries that feed, cloth, and keep the lights on. At the end of may cbu travelled to boulder, montana to meet with the jefferson county commission to discuss improvements to the mccarty road. The mccarty road is the historic stage routs that travelled from boulder to elkhorn in the 1800s. This historic route was granted to the county under the 1866 mining act and is preserved under the "reserved statute 2477" (rs2477). Rs2477 was an act that granted thousands of road rights-of-way to the states when the first settlers rushed to montana in search of gold and silver. The rs2477 identified”

“Just think if these conservation easements and control of property in perpetuity were to be allowed to be traded on the nyse. This would allow investors from around the world to invest and as stockholders gain control and the use of property in the united states. Even unfriendly nations like russia and china could control the use of our public and private lands. Fortunately, the sec dropped the proposal to allow trading of nacs on the nyse. Cbu brought maragret byfield from asl to present this information to the members of the tsra. Cbu continued to meet with the swmcc in dillon. This group is focused on releasing the 5 wilderness study areas (wsa) managed by the blm in beaverhead county. They are gathering signatures and circulating information on the harm and economic hardship these wsas have caused in their county. The blm manages these wsas for their wilderness character and treat them as wilderness even as they have never been formally designated as wilderness. Even the wilderness character analysis completed by the blm shows these areas do not have wilderness characteristics and do not qualify as wilderness yet the blm continues to manage them as such. Cbu has worked for many years to release all the wsas in montana. They were designated as wsas in 1977 and were to be analyzed and either formally designated or released within 5 years. Congress has failed to act and after more than 40 years it is time to release these areas back to multiple use and active management. July was a month of bringing attention to cbu by attending riding events. Cbu has an enclosed trailer with information and maps educating the public on shared use, "leave no trace," "pack it in, pack it out." we participated in trail maintenance projects and clean up events. Members of cbu and other organizations cleared trails of downed timber and enjoyed riding events and the great state of montana. The monthly meeting of the bdwg was held in august which cbu attended. We also participated in the annual meeting of the montana snowmobile association in west yellowstone. Later in august cbu traveled to oregon to attend the multiple meetings (5) being held by the forest service to roll out their new blue mountain forest plan. This flawed plan and process is being pushed by the anti-access employees of the forest service in the wallowa whitman, malheur, and umatilla national forests. This effort is being driven by a flawed process and violation of the federal advisory committee act. The forest service formed a committee of local government representatives and included as a voting member a representative of sustainable northwest, a well-known environmental organization. Cbu brought this to the attention of the forest service representatives at 5 of the 6 meetings they held in areas of eastern oregon and washington. Our concerns fell on deaf ears but rest assured cbu will hold these individuals accountable as they ignored federal law and violated the process in developing their new closure plan. Cbu is working with forest access for all (fafa) out of baker city oregon in their attempt to keep an open forest. From oregon cbu traveled to northern california, eastern washington, and northern idaho to meet with affiliated recreation groups to hear their concerns about federal land management agencies and the closures they are experiencing. Clearly access to our public lands is under attack. The end of august brought news that cbu would be targeted for an audit by the irs. We were contacted by the irs agent and he sent us pages of requested information. Cbu is and has been a ligament non-profit 501(c)3 organization registered under an "educational organization since 2006. We began the tedious task of putting together all the information he requested. Over the next few months, we delivered piles of information he requested including taxes, calendars, pamphlets, posters, receipts, meeting minutes, articles of incorporation, bylaws, mission statement, board member names”

“Wild and scenic river designations adversely affect the ability to actively manage the forest much of the cgnf is overgrown, dead, and dying. Fuel reduction projects in this area are critically important to completely. Wild and scenic river designations prohibit commercial timber, cutting and hauling in corridors designated as wild and scenic. Wild and scenic designation not only affects the river itself but also prohibits certain activities within the corridor affecting mile on each side of the river. Oppose the missouri headwaters conservation act support motorized recreation development in fish creek support release of wilderness study areas in montana revise esa and defund epa revise eaja (no accountability) supporting forest in focus and good neighbor authority projects to provide more local, state, and federal partnerships in active timber management on federal lands cbu has been a proponent on bringing more local control back to land management actions on federally managed lands. The good neighbor authority (gna) allows state agencies, specifically montana department of natural resources (dnrc), to take the lead on projects on federally managed public lands. This action will reduce the possibility of frivolous litigation filed by extreme environmental groups. Working with idaho state snowmobile association in creating a model cooperative agreement to provide opportunities to leave road and trail infrastructure in place after a timber sale for motorized recreation oppose further poisoning of montana streams and introduction of west slope cutthroat trout (meeting with fwp on case by case) wolf and grizzly predation and control (support hunting and trapping) (commented to agencies) (support landowners) support grizzly delisting. Oppose wolf hunting buffer around yellowstone park cbu members have been adversely affected by out-of-control populations of wolves and grizzly bears in montana. Livestock deprivation has been a burden on livestock operations across the state. The endangered species act (esa) must be revised to allow delisting of populations of these large predators when population numbers have reached target. Protection of vested water rights (filed comments in opposition to the blm taking vested water rights from property owners in northeast montana) working with counties to identify roads and rights-of-way that would qualify for rs2477 that come under jurisdiction of counties. (this would stop the illegal closing of hundreds of miles of roads in montana on federally managed public lands) provide training on coordination to help local governments affect federal land management decisions. Working with naco (national association of counties) in writing the coordination handbook that directs federal land management agencies on how to coordinate with local governments the forest service and national association of counties (naco) have completed a guidebook for working together. This guidebook instructs the forest service on their requirement to coordinate their actions with the county resource plan or growth policy in making their plan consistent as possible with the local plan. Many local county governments in montana are not aware of this requirement of federal land management agencies in being consistent with the local county growth policy or resource plan. Cbu helps to educate local county governments on this federal requirement and the importance of having a comprehensive growth policy. Working with montana fwp in mapping summer and winder motorized trails on our federally managed public lands provided comments opposing year-round grazing permits on blm for bison in north east montana. Oppose apr (american prairie reserve) plan to remove agriculture in ne montana the blm created a new rule under the direction of tracy stone-manning in elevating conservation and preservation to the same level as multiple use. This rule put into effect has adversely affected ranchers and lease holders on federal managed public lan”