www.unitedpropertyownersofmt.com

"Uniting Property Owners to Protect Property Rights."

United Property Owners of Montana, Inc.

History of UPOM's founding

On December 20, 2007, the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission took an unprecedented step.  At the recommendation of the Department, the Commission passed a tentative proposal to limit archery elk permits in the Missouri River Breaks Elk Management Unit and 24 other hunting districts in Montana—anywhere there was a limited rifle elk permit in place. They also limited archery antelope permits statewide.  FWP staff expressed an “anxiety” created by the loss of public access to private land and stressed a need to take away the certainty of a guaranteed license to attempt to alleviate the leasing and purchase of land due to the liberal licensing system.  In spite of overwhelming public opposition to the tentative proposal at this meeting, from landowners, businesses, and industry leaders, the Commission voted unanimously to adopt it. 

The FWP held 44 public comment meetings statewide in January and solicited written and email comments from the public regarding the proposal.  FWP saw greater attendance at the public meetings and received more written and emailed comments than for any other issue in recent history.  A summary of the written and email comments were obtained (although the validity of this summary is in question).  However, using FWP results, overall comments for the elk archery proposal were 179 For, 319 Against, and 62 Other.  Overall comments for the antelope archery proposal were 200 For, 250 Against, and 34 Other.  The FWP wrote in their Public Comment Summary, “In nearly unanimous fashion, commenting outfitters, landowners, businesses, commerce, local governments and non-resident hunters adamantly opposed limited permits…Among resident hunters, strong support was articulated for limited permits in the Breaks (but) unlike limited permits in the Breaks, resident hunters expressed only limited support for this proposal from a statewide perspective.”  Staff recognized a “geographic boundary” to the comments, noting that the further away from the affected area the greater the support for the limits.

When the FWP Commission, at their February 20, 2008 meeting, voted to adopt the limited permits and ignore public comment, the seeds for the formation of a united group of property owners were planted.  In attendance at this meeting were Toby Dahl of Roundup and Mark and Deanna Robbins of Roy: landowners, ranchers, and outfitters.  They had worked together during the tentative process to comment, attend meetings, and offer alternative solutions to the perceived problems the FWP was attempting to address.  As they saw the majority of the public’s efforts ignored in favor of appeasing special interest groups, it became the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.

When the FWP began using their big game license structure in a punitive fashion against landowners, in an attempt to coerce access to private land for the general public, they created an intolerable situation.  No longer willing to sit back and allow a state agency to ride roughshod over private property rights, Toby, Mark and Deanna, and Don Proue of Roundup, began a grassroots effort to unite property owners to stand up for their constitutional rights Thus, United Property Owners of Montana, Inc. was born.