News & Notes: Spring 2025

Happenings from around the Bozone.

DESPERATE MEASURES
Despite the Forest Service’s best efforts, the pyromaniacs of the Gallatin Valley and beyond can’t seem to wrap their heads around one simple fact: pallet fires are illegal. Admittedly, snagging pallets from behind big-box stores, driving into the woods, and partying the night away beside a raging bonfire has been something of a forbidden rite of passage for Bozeman teens and MSU freshmen since, well, the first beat-up pallet was stashed behind a warehouse on the edge of town. But with our burgeoning population, the problem has reached crisis proportions, and it’s simply no longer an option, tradition be damned. Debris left behind from these fires can puncture the hooves of packhorses and the paws of dogs, not to mention pop the tires of snowplows and Forest Service rigs. The end result is that trailheads, campgrounds, and access roads are often left unusable until the sites can be properly cleaned and made safe.

To put an end to pallet fires once and for all, the Bozeman Ranger District has banned the possession of pallets in their jurisdiction of the Custer-Gallatin National Forest. Gone are the days of plausible deniability, as having a pallet in your vehicle for any reason is strictly forbidden—no ifs, ands, or buts. The ban went into effect on January 1st, and any person or organization found in violation can be subject to citations, penalties, even possible jail time. So, don’t be an a-hole—ditch the pallets and go cut some firewood like the rest of us. —Carson Sprague

BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME
Last fall, Utah legislators filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Supreme Court against the federal government, claiming it was illegal for the feds to indefinitely hold public lands nationwide, such as BLM or National Forest. (For more background and details, check out the article “Land Grab.”) It’s remarkable that the court even glanced at the document, but ultimately the judges decided that the case didn’t have enough merit to be taken up. Utah is likely to revamp their attack, starting at the bottom of the totem pole with a federal district court, so it’s possible that the case will work its way back up over the next few years. For public-land recreators, it’s still something worth keeping an eye on. —Eli Fournier

GIVE IT A SHOT
To provide residents of the Gallatin Valley with a proper public shooting range, Montana FWP has proposed to buy the 2 Dog Road Easement—an 86-acre DNRC parcel south of Logan and west of the landfill. The area has long been used as an informal shooting range, especially before hunting season, leading to concerns of public safety and environmental degradation. Currently, the project is undergoing an environmental assessment—for the second time (the first was redacted by the DNRC and deemed insufficient for review). Tenuous plans include a 500-yard rifle range, pistol and shotgun bays, and cement bathrooms. The project would be financed mostly through a federal grant, but the money is still tenuous. (Damn you, federal bureaucracy.) Developed or not, folks are gonna keep shooting on the parcel, so the sooner FWP gets things rolling, the better. —Carson Sprague

A MODEST PROPOSAL
In response to recent government rollbacks on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion programs, the Yellowstone Club announced that it will enhance its own DEI efforts by temporarily lowering its membership fee. “Just because we’re an ultra-exclusive enclave for the super-rich doesn’t mean we can’t be inclusive,” says Charla Tinn, the Club’s public-relations director. “To show that we care about DEI, even if the current administration doesn’t, we’re lowering our initial buy-in amount to $380,000.” Tinn claims that the reduced fee (down from the usual $400k) will allow “underrepresented multi-millionaires with a smaller net worth” to join slightly richer people behind locked gates deep in the Madison Range. “A diverse membership is a strong membership,” she adds, pointing out that these types of practices at the Club are nothing new. For example, new staff has long undergone mandatory DEI trainings, with courses such as “Validating Fragile Egos” and “Small Men, Big Houses, and Unconscious Bias.” As human-resources director Cy Koffant explains, “We’re a private, members-only organization, and we take inclusivity seriously. If trainees don’t want to complete our programs, fine—they can go find another indentured-servitude gig with less integrity.” For Dee Pokkets, longtime Club member and chairperson of the volunteer DEI committee that meets annually for a group ski day, it comes down to ethics. “Most of us here have a background in equity,” she notes. “I mean, our parent company is a private-equity firm, for crying out loud. I guess you could say that DEI is in our DNA.” —Joe King