MONTANA STATE LIBRARY 



3 0864 0014 4505 8 



Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks 

 Wildlife Division 



Draft Environmental Assessme^^ 



DOCUMENTS COLLECTION 



BECKMAN WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA /\f i- « o .gg 



PROPOSED ACQUISITION '^ '^^^ 



WONTANA STATE LIBRARY 



1515 E. 6th AVE. 

 HELENA, MONTANA 59620 



I. INTRODUCTION 



Mr. LeRoy Byron Beckman's Last Will and Testament established the RBB Deer Lands 

 Trust Fund to acquire lands for deer and public hunting. Mr. Beckman's Will instructed 

 Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MFWP) to assist in locating these lands, and that the 

 lands should be within Fergus, Judith Basin, Cascade, or Meagher Counties; mountain or 

 valley lands; that are partly timbered; that has a stream running through it; and that the 

 lands be comparable in cost to other lands in the area Mr. Beckman further instructed 

 that after the land was acquired that the title and management be transferred to MFWP. 



Within the 4 identified counties, MFWP personnel have recently completed a thorough 

 examination of numerous properties that were known to be for sale, that might meet Mr. 

 Beckman's conditions. Of them, the Steiners' Trail's End Ranch was the best match. It 

 was MFWP's recommendation. The RBB Deer Lands Trust Fund purchased the property 

 June 7, 1999. 



The state of Montana recognizes that 3 native plant communities are very important 

 wildlife habitat in need of conserving. Those plants communities are: ripanan, sagebrush- 

 grassland, and intermountain grassland. Since the Steiners' Trail's End Ranch includes 

 nparian and sagebrush plant communities, as well as meets the terms of Mr. Beckman's 

 Last Will and Testament, the MFWP Region 4 Supervisor recommends that the Fish, 

 Wildlife & Parks Commission accept fee title and management of the property from the 

 RBB Deer Lands Trust Fund, and that the property be named the Beckman Wildlife 

 Management Area. 



II. AUTHORITY AND DIRECTION 



MFWP is authorized by statute (87-1-201) to protect, enhance and regulate the use of 

 Montana's fish and wildlife resources for public benefit now and in the future. In 1987. the 

 Montana Legislature passed HB526 which regulates wildlife habitat leases, conservation 

 easements, and/or fee title acquisition (87-1-241 and 242). The Fish, Wildlife & Parks 





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