Sen. Loge and Block Management

Despite his 1.5 seconds of fame appearing as a lawmaker on the show Yellowstone, there’s nothing Hollywood about Sen. Denley Loge.

He’s a down-to-earth St. Regis rancher in his 70s. After four terms in Montana’s House, the  soft-spoken legislator now represents parts of Mineral, Missoula, and Sanders Counties in Senate District 45.

When Sen. Loge isn’t in Helena, he’s home working his lands, lands that for more than 25 years he’s enrolled in Block Management, dating back well before he entered the political arena. But now he’s using his influence to champion and improve Block Management, helping ensure that Montanan’s premier public access program has a future.

Block Management offers landowners voluntary incentives to allow public hunting on their private lands. Roughly 7 million acres are enrolled in the program, representing significant hunting opportunities.

However, despite hunter days in the program increasing 57% since 2013, Block Management has lost nearly 2 million acres of enrolled lands since its peak in 2002. That means more hunters and fewer acres to hunt.

But why are program cooperators leaving? Three reasons have been identified: compensation isn’t keeping up with the market rates for access; hunters aren’t appreciative; and hunters aren’t following the rules or respecting private lands.

Thanks in part to Sen. Loge, all three complaints are being addressed.

Payment caps for the program have been increasing, as have per-hunter-day payments. HB 637 in 2021 increased the cap from $15,000 to $25,000; SB 58 in 2023 doubled that from $25,000, to $50,000. Though his relatively modest 471-acres enrolled in public hunting generate nowhere near those max payments, Sen. Loge voted in favor of both bills.

FWP then launched their ‘Thank a Landowner’ portal in 2023 to allow hunters the opportunity to show appreciation for landowners opening their gates through Block Management. In the first year, nearly 600 hunters took the time to send thank you notes. And more and more hunters and hunting groups are supporting FWP-hosted Block Management Appreciation Dinners as well.

But addressing hunter behaviour still needs work. Sen. Loge is sponsoring two bills right now - SB 441 and SB 83 - that do just that. SB 441 creates a new Block Management Enforcement Network that would mean rule breakers are met with stiffer penalties and loss of private land access privileges on any property enrolled in Block Management.

SB 83 would then require these rules be enforced year round, meaning the landowners who allow public access on their private lands outside of hunting season are still met with the peace of mind that their rules must be followed by all recreationists, not just hunters during the hunting season.

Both of these bills are great ways to ensure that our public access programs remain because access to private lands through Block Management is a privilege, and should be treated as such. SB 441 and SB 83 offer reasonable approaches and needed solutions to improve public behaviour.

If there’s anything fans of Yellowstone know, it’s that this made-for-TV drama outrageously stretches the truth on what it’s like to actually ranch and own land in Montana. But something it doesn’t misrepresent are the real and growing pressures on Montana’s landowners, the increasing popularity of the Montana lifestyle, and the influence of big-moneyed interests coming into this state. Block Management represents one of the last best tools we have for keeping Montana rural lands in working hands, keeping them accessible for everyday bluecollar public hunters, and ensuring that our Montana way of life remains.

And we have folks like Sen. Loge to thank for that.

Kevin Farron is a hunter who lives in Missoula County.