Retired Educator
★★★★★ Legendary Member
In some ways this is not a lot different than DU in that it goes directly to the ideology of a few controlling the funds as to what is or what is not allowed on these lands.
https://www.americanprairie.org/profiles/board-directors
Now many of these people look like avid hunters? Do a bit of research into the background of their "causes".
Remember here these will be privately owned lands that once enough has been purchased to satisfy their goals, management plans including hunting and public access can be limited or ended completely. So one needs to look beyond the public affairs statements as to where and who the funding is coming from. I would have to look again to be sure, but in the case of this preserve, a great deal of the funding (and influence) comes from outside this country. Combine that with some of the ideologies of the family trusts funding it and it may not be all that it is being made out to be as it relates to public hunting.
"Well-known business people from across the country have bought into the vision of saving America's prairie and are backing it with big donations with contributions coming from individuals and foundations in all 50 states, including Montana, in addition to 12 countries."
It will be interesting to see how the BLM "works" with this entity given what thy are trying to do and given the BLM's history of limiting grazing for cattle and sheep.
A public, 13,075-acre grazing allotment owned by the Bureau of Land Management, called Flat Creek, was tied to the Holzey ranch purchase and is now leased by APR. APR has applied to change the class of livestock so bison can graze on the Flat Creek Allotment. It's also seeking a change to year-round grazing from the current May 1-to-Nov. 15 season. The requests have spurred comments from 140 people, with 95 opposed to the changes, which is an unusually high number of comments for a grazing allotment change, BLM spokesman Jonathan Moor said.
I did take the time to read their brochure. Didn't see the word "hunting" used. Looked at the leadership, Didn't look like many hunters, based on their background. Looked at the Scientific Leadership, all from colleges and not one listed as specializing in Wildlife Management. Looked at the home office address. Made me wonder why their offices are in Bozeman. That's a long drive from the APR acreage.
I'm not against providing more habitat for wildlife but this certainly doesn't seem like a group worried about preserving habitat for wildlife. Nor did it appear to be hunter friendly.
Do they pay taxes? Don't know but do know that there are a lot of non-profits that don't pay taxes and then those expenses fall back to the rest of the community to pay. The whole situation leaves kind of a bad taste in my mouth. It's everybody's choice but they won't be receiving a donation from me.
I just went back and checked their financials. There is no mention of paying any taxes other than payroll taxes.
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