The Montana Land Board on Monday approved the state’s purchase of a nearly 5,700-acre property in the Big Snowy Mountains north of Ryegate for a new wildlife management area.
The board, made up of Gov. Greg Gianforte, Attorney General Austin Knudsen, Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen, Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen and state Auditor Troy Downing, voted 4-1 to approve the purchase of the property owned by Shodair Children’s Hospital. Knudsen was the lone dissenting vote.
The $8.22 million purchase will be managed as a new wildlife management area by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks as both year-round and winter range habitat. In August it received unanimous support from the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission, propelling it to Monday’s final vote at the Land Board.
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