A Done Deal: After 14 years and three near misses, Forest Service buys 3,400 acres in Taylor Fork

By SCOTT McMILLION, Chronicle Staff Writer

Bill Murdock has kept an eye on the Taylor Fork drainage for a lot of years, both in his current job as a Gallatin County commissioner and his previous role as director of the Big Sky Owner's Association.

This past week, the public took ownership of another 2,000 acres in the scenic drainage full of elk and moose and grizzly bears, completing a deal 14 years in the making.

"We didn't think it was ever going to get done, but it did," Murdock said Tuesday. "And I think it's a pretty good deal for everybody."

Friday's transaction was the second phase of a two-part land deal. In total, the public has gained 3,400 acres in Taylor, paying $9.3 million in federal money to David Brask, who owned the land.

The payments were arranged by Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., who sits on a key appropriations committee, with assistance from the rest of Montana's congressional delegation.

Alex Deikmann, of the Trust for Public Land, brokered the deal.

"(Deikmann) made it happen," Murdock said. "He doesn't take sides. He just does what he has to do to make it happen."

Bob Dennee, lands specialist for the Gallatin National Forest, said putting the deal together, ''took a lot of patience, persistence and a good partner."

"We just approached it as a private business deal," Deikmann said Tuesday. "At the end of the day, it took a lot of stamina and perseverance."

The U.S. Forest Service and Brask, owner of the 320 Ranch in Gallatin Canyon, have been on the cusp of a deal three times in the past 14 years, but things always fell apart at the last minute.

Lawsuits and countersuits muddied the waters. So did the fact that Brask helicoptered 32 small cabins across Taylor Fork to a section of land he owned, after the Forest Service refused to let him build a bridge over Taylor Creek.

But this time, everything held together and the public now owns all or part of six sections.

In addition to the land, the deal clears up a potentially thorny public access.

The road to the popular Buffalo Horn trail leads through the middle of the 320 Ranch guest cabins.

Gallatin County maintains the existing road is owned by the county, though Brask disputes that. As part of the deal, county officials have agreed to abandon the existing road and the Forest Service have agreed to build a new road and bridge over the Gallatin River about half a mile to the north.

Dennee said that $200,000 project will be complete within three years.

Roads on much of the newly public land will be obliterated and reseeded, and fences will be removed so they don't interfere with wildlife movements, Dennee said.

Wildlife biologists, environmentalists and hunters from around the region praised the deal Tuesday, citing the value of the drainage for wildlife and for human recreation.

"This purchase preserves one of our state's most important wildlife areas and greatly improves access for sportsmen and the recreating public," Burns said.

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