We write with an important update regarding the Crazy Mountains. Protecting the wilderness character of this landscape has been a priority for PCEC for thirty-five years. The Crazy Mountains, known as Awaxaawippíia in the Apsáalooke language, are not just a striking feature of Montana’s landscape—they are a place of immense cultural, ecological, and historical significance.

On January 17th, the U.S. Forest Service authorized the East Crazy Inspiration Divide Land Exchange. This exchange involves trading 3,855 acres of federal land for 6,110 acres of non-federal land, consolidating public lands into contiguous areas in the Crazy Mountains and Madison County.

At PCEC, we take a community-focused approach to conservation, working with diverse peoples and perspectives to protect open spaces, wildlife habitat, and cultural values while preserving the rural character of this extraordinary region.

While this exchange has its critics and undeniable compromises, it conserves thousands of acres of public land and represents a critical step forward in resolving more than a century of land fragmentation and one of the country’s most contentious access disputes.

Key Benefits of the Exchange

Conservation of Public Lands and Protection Against Development: This land exchange consolidates a fragmented checkerboard of private and public lands into a large, contiguous, and easily identifiable conservation area managed by the Forest Service within the Crazy Mountains. It reduces the risk of development on 10 sections of private land currently interspersed with National Forest System lands and secures critical wildlife habitat for threatened species.
Improved Public Access: A new 22-mile Sweet Trunk Trail on contiguous public land will secure a deeded access easement, replacing a contested historic route and connecting Big Timber Creek to Sweet Grass Creek. Combined with other forest trails, it will create a 40+ mile backcountry loop for hunters, hikers, and horseback riders. The Sweet Grass Creek Trail in the canyon bottom will remain open and accessible by permission during warmer months, as it is today.
Increased Public Lands: The exchange will result in a net gain of 2,255 acres of public lands, including lands that will be incorporated into the Crazy Mountain Backcountry Area and the South Crazy Recommended Wilderness. This will increase the overall roadless wildland in the Crazy Mountains and could create opportunities for a permanent protective designation.
Cultural and Historical Preservation: The exchange secures high-elevation lands that include Indigenous sites in an area of cultural importance to many Indigenous peoples, helping protect these significant places for future generations.

Map of the eastern side of the Crazy Mountains showing the land consolidation and public trail that will be created by the exchange. Click on the image to be directed to the Forest Service's interactive map to learn more.

PCEC’s Role and Advocacy

PCEC’s engagement with the East Crazy Mountains Land Exchange has been long-standing. After working with local ranchers and the Forest Service to reroute the contested Porcupine Ibex trail to public land, we recognized the opportunity to consolidate the thoroughly checkerboarded east side of the range and resolve another long-standing access conflict.

From the outset, PCEC chose to engage deeply. PCEC has held community meetings, countless conversations, developed relationships with ranching families, and spent extensive time on the land. This local insight informed PCEC’s comments, suggestions and objections to the Forest Service. We have worked to strengthen the proposal and increase local involvement. This commitment to engagement has shaped our perspective and the outcome.

Thanks to the diverse community engagement and the thousands of public comments on the exchange, the Forest Service made several meaningful improvements to the final deal.

Some of these improvements include:

Conservation Easements and Stronger Deed Restrictions: Similar to Park County, Sweet Grass County lacks land-use policies that provide clear guidelines for development on private land. We advocated for stronger restrictions to prevent industrial development, protect wetlands and explicitly prohibit the type of commercial development that we are seeing elsewhere in the region. The decision includes mandatory protection such as conservation easements and deed restrictions for most parcels leaving the federal estate.
Addition of Smeller Lake and Trail No. 220: As part of a cash equalization strategy, proponents agreed to donate an entire high-alpine section of land containing Smeller Lake that will provide opportunities for fishing, hiking, and camping, as well as protect critical habitat for Yellowstone cutthroat trout.
Right of First Refusal: The Forest Service secured a mechanism allowing the public the first opportunity to reacquire these lands if they are put up for sale within the next 10–15 years. This provision creates an opportunity to secure and conserve these lands in the future.
A Robust Public and Administrative Process: Early in the process, some proponents of the project preferred to legislate the land exchange directly, bypassing public engagement. We held firm that the process should be open, public, and administered through the Forest Service. This approach resulted in thousands of people writing letters and engaging in the process, significantly strengthening the outcome.

While PCEC didn’t get everything we asked for, these tangible conservation gains and public benefits would not have been possible without local people at the table—showing up, willing to listen, learn and have the hard conversations. Through these efforts, we were able to build relationships and momentum, leading to a much stronger solution for the Crazy Mountains.

Looking Ahead

With development pressure and climate change intensifying, protecting open landscapes requires vigilance and creative collaboration across communities, cultures, and generations.

While we would have preferred to see conservation easements placed on all lands leaving federal ownership to limit industrial, commercial, and residential development, we appreciate that the Forest Service and local landowners took our concerns seriously and agreed to stronger deed restrictions. The families in the Melville area have long stewarded the open space and rural character of the east side of the Crazies, and we remain optimistic that they will continue to do so, working in cooperation with the Forest Service and diverse partners to protect this extraordinary landscape for generations to come.

This process has also strengthened relationships and opened doors to innovative conservation opportunities we never imagined at the outset. For us at PCEC that’s the real success—building trust and momentum for future collaboration.

Through initiatives like the Crazy Mountains Oral History Project and stronger relationships with Indigenous Nations and people, local producers, conservationists, the Forest Service and neighbors, PCEC will continue to work to better share and care for the Crazy Mountains landscape and all the people and wildlife that depend on it.

Thank you for caring deeply about the Crazy Mountains. While we understand that all may not agree with our perspective or approach, we always welcome the conversation and feedback. The key to safeguarding this extraordinary ecosystem lies in strengthening connections—to the land and to one another. We must work together for the Crazy Mountains to remain wild, intact, and accessible for generations to come.

If you’d like to review the full Decision Notice, Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), and Final Environmental Assessment, they are available here. Or check out the Forest Service’s visual story map here.

The East Crazy Inspiration Divide Land Exchange Final Decision