Montana FWP’s Lost River Wildlife Management Area Set to Host Hunters
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks 08.29.13
New interim use rules have been developed for the former Milk River Ranch acquisition about 45 miles northwest of Havre.
The land, purchased by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks late last year, also has undergone a name change. It’s now officially known as the Lost River Wildlife Management Area (WMA).
“We changed the name because we already had an established Milk River WMA in Region 6,” said Wildlife Program Manager Mark Sullivan. “The Lost River is a main tributary to the Milk River on the property, so it made a lot of sense to incorporate that into the new name.”
The Lost River WMA includes 2,992 acres of fee-title public land and has about 6,000 acres of associated state school trust land. In all, about 14 square miles of public land along the Milk River and the Canadian border are available for hiking, hunting and exploring.
Primitive roads in the Lost River WMA have been closed to provide habitat security and control erosion, and parking areas are being established for the public to walk into the WMA and associated school trust lands. All of the accessible public lands there are open for the hunting of all legal game species, Sullivan said.
“Hunters should take special note of private land and property boundaries and make sure they always have permission before they enter adjacent private land,” Sullivan said. “Detailed maps will be available on site at the parking areas and through FWP’s offices in Havre and Glasgow. The shortest routes for accessing some portions of the WMA may involve crossing the Milk River, and visitors are encouraged to come prepared for this option.”
Other newly developed rules for public use of the Lost River WMA include:
- Off-road travel by vehicles is prohibited;
- No camping is allowed;
- Collection of fossils and artifacts is prohibited;
- No open fires;
- No discharge of fireworks;
- Trapping is allowed only with written permission;
- No cutting of firewood;
- All garbage must be packed out;
- All commercial use is prohibited without written permission.
“These are interim rules for 2013,” Sullivan said. “A working group will be formed this winter to help develop a long-term management plan for the Lost River WMA.”
For more information about use of the site, call the Havre Area Resource Office at 406-265-6177 or the FWP office in Glasgow at 406-228-3700.
