Rural Montana Landowners Riled by Matelich Ad

Dear Editor,

If you happened to have perused the ad taken out by George and Susan Matelich in the Big Timber Pioneer (7-25-19), you got a first-hand tutorial on the scurrilous nature of the American Prairie Reserve (APR) and learned why mega-millionaire donors like the Matelich couple aspire to turn millions of Montana acres into a wildlife park.

In case you missed the Matelichs' ad, here is the backdrop that prompted their comments.

Initially, the pot was stirred by an excellent article written by Jamie Wickens, a Winifred area ranch wife, who expressed her concerns about APR's plan for the region. Jamie's article was featured in the Western AG Reporter (7-11-2019) to the applause of rural communities but to the vexation of APR and its membership.

Naturally, APR Board Chairman George Matelich was compelled to rebut Jamie's perspective claiming it was "one sided" and based on a "selective set of facts."

In the interest of fair play, a few comments on Matelich's remarks are in order.

First, who do these APR people think they are that stormed into Montana, invited by no one, and claimed a higher calling to create a multimillion acre American Serengeti in our backyard?

Matelich tells us he is a Sweet Grass County tax payer, buys stuff locally and employs a few people. According to cadastral recordings, he owns three land parcels on the Boulder River near Big Timber totaling 280 acres. He visits the area occasionally but lives in Larchmont, N.Y. I'd say those are pretty loose credentials for a business executive to imply his Montana holdings represent a major financial impact in the local area and makes one wonder where he gained an "understanding of intergenerational ranching life."

What Matelich does possess is an arrogant perspective for the region that he shares with Rutgers University professors Frank and Debora Poppers who invented the buffalo commons concept and told the west in 1990 that: "We want to convert much of America's prairie outback into public domain for its original residents – the buffalo. This depressed area should become a huge reserve, more than 139,000 square miles of open land and a refuge for wildlife."

What has riled landowners is Matelich's sanctimonious belief that Montana's agricultural communities are dying out and must be rescued from further decline because, according to Matelich, "agricultural ecosystems need to be reimagined in order to be revitalized."

Um, we should probably mention that landowners are a little touchy about people that intend to rip all vestiges of agriculture from the landscape and return the area to a wildlife zoo.

What must be recognized is that the farmers and ranchers and their communities that exist here today do so because they have learned to evolve with climate conditions, the landscape, politics and the economic vagaries of agriculture. Few people could ever hope to have those skills and survive in a tough prairie environment. Ever wonder why most of APR's supporters don't live here?

APR's long-term goal is underpinned by an entrenched network of power and wealth held by a handful of extremely rich donors whose dreams for success will soon be in need of a reality check. APR's slick promotional schemes, videos, podcasts and editorials only stoke the fires in the belly of landowners who have launched a major pushback through an initiative called Save the Cowboy, STOP APR!

A great read about the problems and headwinds APR is facing is provided in the Fall 2019 issue of Range Magazine titled "Critical Mass." APR's leadership and board members can receive a free copy of Range by sending a request to [email protected].

Sincerely,

Ron Poertner

Winifred, Mont.Poertner is a retired U.S. Army Lt Colonel who helps promote landowner interests in the Missouri Breaks region of central Montana.