The winding and tortuous saga of Bullwhacker Road in the Missouri River Breaks

<p class="MsoNormal">When it comes to accessing public lands, the Bullwhacker Road dispute south of Havre has been one of the longest simmering and most contorted in Eastern Montana.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">For 18 years the public, agencies and landowners have jousted over motorized access into a section of the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument via the road.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">It provides vehicle access to between 35,500 and 50,000 acres of public land, depending on how it&rsquo;s counted. The rugged coulees peppered with pine trees is located north of the Missouri River, west of Cow Creek and south of the Bears Paw Mountains.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Driving the Bullwhacker Road to reach the land, overseen by the Bureau of Land Management, requires traveling across almost 4 miles of private property. That&rsquo;s where the dispute started.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">On this episode, Brett French, outdoors and natural resources reporter for the Billings Gazette newspaper, untangles the back and forth of public access into the Bullwhacker area.</p>