Give Me A Home Where Drones Don't Roam

Spy Drones over Phillips and Valley Counties?

You heard it right right here on this station folks – the good ol’ 1.5 watt blow torch of the prairie, KBULL, 0.006 on your radio dial.

Peter Geddes, managing director of the American Prairie Reserve (APR), told a group of aspiring lawyers at the University of Utah school of law tht the APR is building America’s first 21st Century Park in an Era of Government Retrenchment.

I say, “What?”

In his speech, Geddes made the implication that the APR already controls an area “1.5 times the size of Yellowstone National Park.”

The APR’s director of development and marketing, Katy Teson, told me by phone that the American Prairie Reserve has actual control of about 270,000 acres of government and deeded land in Phillips and Valley counties of Northeastern Montana.

Yellowstone National Park is a tad bit larger, coming in at 2,221,766 acres.

Geddes also told his unsuspecting audience that the APR stretches 100 miles “point to point.” He only exaggerated that one by about 40 miles.

All of the APR’s holding’s are currently on the north side of the Missouri River, but Geddes said that “someday for sure, we will be south of the river.”

Then he got to the real scary part of his presentation when he remarked that the APR “just signed a three-year contract with a group called the Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation.”

Geddes said, “So these guys … are out on the grounds installing camera traps, walking tracks with handheld GPS, and we’ll probably have some ‘really cool’ battery-powered drones flying around this summer.” Jokingly (?), he added, “We’ll be really freaking-out our neighbors by flying drones around up there.”

NOT something to make jokes about, Mr. Geddes. Flying drones just as an irritant to your neighbors is NOT the Montana way. Sounds to me that you have some growing up to do.

Northern Broadcasting’s Aaron Flint wrote, “Here’s another interesting point. Geddes says TransCanada should pay the APR in order to mitigate the impacts of the pipeline in other parts of the state.” (Another “What?”)

Sounds like the American Prairie Reserve Manager is stepping out of line here. I can’t see the APR having a dog in that fight.

There are so many conflicting statements made by Geddes in his presentation. So many implications, what-if’s, deceptions and just plain non-truths told to a naïve group of young people who are bent on “saving the Earth,” much like idealistic college students everywhere.

Another thing that makes me apprehensive about this APR is their use of the word “Serengeti.” Seems the APR is planning on controlling 3,500,000 acres on both sides of the Missouri River and turning it into 3.5M acres of non-productive land. Its only use will be for the “enjoyment” of a trickle of hikers, tree huggers and fat cat donors whose wives need a cause to champion and a pit to throw their husband’s money into.

We all know how incendiary the bison issue is with those of us who make our permanent homes here, so Geddes softened it a bit by saying the APR won’t be a “bison reserve” as such. He added, “We care about the entire suite of biodiversity.”

To that I say, “Buffalo Bagels,” Mr. Geddes. Seems to me your main objective is to quash an American way of life and make America dependent on foreign countries for our beef, wheat and other agriculture products by taking productive land out of production.

Dry times are coming, as California is witnessing, and we are going to need all the productive land we have to produce enough food to feed our own people.

Folks such as you, Mr. Geddes, and your donors need to stay on your own side of the fence.

That’s it for now folks. Thanks for listening.