Billings Woman Gives 615 Acres to BLM

A Billings woman requesting anonymity has bought 615 acres south of Bridger and donated the property to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. With the gift, access to a popular area called Weatherman Draw is under government control.

The previous owner of the land had allowed people to cross it so they could reach Weatherman Draw, and had listed the property for sale at $185,000. Some access advocates worried a buyer would put the land off limits to the public.Weatherman Draw is know for sandstone cliffs featuring historic pictographs and petroglyphs.

The land was bought from Rodney Crosby of Crowley, Wyo. Jim Sparks, manager of the BLM’s Billings Area Field Office, described the benefactor as a person of modest means. Sparks said a buy-sell agreement was signed in May, and details for the BLM’s acquisition of the land were worked out in the ensuing months. The deal closed Dec. 30, he said.

Weatherman Draw, also called Valley of the Shields, holds special significance for several American Indian tribes. Some of their members have gathered there for prayer. In years past, talk of possible oil and gas drilling raised concern about the future of Weatherman Draw. In 2002, Anschutz Exploration Corp. transferred its mineral leases to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.The BLM has designated the place an area of critical environmental concern, a designation that also will apply to the land just acquired, Sparks said.