Get the Business Startup Kit: https://clickhubspot.com/c44i
The checkerboard configuration of public and private land in the Crazy Mountains of southern Montana has long been a cause of conflict and confusion. Tensions between the public and private landowners accused of blocking public trails had been escalating for nearly seven decades since the 1940s. In 2015, the US Forest Service was approached by the Yellowstone Club, one of the largest concentrations of billionaires outside of Manhattan, to do a land exchange in Big Sky near the Club’s private ski resort. When the Forest Service turned it down, the Club expanded its land offerings to the Crazy Mountains, and in January 2025, the Forest Service authorized the deal. Who’s benefiting and who’s not? The Hustle’s Noelle Medina reached out to both parties involved and interviewed a journalist for New York Magazine to learn more.
New York Magazine:
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/yellowstone-club-real-estate-public-land-montana-crazy-mountains.html
Crazy Mountain Project:
https://map.crazymountainproject.com/
University of Montana:
https://www.umt.edu/this-is-montana/columns/stories/the-crazies.php
Montana Free Press:
https://montanafreepress.org/2021/10/05/crazy-mountains-lawsuit-nears-resolution/
https://montanafreepress.org/2023/09/27/forest-service-tentatively-approves-crazy-mountain-land-swap/
https://montanafreepress.org/2025/01/20/forest-service-authorizes-controversial-crazy-mountains-land-swap/#:~:text=Another%20notable%20change%20is%20the,owned%20by%20tobacco%20giant%20Altria.
Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division:
https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4250.cws00190/?r=-0.453,-0.001,1.857,0.847,0
https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4251h.ct001859/?r=-0.401,-0.001,1.799,0.821,0
https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4241p.ct001237r/
Enhancing Montana’s Wildlife & Habitat:
https://www.emwh.org/public%20access/Crazy%20Mountains/mtg/Crazy%20Mountain%20History%20&%20Key%20Points.pdf
https://emwh.org/public%20access/Crazy%20Mountains/Crazy%20Mountains%20Northern%20Pacific%20Railroad%20Grant%20Deeds.html
https://www.emwh.org/public%20access/Crazy%20Mountains/Sienkiewicz/EMWH%20Refutation%20Docs%20for%20Alex%20Sienkiewicz.pdf
https://www.emwh.org/public%20access/Crazy%20Mountains/big%20timber%20legal.pdf
historylink.org:
https://www.historylink.org/File/8741
MeatEater:
https://www.themeateater.com/conservation/public-lands-and-waters/the-battle-over-prescriptive-easements-in-the-crazy
Barbara Van Cleve’s American West:
https://bvcamericanwest.com/van-cleve-family-history/
US Forest Service:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=63115
https://usfs-public.app.box.com/v/PinyonPublic/file/1318430708893
SFGATE:
https://www.sfgate.com/renotahoe/article/homewood-shuttered-ski-resort-lake-tahoe-future-20007082.php
Forbes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiWQJULS4PY
“The Crazies: The Cattleman, the Wind Prospector, and a War Out West,” Amy Gamerman, 2025:
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Crazies/Amy-Gamerman/9781982158163
Mountain Land Source:
https://mtlandsource.com/news/lone-mountain-land-company-buys-crazy-mountain-ranch
Mansion Global:
https://www.mansionglobal.com/articles/marlboro-maker-sells-its-18-000-acre-crazy-mountain-montana-ranch-01625771254
Get the 5-minute newsletter keeping 2M+ innovators in the loop: https://clickhubspot.com/a3nq