Public Access Investigation

PLWA investigates public access complaints brought to the organization from concerned users when access to their public lands and waters is encumbered or blocked. The program provides public access advising and consulting services and helps to oversee land transfers, sales, and other negotiations where public access may be lost or compromised. Members of the team also advise and provide testimony at local and state levels on access issue investigations and cases. Program elements include a full-time Director of Access Investigations to investigate complaints and our landmark AIRS Program. Scroll down to learn more.

Click here to learn more about the access issues PLWA is investigating and find issues we have worked to resolve in the past.

Director of Access Investigations

The Director of Access Investigations serves the mission of PLWA, and the wider Montana access community, by engaging with stakeholders to investigate and oversee access complaints brought to the organization. This full-time position allows a strategic focus on the public access complaint process – from grassroots advocacy and engagement within the smallest Montana communities all the way to championing the public’s access rights at the highest level of Montana’s judicial system.

The Director of Access Investigations is a key staff member within the Public Access Investigation Program. They are responsible for undertaking the initial interface work of access complaints, overseeing the data management of access investigations, and carrying out research and outreach involved in access investigation. Other key duties include communicating work product highlights to the community and to the Board, and developing the role within the organization. PLWA’s Director of Access Investigations is Haley Sir, depicted to the right while teaching her favorite pastime.

For formal access complaints, please use the complaint form on the AIRS page. To reach Haley directly, use the button below.

AIRS (Access Issue Reporting System)

The first of its kind to address access issues across the state of Montana.

Goals of AIRS:

  1. Provide a central point for the public to register access complaints.

  2. Collect data about the volume, type, and location of access issues that arise.

  3. Track the evolution of access issues occurring in Montana.

  4. Increase the efficiency of investigation and resolution of access issues interfering with the public’s ability to reach and recreate on Montana public lands and waters.

The AIRS program relies on partnerships with members, volunteers, communities, businesses, organizations, and other nonprofits to accomplish its work.

Access Investigation Legal Team

As part of our Access Investigation Legal Team, PLWA works diligently to establish partnerships with lawyers and law firms to help work on cases that do not meet the level of formal intervention at the courts. Additionally, partnerships with Montana universities for law and policy research allows for both PLWA and students to benefit while mentoring the next generation of access advocates.

Interested in partnering with PLWA to provide free or discounted legal services to protect and defend public access in Montana? Reach out to us below and see how you and your firm can be part of safeguarding public lands and waters in Montana.