Highland Road / Garrison Hill Road Summary

HISTORIC ACCESS RESTORED

Although the Highland Road, south of Butte, in the Beaverhead Deerlodge National Forest, had been open to the public since 1866, the C Bar D Ranch and the ranch owner, Florida businessman Daryl B. Williams, locked up a gate in June 2006, informing the public that the road was now private. Williams bought the 2,725-acre C Bar D Ranch in December 2005. The ranch owner then advertised the ranch for sale at $4,000.000, hoping to capitalize on private access to thousands of acres of public land.

PLWA officer Tony Schoonen spearheaded community action to restore public access. The Butte-Silver Bow Commissioners were appealed to. The Commissioners took action during a regular meeting in August 2006. “The move cleared the way for the county to remove locked gates from the well-traveled road south of Butte.” The Butte-Silver Bow Commissioners voted unanimously on August 16th to officially designate Highland Road as a county road and open to the public. Saturday, August 19, 2006, county officials removed the gates blocking access to Highland Road. Hours afterward, Police arrested a ranch employee for disorderly conduct, for blocking the public from using the portion of Highland Road that crosses the C Bar D Ranch. The ranch employee was blocking access approximately 5 miles up from Frontage Road.

Williams then filed a lawsuit on August 25th, in Butte District Court, claiming the county acted improperly when it voted on Aug. 16th,  to give Highland Road the classification of a county road.

In late 2007, District Judge Kurt Krueger ruled that the county had acted within its jurisdiction to remove gates and locks from the well traveled route.

‘Williams asked the court in April 2007 to reclassify a portion of Highland Road — also known as Garrison Hill Road — as private. During that hearing before Judge Kurt Krueger, Lilly argued that Butte-Silver Bow County had no authority to designate Highland Road as a county road. The county took that action during a regular meeting in August 2006. The move cleared the way for the county to remove locked gates from the well-traveled road.

County officials countered during the April 2007 hearing that the county has maintained that road for more than 100 years, and the entire road should be open to public access.

In November 2007, the judge sided with the county in a two-page ruling. Krueger denied Williams’ motion for a partial summary judgment, which would have given the court the authority to make the road private again.”