How Billionaires Are Stealing American Mountains - Ep. 70 - Joseph Bullington - Public Research

Joseph Bullington, rural America editor at In These Times, joins Public Research to discuss his article “How To Privatize a Mountain,” about the fight over public access in Montana’s Crazy Mountains.“There’s sort of a new land rush going on in the West,” Bullington says. But this time, it is less about mining, cattle, or oil drilling. “It’s all about real estate and luxury housing resorts.”The conversation covers the Crazy Mountain land exchange, the loss of key public access points like Sweet Grass, how private landowners can block Forest Service roads and trails, and why these disputes matter for hunters, hikers, rural communities, and anyone who believes public lands should remain public.Bullington also explains how similar fights are playing out across the Mountain West, where wealthy landowners and billionaires can use access closures as leverage to reshape public land for private benefit.The stakes go far beyond one mountain range: Bullington warns that if imperfect roads and trails disappear, the Forest Service could lose access to more than half of its roads, threatening a majority of the routes the public uses to reach public land.Episode 70 of Public Research with Daniel Schwartz.