How Billionaires Are Taking Over THIS Mountain Range

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.

Crazy Mountain Project:
https://map.crazymountainproject.com/