Castor
11-12-05, 05:23 PM
I know everyone here hates hunters, but how can you argue against this? When was the last time an ARA gave like this. Yes hunters will use the land, but think of how many species that aren't hunted will have a home.
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/11/11/build/state/43-state-benefactor.inc
HELENA -- LeRoy Beckman lived so frugally that he went to secondhand stores for hearing aids and heated only one room of his small Montana house.
He got around in an old panel truck, favored bib overalls regardless of the occasion and found Social Security adequate in his old age. "He looked dirt poor," said confidant Jim McDermand of Billings.
But Beckman had an estate upward of $3 million when he died in 1997, at 88. The Great Falls man essentially left the money to deer and hunters. Now, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks is solidifying Beckman's legacy.
This month the agency's commissioners voted to accept the fourth and final gift of land bought with Beckman's money, now exhausted. His will requires the lands, which are contiguous, be managed for the good of wildlife and be open to hunters. With addition of the latest ranch, the scenic swath of central Montana now called the Beckman Wildlife Management Area will grow to about 6,500 acres. Features include grasslands, pine and fir trees, gentle slopes, coulees, the Judith River and, particularly important to Beckman, mule deer.
The bachelor farmer's trust has bought wildlife habitat chosen with the help of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, then donated to the agency. Besides deer, the area has antelope, wild turkeys, pheasants, foxes, coyotes, raptors, songbirds and an occasional mountain lion.
"It had to be mule-deer habitat, not elk habitat," said McDermand, personal representative for the Beckman estate. "He didn't like elk." Beckman also specified that a river flow through the property.
Beckman's generosity is "a testament to basic decency and civic involvement," said Steve Doherty, chairman of the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission. But the involvement came posthumously. People who knew Beckman say he was a loner, trusted few people and was happiest in the wild, hunting.
"He was intelligent, but people did not give him credit for that," said Jim Luoma of Sand Coulee, who became Beckman's friend through a mutual interest in guns. He said Beckman was the son of a single mother during part of his childhood, and knew what it was like to be poor. He farmed as a young man, put money in gold stocks and got a handsome return, then invested in oil, Luoma said.
"Things just started going for him," he said. Luoma believes his friend was a savvy investor with a smart adviser.
Beckman's lone sibling, half-sister Evelyn Fish of Great Falls, remembers him as a person who loved to read, loved his dog, obeyed hunting laws meticulously and loathed hunters who did not.
McDermand's affiliation with the Montana Wildlife Federation led an aging Beckman to him, with an appeal for help in arranging his financial affairs.
"He felt he wasn't going to make it too much longer and said he had quite a bit of money that he would like to donate to mule-deer habitat," said McDermand.
"When we finished he said, 'Don't tell any ... women or lawyers about this,"' McDermand added. "He didn't trust either one."
McDermand did persuade Beckman to meet with Great Falls lawyer Kirk Evenson, after describing him as an avid sportsman. Beckman had prepared a voluminous will that needed work, and Evenson was part way into the job when Beckman died of natural causes. After a judge acknowledged his intent, his wishes were carried out.
"He saved everything," said Evenson, who remembers meeting with Beckman about four times before the man would disclose his wealth.
"He said, 'What do you need to know that for?' I said, 'Well, you know, in estate planning ..."' Evenson said.
Beckman had hunted bears as well as deer, went to Alaska as a sportsman and wanted to hunt in Africa, but never did.
"Even though he was a curmudgeon, his heart was really in the right place for the wildlife and the sportsmen of Montana," McDermand said.
The latest gift from Beckman's estate will be up for action by the State Land Board on Nov. 21. If the board gives its OK, final papers for the land deal likely will be signed soon afterward.
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/11/11/build/state/43-state-benefactor.inc
HELENA -- LeRoy Beckman lived so frugally that he went to secondhand stores for hearing aids and heated only one room of his small Montana house.
He got around in an old panel truck, favored bib overalls regardless of the occasion and found Social Security adequate in his old age. "He looked dirt poor," said confidant Jim McDermand of Billings.
But Beckman had an estate upward of $3 million when he died in 1997, at 88. The Great Falls man essentially left the money to deer and hunters. Now, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks is solidifying Beckman's legacy.
This month the agency's commissioners voted to accept the fourth and final gift of land bought with Beckman's money, now exhausted. His will requires the lands, which are contiguous, be managed for the good of wildlife and be open to hunters. With addition of the latest ranch, the scenic swath of central Montana now called the Beckman Wildlife Management Area will grow to about 6,500 acres. Features include grasslands, pine and fir trees, gentle slopes, coulees, the Judith River and, particularly important to Beckman, mule deer.
The bachelor farmer's trust has bought wildlife habitat chosen with the help of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, then donated to the agency. Besides deer, the area has antelope, wild turkeys, pheasants, foxes, coyotes, raptors, songbirds and an occasional mountain lion.
"It had to be mule-deer habitat, not elk habitat," said McDermand, personal representative for the Beckman estate. "He didn't like elk." Beckman also specified that a river flow through the property.
Beckman's generosity is "a testament to basic decency and civic involvement," said Steve Doherty, chairman of the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission. But the involvement came posthumously. People who knew Beckman say he was a loner, trusted few people and was happiest in the wild, hunting.
"He was intelligent, but people did not give him credit for that," said Jim Luoma of Sand Coulee, who became Beckman's friend through a mutual interest in guns. He said Beckman was the son of a single mother during part of his childhood, and knew what it was like to be poor. He farmed as a young man, put money in gold stocks and got a handsome return, then invested in oil, Luoma said.
"Things just started going for him," he said. Luoma believes his friend was a savvy investor with a smart adviser.
Beckman's lone sibling, half-sister Evelyn Fish of Great Falls, remembers him as a person who loved to read, loved his dog, obeyed hunting laws meticulously and loathed hunters who did not.
McDermand's affiliation with the Montana Wildlife Federation led an aging Beckman to him, with an appeal for help in arranging his financial affairs.
"He felt he wasn't going to make it too much longer and said he had quite a bit of money that he would like to donate to mule-deer habitat," said McDermand.
"When we finished he said, 'Don't tell any ... women or lawyers about this,"' McDermand added. "He didn't trust either one."
McDermand did persuade Beckman to meet with Great Falls lawyer Kirk Evenson, after describing him as an avid sportsman. Beckman had prepared a voluminous will that needed work, and Evenson was part way into the job when Beckman died of natural causes. After a judge acknowledged his intent, his wishes were carried out.
"He saved everything," said Evenson, who remembers meeting with Beckman about four times before the man would disclose his wealth.
"He said, 'What do you need to know that for?' I said, 'Well, you know, in estate planning ..."' Evenson said.
Beckman had hunted bears as well as deer, went to Alaska as a sportsman and wanted to hunt in Africa, but never did.
"Even though he was a curmudgeon, his heart was really in the right place for the wildlife and the sportsmen of Montana," McDermand said.
The latest gift from Beckman's estate will be up for action by the State Land Board on Nov. 21. If the board gives its OK, final papers for the land deal likely will be signed soon afterward.