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Last month Wyoming lawyer Karen Budd-Falen came to Hamilton to  push her agenda of local control over  federal public lands She came to push for local land use plans and how counties can use them to dictate federal land management, something that Budd-Falen has used before in other Western counties to push for local governments to take over federal national forests and other public lands.  She was welcomed to Hamilton by a Montana state senator who leads an organization that exists for the sole purpose of transferring federal land to state control.

Yet again, Montanans showed up to let it be known that we want nothing to do with this fool’s errand. It was reminiscent of earlier this year, when well over 1,000 Montanans from all walks of life and all corners of the state packed the capitol rotunda with a simple message – keep public lands public.

The Montana Wildlife Federation helped organize members to show up and make our voice heard. We know that federal public lands are essential to our abundant wildlife, our clean coldwater fisheries and ultimately our rich outdoor traditions. Federal land management is far from perfect – and we know that. But we also know that there are numerous local collaborative groups working to build consensus and improve conditions on the ground. And we’re seeing the results, with strong consensus measures like the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act, as well as on-the-ground projects moving forward on places like the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest.

Proponents of transfer say it wouldn’t lead to a sell-off. We know better. Just last month our state legislature held a special session to plug a $220 million budget hole – one driven in a big part by the state’s firefighting bill from a big fire year. If Montanans were stuck with the bill for the federal lands, it would be a budget buster, and we would either fact massive tax increases or be forced to start selling off the land.

Even the Ravalli County Commission rejects the Budd-Falen agenda, and made it clear it wanted nothing to do with her visit. We’re thankful that most Montanans are moving on from this bad idea, and getting down to business to find real land management solutions.

Want to help us push back on efforts to take over and sell off our public lands?  Join MWF today!

Today, the House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee is holding a hearing on a bill (H.R. 1349) that would rewrite the Wilderness Act to allow “motorized wheelchairs, non-motorized wheel-chairs, non-motorized bicycles, strollers, wheelbarrows, survey wheels, measuring wheels, or game carts within any wilderness area.”

In advance of today’s hearing, the Montana Wildlife Federation (MWF) sent a letter to Congressman Greg Gianforte outlining our opposition to  this unnecessary and divisive bill.  We support mountain biking along with other recreational activities on public lands.  However, wilderness areas — which make up only about 12 percent of Montana’s public lands — are supposed to be places that are free of mechanized transportation, along with resource extraction and commercial activity.  These areas provide secure habitat for wildlife and backcountry hunting and angling opportunity.

When conflicts between bicycling and other uses do occur, they are generally not the result of wilderness designation, but rather local planning processes.

“Instead of a top-down rewrite of the Wilderness Act, the best way to balance competing public land uses is through local collaboration that brings stakeholders together to identify areas appropriate for more intensive recreation, areas that need active forest management, and areas that should be designated wilderness,” MWF wrote.  “At a time when Americans should be coming together to find common ground on land management, H.R. 1349 is an unnecessary and divisive distraction.”

You can read MWF’s full letter here.

Proclamations signed today by the President to remove protections from national monuments is being criticized by the Montana Wildlife Federation (MWF) as a dangerous precedent that calls into question the future of other protected areas across the west.

On Monday, December 4, President Donald Trump ended several months of secrecy and announced that several protections will be removed from the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and Bears Ears National Monument.  This action by the President ignores overwhelming view by the majority of American’s who have stated that these places should be left alone. Last May, MWF conducted a scientific poll of Montanans which found that 58% of respondents said that we should leave national monuments the way they are, with an additional 16% calling for more land to be protected through more monument designation rather than less.

In response to the announcement, Montana Wildlife Federation executive director Dave Chadwick said:

“We are extremely disappointed in the President’s decision to ignore the years of local discussions by local residents, Native American tribes, conservation advocates, and other stakeholders that went into designating these national monuments.   This decision calls into question the security of all public lands, including Montana’s Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument.  Unilaterally shutting down and repealing national monuments sets a precedent that will forever leave our Breaks and all public lands vulnerable.  This decision shows that the Administration is willing to listen to a handful of extreme voices over the majority of Americans when it comes to our public lands.” 

The Montana Wildlife Federation is concerned these recommendations create an atmosphere where future administrations could continue to attempt to shrink public lands and the budgets that maintain them.  Actions such as today’s and bills like HR 3990 — supported by Montana Representative Greg Gianforte — are evidence that, if passed, our public lands are under dire threat. If the Department of Interior can roll back monument protections in any monument, nothing prevents future administrations from undertaking the same in other places, including the Missouri River Breaks.

Bill Geer, a resident of Lolo and president of the Montana Wildlife Federation, said:

“Instead of trying to redraw national monuments from the top down, land managers should be working with local communities to develop smart management plans.  We know that approach works, because it is what we’ve done here in Montana at the Missouri Breaks.  This entire national monuments review process has just been a distraction from the real work of working together to protect public access, wildlife habitat, and multiple use public land management.”

John Salazar, a resident of Livingston and a board member of Montana Wildlife Federation, says today is a defining one in the Trump administration’s attitude towards public lands and public opinion:

“The history books are being written. Today President Trump and Secretary Zinke ignored what the vast majority of Americans want and showed that he is not a good steward of our country’s public lands. Today the government broke ranks with the majority of Westerners who said shrinking or eliminating national monuments hurts our way of life and the outdoor economy.”

The Department of the Interior received over 2.8 million public comments on the Interior Department’s monument review. Independent analysis has found more than 99 percent of the electronic comments received express support for protecting monuments and maintaining them at their current sizes. Montana’s Fort Peck Tribal Executive Board established a tribal resolution affirming support for the Bears Ears National Monument which is on President Trump’s chopping block. Secretary Ryan Zinke is an adopted member of the Tribe. In recent months, over two dozen religious leaders in Montana called Secretary Zinke to make no changes to any national monument. This plea was ignored today.