How We Protected What Makes Montana Special

The 2023 Montana State Legislative Session was historic for all sorts of reasons. More bills were requested and introduced than in any session since 1973, including numerous bills threatening public lands and waters, wildlife, public access, and our constitutional right to clean air and clean water.

The good news is that, despite historically difficult circumstances, we defeated almost all of them – together – and passed historically good legislation along the way. Though one party held a supermajority that made it simpler to pass bills strictly along party lines, we successfully brought legislators from across the aisle and the state together to protect our constitutional right to a clean and healthy environment, support public lands, protect wildlife habitat, defend stream access, invest in state parks and trails, and more.

We passed bills securing $30 million for public lands

We played a central role in building a united coalition of 130 bipartisan legislators, over 100 organizations, and thousands of Montanans to pass Senate Bill 442, which invested over $30 million every two years in recreational marijuana tax revenue in habitat conservation, state parks, trails, and more. We proudly helped bring together local governments, farmers and ranchers, labor unions, hunters and anglers, business groups, loggers, veterans’ groups, and more.

It was a historic win for our outdoor way of life.

Then Governor Greg Gianforte ignored Montanans to veto it.

When he did, he jeopardized the foundation of our outdoor way of life. SB 442 is bipartisan. It’s popular. It’s an investment in our outdoor way of life. It should be law.

Gianforte’s SB 442 veto is more than just unpopular. It’s also an underhanded attack on the legislature’s ability to fairly represent Montanans.

The legislature has the constitutional right to override a governor’s veto with a two-thirds majority if it chooses. But the governor is playing shady political games to try and take that right away, posing a serious threat to the system of checks and balances that’s a fundamental feature of our democracy. If the governor can use political trickery to deny the legislature its constitutionally protected opportunity to override a veto, what’s stopping future governors from doing the same?

Preventing this dangerous precedent is a huge part of why we need to stand up against the governor’s dangerous actions and defend the legislature’s constitutional right to have the final say on SB 442. We’re exploring all the potential options available to us, and we’re ready to do what it takes to keep protecting our democracy and our public lands and waters. We built strong relationships with many different folks and organizations that will pay dividends in the future, and we have a great opportunity to work together towards shared priorities. All of us have seen the power we have working together, and we’re going to keep advocating for SB 442.

We protected over $20 million for state parks, trails, and nongame wildlife conservation

It’s not as sexy, but protecting and expanding funding for public lands and waters, trails, and wildlife was a huge achievement this session. The less we invest in our shared outdoor resources and the people who care for them, the easier it becomes to justify letting them slide into disrepair or off the map entirely.

Through our work on the state budget, we were able to secure millions more dollars of conservation funding, including $4 million for trails, $5 million to protect habitat and access on the Lower Yellowstone River, $12 million for habitat conservation and access, and enough money to support new state employees with the job of helping reform wildfire policy and supporting conservation and access projects on the Lower Yellowstone. These investments will pay off in healthier lands, waters, and wildlife, easier public access, well maintained trails, improved public facilities, and more.

We defeated bad public lands bills threatening stream access, clean air and water, and wildlife

We did plenty of work stopping bad bills in their tracks, too.

Early in the session, we halted two bills (House Bill 261 and Senate Bill 342) that would have allowed the state to force motorized vehicles on local non-motorized trails, threatening trail managers’ ability to make decisions based on on-the-ground realities. Both bills were examples of government forcing unnecessary mandates on local communities, and we’re glad legislators did the right thing by voting it down. Cities and counties are best qualified to manage e-bikes at the local level, and they don’t need the state telling them how to take care of their local trail systems.

We defeated an attempt to ban permanent conservation easements (Senate Bill 357), a trick some lawmakers used in an effort to dismantle Habitat Montana and make it harder for landowners to manage their lands as they see fit while ensuring wildlife habitat remains intact. As Montana grows at a record pace and land prices rise, we need to protect every tool we have to conserve important habitat, sustain working lands, and secure public access.

We stopped an attempt to seriously undermine public access rights and our stream access law. Senate Bill 497 would have opened the door for individual property owners, counties, and other government landowners to block our access to our public waters. It would have been a serious blow to Montana’s best-in-the-nation stream access law, which allows each and every one of us to float, fish, and paddle Montana’s waterways.

And of course, we defeated an attack on our constitutional right to clean air, clean water, and healthy public lands. For over 50 years, the constitution has given us the right to “a clean and healthful environment.” It’s helped Montana stave off the sort of environmental disasters that were all too common in times past, disasters that taxpayers are still paying to clean up. Despite that legacy, some anti-public lands lawmakers sought to open the door for corporations to once again pollute Montana’s hard-won clean environment and leave us on the hook for cleaning up their toxic messes.

Well over 1,000 Wild Montana members and supporters signed a petition calling on legislators to defend that right. They flooded local newspapers with letters and guest columns calling on legislators to protect our constitution. They proudly displayed yard signs, took to social media, and talked with friends and neighbors about the importance of defending this critical right. Their tireless advocacy reached its literal crescendo at the 2023 Rally for Public Lands, spontaneously chanting “It’s our right! It’s our right!”, reminding the legislators watching from the fan window and on TV inside the Capitol that Montanans won’t tolerate any attacks on our lands, waters, air, and shared values.

We mobilized thousands of Montanans to defend public lands and waters

Underlying all of this success was the incredible commitment of our members and supporters. All told, they called and emailed legislators well over 8,500 times, signed petitions and open letters thousands more, and stood proudly at the vanguard of the public lands movement each and every day. Over 1,500 became members of our Legislative Action Team, our crack squad of advocates who’d take action at a moment’s notice. And over 500 folks showed up to the Rally for Public Lands in sub-zero temperatures.

We’re incredibly proud of everything we achieved, and we’re thankful to everyone who helped us get here. There’s a long road ahead of us, of course, but we’ve shown once again just how powerful our proven ability to unite and mobilize people from across the political spectrum around a shared love of public lands is.

With my daughter about to turn 10 months old, I feel more lucky than ever to be part of an organization like Wild Montana that is making sure she will have the same opportunities I’ve had to hike deep into the wilderness, jump into cold, clear mountain streams, and see wildlife flourish across our public lands. Thank you to everyone who’s been a part of making that happen. Onward.