Daines’ Attacks on Wilderness Study Areas Pick up Steam

Update: Thursday, Sept. 28

After Daines’ latest made-in-Washington bill advanced out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last week against the wishes of Montanans, it’s critical that we call on the senator to do what he’s never done: meet openly and honestly with the people who elected him and work with them to determine the future of our wilderness study areas. This is the closest any of his anti-public lands bills have ever been to becoming law, and it’s never been more important to stand up against it.

We’re gathering signatures on a petition demanding that Daines meet publicly with Montanans to hear our concerns. Add your name today to stand with us, and thousands of others, who won’t roll over for the senator’s agenda.

Sign the Petition Today

We’ll deliver the petition to the Daines to make it clear that we won’t tolerate his latest top-down attempt to strip protections from our public lands.

While he’s pushing legislation that imperils fish, wildlife, and Montana communities, Daines is ignoring actual on-the-ground efforts to come up with common-sense solutions for the future of wilderness study areas. While he likes to pay lip service to the importance of locally driven solutions, he’s ignored locals’ hard work, preferring to listen to a small sliver of special interest groups.

We won’t stand by while Daines tries to pull the wool over Montanans’ eyes by stripping protections from wilderness study areas.

Original post: Thursday, Sept. 21

Today, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee advanced Senator Steve Daines’ legislation to remove protections from over 100,000 acres of public lands. Sen. Daines had introduced the bill despite the overwhelming objections of Montanans, just 6% of whom supported his previous attempts to eliminate protections from wilderness study areas.

Here’s a short statement I sent to members of the media this morning:

“Just like he’s tried to do in the past, Sen. Daines is working hard to sell out our public lands to please an extreme sliver of influential Montanans and out-of-state interests. It’s disappointing that the committee didn’t do right by Montanans and stop this bill in its tracks, but it’s time for Congress to do what the vast majority of Montanans – 84% – want: stop Daines’ top-down bill and support public lands legislation that actually benefits our public lands.”

Daines’ bill targets three wilderness study areas: the Middle Fork Judith WSA in the Little Belt Mountains south of Great Falls, Hoodoo Mountain WSA southwest of Lincoln, and Wales Creek WSA south of Ovando. These are some of western and central Montana’s best elk habitat, home to rare and threatened native populations of westslope cutthroat trout, and other species of critical concern.

Daines loves to tout his public land credentials, but he’s hardly ever bothered to align his actions with his rhetoric. While he’s pushing one-size-fits-all legislation that imperils fish, wildlife, and Montana communities, Daines is ignoring actual on-the-ground efforts to come up with common-sense solutions for the future of wilderness study areas. In places like the Middle Fork Judith, local community members have been rolling up their sleeves and working hard to plot a course for the future of their backyard WSAs. Daines, who likes to pay lip service to the importance of locally driven solutions, has ignored these groups’ hard work, preferring to listen to a small sliver of special interest groups rather than regular Montanans.

Time and again, the senator has been perfectly teed up to support community-driven processes to shape the future of WSAs, many of which were already established…and has kept on introducing rounds of top-down legislation that cut out existing collaborative efforts and slash protections for over 100,000 acres of public lands.

While we wait to learn what’s next for this bill, you can help us fight it by writing letters or op-eds for your local paper holding Daines accountable for his disrespect of Montanans. If you’d like assistance, just email me and I’ll be happy to help.

You can also email Daines and ask him to withdraw his legislation.

Ask Daines to Withdraw His Legislation

On a positive note, Daines’ anti-public lands bill wasn’t the only thing to move forward today. The committee also voted to advance Sen. Tester’s Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act, which will add 80,000 acres to the Bob Marshall, Mission Mountains, and Scapegoat wilderness areas, permanently protecting the headwaters of the Blackfoot and Clearwater rivers. In stark contrast to Daines’ bill, a huge majority of Montanans – 84%, according to the University of Montana – support the BCSA. You can read more about that bill, and our commitment to getting it passed, here.

We won’t stand by while Daines tries to pull the wool over Montanans’ eyes by stripping protections from wilderness study areas. We’re committed to holding Daines accountable for disrespecting Montanans and pushing special-interest agendas, and I know you’ll be there with us.