OPINION: Bullock's public lands agenda gets thumbs-up from wilderness group
Last month, two anti-public lands bills came up for vote in the House Natural Resources Committee in Washington, D.C.
One of these bills, Rep. Don Young’s “State National Forest Management Act of 2015,” would allow states to acquire up to 2 million acres of national forest lands for the primary purpose of being logged and mined.
The second bill, Rep. Raul Labrador’s “Self-Sufficient Community Lands Act,” would transfer control of up to 2 million acres of national forest lands in Montana to a state-appointed “advisory committee,” also for the purpose of being logged and mined without having to adhere to bedrock environmental laws.
Both of these lands transfer bills passed the committee. Rep. Ryan Zinke voted against the Young bill. Unfortunately, he voted for the Labrador bill.
The passage of these bills in the House Natural Resources Committee is the latest eruption in what has been a tumultuous year for public lands, a year that started with armed, anti-government zealots seizing Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon and demanding that the refuge and surrounding public lands be handed over to private local interests.
After Malheur and the latest votes in the House Natural Resources Committee, it’s become abundantly clear that Montana needs a pro-public lands agenda that can counter the well-funded and virulent anti-public lands movement happening in Washington and within our own state.
Last month, Gov. Steve Bullock unveiled the agenda Montana needs.
This agenda recognizes and bolsters the crucial role public lands play not just in our culture, but in our economy as well. It includes:
• Opposing the lands transfer agenda in Montana at every turn
• Unfreezing and fully restoring Habitat Montana, the state’s premier big-game-management resource, paid for by out-of-state fishing and hunting license fees
• Creating a state position that will help ensure that Montanans enjoy all the stream and public lands access they’re legally entitled to
• Launching a Montana Office of Outdoor Recreation
Outdoor recreation on public lands generates $6 billion annually, accounts for $403 million in tax revenue, and sustains 64,000 jobs. The Office of Outdoor Recreation would help boost those numbers and augment the economies of Libby, Lincoln, Ekalaka, and other small towns across the state to help them take advantage of their proximity to the world-class fishing, hunting, hiking, and other types of recreation that draws visitors to Montana from around the globe.
Earlier this year, Utah voted to set aside millions of taxpayer dollars in its legal quest to seize ownership of American public lands. Behind that vote and all other efforts to seize public lands in Utah is the American Lands Council. This Utah-based group is now led by a Montana legislator — Sen. Jennifer Fielder. It’s fair to assume that she and her cohorts will again launch a legislative attack on our public lands and outdoor way of life at next year’s legislative session, as they have the last two sessions.
American public lands provide an outdoor way of life that defines us as Montanans. That’s what makes these threats to public lands so insidious. If these threats to our public lands come to fruition, life in Montana as we know and love it would cease to exist, at least for the majority of us who wouldn’t be able to afford access to the lands that were once public but now belong to only the elite rich.
That’s why we’re supporting Gov. Bullock’s public lands agenda. It offers Montana the assurance we need that our state’s outdoor legacy will live on.
Please visit mtgreatoutdoors.org for more about Gov. Bullock’s plan and to offer him thanks and suggestions.
Brian Sybert is executive director of Montana Wilderness Association; Clayton Elliott is executive director of Montana Conservation Voters; and Caroline Byrd is executive director of Greater Yellowstone Coalition.