Daines Slammed for Opposing Montana-Made Public Land Solutions

Press Release

Congressman Steve Daines is once again "unavailable for comment" after a story in today's Bozeman Daily Chronicle in which he's slammed for signing a controversial letter that opposes Montana-made public lands solutions.

Daines' letter asks the U.S. House of Representatives to specifically "oppose proposals from the Senate" like the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act and Sen. Jon Tester's Forest Jobs and Recreation Act. U.S. Senate candidate John Walsh is a cosponsor of both bills.

Montana timber companies support the popular Forest Jobs and Recreation Act, a collaborative bill written with input from timber companies, sportsmen and conservationists.

Daines instead is asking Congress to pass his controversial bill, which was written in Washington without input from Montana. Daines' bill, H.R. 1526, is a one-size-fits-all bill to turn Montana public lands over to big out-of-state developers. It would allow clear cutting of forests, jeopardizing access to lands Montanans have hunted and fished for generations.

"I am shocked that Rep. Daines signed that letter because he goes around the state all the time talking about how Montanans know what Montanans need," Montana Trout Unlimited's executive director Bruce Farling told the Chronicle. "And here [Daines] been given a Montana solution and he's rejecting it and instead wants a Washington-based solution and says in the letter that we have to solve all the problems of all the states in the country with a forest management issue. I'm just stunned, because that's not going to happen."

"Montanans asked Congressman Daines to work with them on Montana-made solutions, but instead he endorsed Washington's top-down plan that ignores hunters and anglers," Walsh said. "It's unacceptable that he would demand the House block this balanced legislation to manage our forest and create jobs."

In a 2012 editorial, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle encouraged Daines to work together to pass the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act.

"Daines can change the way things have been done in Washington for the past few years by looking at this legislation with an open mind… The bill holds promise for all Montanans," the Chronicle wrote.

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