"Hoax highways?" That's how the Montana Wilderness Association, a radical environmental group, is describing trails and roads in Western Montana, as they work to shut down access to public lands.
As the Montana Legislature prepares to return to Helena after the mid-session break, there is an effort underway to unlock public lands that have been land locked for many years
Montana Senator Steve Daines introduced a bill in the Senate on Thursday that addresses the reopening of public lands that had been locked up for over 35 years as Wilderness Study Areas.
Following a blistering criticism of America's public lands in Forbes magazine, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation renewed it's firm support to keep 'public lands in public hands.'
Superintendent of Public Instruction and U.S. House candidate Denise Juneau had a press conference last week on the importance of public lands. U.S. House Representative Ryan Zinke also discussed managing Montana's lands.
Many western states have investigated the potential of transferring federally managed lands to the states. For its part, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is taking a stand against such policies.
At a news conference in Billings’ Riverfront Park on Thursday, Gov. Bullock spoke on his 3-step initiative to bolster Montana’s public lands. First, the governor has directed the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to hire a public access specialist to better utilize the estimated $6 billion power of the state’s outdoor recreation industry...
During the 2013-2014 session of the Montana State Legislature, a joint resolution (S.J. 15) passed, setting up a bipartisan committee to study how well public land was being managed by the federal government in the state of Montana.