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PUBLIC ACCESS: DEFENDING A MONTANA TRADITION

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Two anglers walking at sunset.

Montana is consistently rated one of the best places to live in the country, and it’s no secret that easy access to the outdoors is one of the main reasons why. Nowhere else in the world can match the opportunities we have here to hunt, fish, camp and enjoy the great outdoors. Polls consistently show that the ability to get outside and enjoy fresh air, wild country, and clean water is the number one reason people choose to live here.

Montana’s rich outdoor opportunities depend on our national forests, national parks and other public lands. These lands – totaling more than 28 million acres, or about a third of the state – provide ample opportunity for hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, and other recreational activities. It’s no surprise that Montanans visit public lands at a higher rate than almost anybody else in the nation. One poll from 2015 found that 96 percent of Montanans reported visiting public lands in the last year—with more than 43 percent visiting more than twenty times.

Public lands are particularly important for Montana hunters…

Read the full story, and more, in the MWF Summer 2016 Newsletter.

MWF Lauds Governor’s Plan to Protect Montana’s Public Land Heritage

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mountain-mamas-479 Photo courtesy of Montana Mountain Mamas

Our public lands are crucial to Montana’s heritage and our economy. Montanans hunt, fish, camp, and hike on public lands more than anybody else in the nation. Our access to the outdoors is why we live here, and it’s why tourists from all over the world visit Montana. Just last week, a poll found that 83 percent of Montanans believe that public lands are important for “protecting our culture and heritage.”

Over the last few years, Montanans from across the political spectrum have been working together to fight against proposals to transfer and sell off our public lands. These proposals are being advanced by special interests who believe that our public lands should be developed and sold off instead of protected for future generations. Thanks to the hard work of thousands of Montanans, we have stopped the public land grab dead in its tracks. Not a single bill has made it through the Montana Legislature, and our Congressional delegation is united in opposition to this idea at the federal level.

But fighting bad ideas isn’t enough. We also need to push forward to expand public access the outdoors and protect more lands for future generations. Our heritage, our economy, and our Montana way of life depend on it.

Today, Governor Steve Bullock announced a plan to defend and improve public access to public land in Montana. The Governor has called for:

• Continued vigilance against the transfer and sale of our public lands
• Full funding of Habitat Montana, which uses hunting license fees to open up access and protect habitat
• Creating a new Office of Outdoor Recreation to support outdoor economic development
• Creating a Public Access Specialist who will work to address specific problems with land and water access

These proposals will help Montana’s hunting, fishing, and outdoor heritage and support our economy.  Now we need to work to get our Legislature and other Montana leaders on board.  You can send a message to the Governor about his plan by visiting mtgreatoutdoors.org.

Jeff Lukas – MWF Elk Campaign Manager

Jeff Lukas

Elk Campaign Manager

Jeff Lukas is a passionate conservationist who has been fishing and hunting his entire life. Whether it’s floating a small stream chasing trout, pursuing elk in the high country, or waiting in a blind for ducks to set their wings, Jeff is always trying to bring more people afield to show them what we are trying to protect. He loves being in the arena, and he will never shy away from conversations about the beautiful and unique corners of Big Sky country.