Quist on Public Lands

Growing up in Cut Bank, one of the most important life-changing memories from my youth was my time in a Boy Scout Troop led by an incredible Scoutmaster, my Uncle Bob Anderson.

We would take 100-mile trips up in the mountains and this is where I came to love Montana’s wild and beautiful wide open spaces.

Our outdoor way of life is what makes Montanans who we are. It doesn’t matter if you’re from the Eastern or Western side of the state and it doesn’t matter if you’re a Republican, Democrat, Independent, or Libertarian--this is a common value we all share.

As Montanans, it is our constitutional right to access our public lands, rivers and streams.

Unfortunately, politicians in Washington, D.C. don’t understand what the rest of us do. They want to transfer public lands to the state, which will lead to selling them off to the highest bidder. Our very way of life is at stake.

The transfer and eventual sale of public land is nothing more than theft against our children and grandchildren, and I steadfastly oppose it.

I will stand up for our Montana way of life, and that includes fiercely protecting our cherished public lands.

I will oppose any effort to transfer or sell our public lands. Period.

I’ll also work to fully fund and permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund to protect even more outdoor areas at no cost to taxpayers.

I’ll work to make sure that forest fires are treated like other natural disasters and there’s a budget to fight them, instead of raiding the Forest Service’s budget each year.

And I’ll work with the timber industry, conservationists and sportsmen to better manage our federal forests. Like with other issues, managing our forests should start from the ground up so we can protect more places while also putting more men and women back to work in our forests.

Montanans have the answers to most of our problems, if people in Washington D.C. would take the time to listen.

Well I’ve been representing and listening to Montanans my whole life. I will stand against any politicians, out-of-state millionaires and corporate special interests that want to take away what makes Montana great.

Rob Quist is the Democratic nominee for Montana's vacant House seat in the 2017 special election.