Montana Legislators Fight and Win for Public Lands

Montana Senators Jon Tester and Steve Daines and Montana Representative Greg Gianforte supported and helped pass The Natural Resources Management Act (NRMA) which include 170 separate provisions and is the most important public lands legislation passed since the 1970s. The Act, which passed the Senate by a vote of 92-8 on Feb. 12, and passed the House by a vote of 363-62 on Feb. 26, is now on President Trump’s desk to sign into law, which he is expected to do.

For Montana, the Act is important in that it permanently authorizes and funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Originally passed in 1965, LWCF devotes a portion of revenues from offshore oil and gas extraction leases to fund a variety of public access and public lands programs. The fund has invested more than $540 million to support Montana’s outdoor recreation economy since the establishment. Representative Gianforte has been a consistent supporter of the permanent reauthorization of the LWCF while Senator Tester was the only member of the delegation who opposed legislation to cut $16 million from LWCF last year. He also consistently fought to reauthorize and fully fund the initiative.

The NRMA also restores fish and wildlife habitat on private land, which re-authorizes funding for the Partners for Fish and Wildlife program through 2022. The program enables the Fish and Wildlife Service to work with and match investment by private land owners or restoring habitat for fish and land animals. The NRMA also fosters access for sportsmen. The provisions will benefit hunters and anglers as it adds the ability for hunters to transport bows through national parks and makes all federal land open to hunting and fishing, unless otherwise designated.

“Montana is truly the Last Best Place because of our public lands and outdoor way of life,” Senator Tester stated in a press release. “These bills are heading to the President’s desk as a direct result of hardworking Montanans who made their voices heard and kept fighting to protect our growing outdoor economy.”

Another provision in the NRMA is the Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act, which was drafted by Senator Tester and later adopted by Representative Greg Gianforte. The Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act will permanently withdraw federal mineral rights on roughly 30,000 acres of the Gallatin National Forest and prevent proposed mines from expanding onto unclaimed public land adjacent to the Park. “There are simply some places you shouldn’t dig or drill, and the doorstep of Yellowstone Park is one of them,” stated Tester in a release. Tester originally introduced the legislation in April 2017 and Representative Gianforte later adopted a House version in December 2017. However, neither bill received a full vote in its respective chamber during the prior congressional session.

Ahead of the House vote on Feb. 26, Representative Gianforte stated, “Permanently protecting the gateway to Yellowstone and permanently reauthorizing the LWCF will help preserve and expand public access to our public lands. I strongly urge passage of this bill that’s so important to Montana.”

As of press time, the Act has not been signed by President Trump.