HELENA — Federal legislation to expand protections along the Rocky Mountain Front has received another endorsement, this one from the county where more than half of the affected area lies.
The Independent Record reported Thursday the Lewis and Clark County Commission voted to back the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act. Its endorsement follows one earlier this month by the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission.
The bill would add more than 67,000 acres of new wilderness to the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex and grants less-restrictive protections to another 208,000 acres.
The bill is co-sponsored by Montana Democratic Sens. Jon Tester and John Walsh.
County commission chairwoman Susan Good Geise says she plans to ask Republican Rep. Steve Daines to introduce a similar bill in the House that also would expand grazing rights.