I am writing this letter to help ensure that Montana voters are educated about Montana Sen. Steve Daines’ terrible record when it comes to supporting our public lands.
Daines’ recent support for the Land and Water Conservation Fund is an anomalous blip in his overall record. He’s not only disregarded initiatives to protect public lands but has tried to dismantle current protections.
In 2014, he blocked the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act, a Montana-made solution that would have protected new wilderness, created recreation areas, and put more logs on trucks for our mills.
In 2015, he cast the deciding vote in favor of an amendment that would have enabled the sale, transfer, or exchange of lands in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area and the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge.
In 2017, he co-sponsored a bill that would have gutted the Antiquities Act, a bedrock piece of legislation for conservation in America that has allowed both Republican and Democratic presidents to designate national monuments.
In 2018 and 2019, he blocked Montana Sen. Jon Tester’s Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Act (BCSA) from receiving a Senate floor vote, which would have added nearly 80,000 acres to the Bob Marshall, Scapegoat and Mission Mountains Wildernesses, and is supported by 75% of Montanans.
In 2020, he again blocked the BCSA from receiving a Senate hearing in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee where he sits as a member in the majority.
We need senators who consistently support, believe in, and vote for Montana’s public lands. Don’t be fooled by Daines’ recent pitch to present himself as an advocate. Know the facts.
Amy Pearson
Whitefish