Dear Editor:
Saving our public lands:
Matt Rosendale may say that he wants to keep public lands in public hands. But talk is cheap. Rosendale’s record shows that he has voted against public lands access over, and over, and over.
Rosendale has run for five different offices in eight years, and he regularly campaigned on transferring public lands. He said, and I quote, “I have long been on the record as an advocate for the transfer of federal public lands.” This couldn’t be more out of touch with what Montanans want.
Not only does Montana’s economy rely on outdoor recreation (it generates $7 billion every year), but Montana’s great outdoors and wild spaces are our heritage as Montanans. Montana ranchers depend on these public lands for their livelihoods also.
I love to hunt. And as a disabled person, I often rely on easements for hunting access. But on the Land Board, Rosendale has voted over and over again against easements that would have protected prime hunting land from development, such as the Keogh Conservation Easement. The Keogh owners even set aside hundreds of acres specifically for disabled hunters. But Rosendale torpedoed the easement, leaving the land in jeopardy.
None of that is expanding access for Montana hunters. That’s restricting it. And I can’t support someone who refused to protect my hunting opportunities, and wants to end protections for public lands all across the state.
Mike Rogers
Worden
