FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

January 11, 2024

Montanans Call on Daines to Publicly Discuss Wilderness Study Area Bill

(HELENA, Mont.) – Over 2,000 Montanans are calling on Senator Steve Daines to meet with them publicly to discuss their concerns about his bill S. 2216, which would remove protection from over 100,000 acres of wilderness study areas

This morning, signers delivered a petition to Sen. Daines’ office in Helena. They expressed widespread concern that the senator did not make an effort to meet honestly and publicly with Montanans, many of whom care deeply about these places, before introducing S. 2216. They also allege that the senator’s legislation cuts out existing local groups and ignores longstanding local efforts to develop collaborative solutions for wilderness study areas.

“It’s not asking much for the senator to meet with us before he introduces a bill that would change these places forever,” said Jennifer Buszka, a recreationist and public lands advocate from East Helena. “Daines has a habit of making top-down decisions about places he doesn’t know. These WSAs are special, and for a senator to ride into town and tell us what’s best for them, on behalf of special interest groups, is just wrong.”

Removing WSA Protections

S. 2216 would remove protections from three wilderness study areas in western Montana –the Middle Fork Judith, Wales Creek, and Hoodoo Mountain WSAs – totalling over 100,000 acres.

The petitioners pointed to a University of Montana poll showing that just 6% of Montanans support removing protections from wilderness study areas. They allege that Daines’ attempts to advance S. 2216 is part of an effort by the senator to push legislation favoring special interests at the expense of his constituents.

“It doesn’t take a genius to recognize that if only 6% of your constituents support legislation, you probably should stop pushing for that legislation,” said Mark Savinski, a hunter, angler, and ATV rider from Sheridan. “The Hoodoo is unique. Daines has definitely never made himself available to the actual public to hear our concerns. If he’s going to introduce made-in-DC legislation, he better at least care what Montanans think about it.”

Past Efforts to Remove WSA Protection

Daines has introduced similar legislation twice before, in 2017 and 2022. Both times, it failed to advance out of committee and generated backlash among Montana voters, who accused the senator of going to great lengths to avoid public input.

In the wake of the uproar created by Daines’ 2017 bill, the Montana Legislature’s interim Environmental Quality Council produced a report calling for locally driven processes to shape the future of wilderness study areas. The committee received public testimony from recreationists, timber industry representatives, conservationists, and other stakeholders. At that time, Daines promised in writing “to respect the state Legislature’s findings.”

“Supporting local and collaborative solutions for WSAs isn’t some fringe thing,” said Laurie Lohrer, a hiker, hunter, and outdoor enthusiast from Lewistown. “The EQC spent lots of time and taxpayer money looking into how Montanans want to address WSAs, and Sen. Daines promised to respect their findings, but that’s just been lip service. If he’s serious about addressing the future of WSAs, he needs to meet openly and publicly with us.”

A copy of the petition and the names of the signers are available HERE.