HELENA, Mont. – Groups in Montana and nationwide are urging Congress to reauthorize and fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund as the lame-duck session ticks down.

The fund, which provides access to public lands, expired in September. Montana has received nearly $600 million since the fund was created more than 50 years ago.

Tom Healy, a board member for the Montana chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, said the program opened up 13,000 acres to the public last year in northwestern Montana. A similar project adjacent to Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge is slated for 2020, but Healy said it won't happen without LWCF reauthorization.

"This is hunting grounds that families in the Flathead Valley have been using for a couple generations," he said, "and unless LWCF can fund an opportunity like this, that'll go away, and those lands will be sold into the private sector."

The program has provided funds to open nearly 70 percent of public fishing access sites in Montana and also funds facilities such as playgrounds, swimming pools and urban bike paths. LWCF dollars are from royalties paid by energy companies drilling offshore, meaning it doesn't rely on taxpayer dollars.

Groups such as Trout Unlimited, the Montana Sportsmen Alliance and Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership also are pushing for reauthorization.

Rick Potts, interim executive director of Montana Conservation Voters, said the program has bipartisan support and that its fate is, in part, in the hands of U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., who sits on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Daines has issued a letter supporting it, but Potts said congressional efforts are stalled at the moment.

"It's discouraging, actually, to watch it languish and die, and expire in Congress when really, there was no need for that to happen," Potts said. "There's no need for the LWCF to be used as a political football."

Still, Potts said he is optimistic the program will gain approval. Along with supporting the state's booming recreation industry, which generates more than $7 billion in consumer spending a year, Potts said the LWCF has been integral to Montanans' way of life.

"Every county has benefited to one degree or another from LWCF dollars," he said. "We absolutely would not be able to enjoy the breadth and depth of amenities and quality of life that we enjoy as Montanans were it not for LWCF."


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HELENA, Mont. -- Wildlife managers and biologists in Montana are airing their frustration over how the state is managing its natural resources.

A group of retired and former wildlife managers who boast nearly 1,500 years of experience combined said Montana leadership is politicizing management in ways that are harmful to predators, hunters and habitat conservation.

Chris Servheen, former grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said state and federal-level managers want leaders to know they are disheartened with the direction Montana is taking.

"This is not something that is accepted by professional wildlife biologists, and it's not right, and it's not going to be beneficial to Montana and the wildlife in Montana," Servheen argued. "And it's really disturbing to see this partisan nature of what's happening now."

In their published opinion piece, the managers and biologists say they believe the leaders of the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MFWP) appointed by Gov. Gianforte are focused on special interests like privatizing and commercializing elk hunting and are not using science to guide their decisions.

MFWP has proposed changes to elk and deer hunting it said will simplify regulations. The governor's office did not return a request for comment.

Dan Vermillion, a former commissioner on the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission for 13 years, believes the state has approved controversial methods for hunting predators like wolves, outside of fair chase hunting ethics and signal a move away from bipartisan wildlife management.

"The idea that the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission would approve a regulation that uses the word night and hunting and bait all in one sentence tells you how far they've strayed from the original and the traditional, historical approach to wildlife management in Montana," Vermillion asserted.

Wildlife managers and biologists in Montana are also concerned baited neck snares and leg-hold traps will also ensnare other predators. Lawmakers have said the changes are needed because of reduced elk and deer populations.

LINCOLN, Mont. - Residents in western Montana have proposed a unique approach to managing the landscape.

The Lincoln Prosperity Group includes conservationists, loggers, motorized-vehicle users and other seemingly disparate members. Karyn Good is a resident of Lincoln, a town northwest of Helena.

"We were a group with diverse interests who agreed whole heartedly on one thing, and that is that the status quo was not working." said Good. "And that was, sort of, our starting point."

The proposal calls for managing 200,000 acres of public lands surrounding Lincoln through a mix of conservation, forest restoration and outdoor recreation. Good said she believes the group came up with a well-balanced plan...

"Developing new mountain bike and ATV trails." said Good. "It establishes nearly 70,000 acres that will be managed for restoration, which is logging practices. And it expands the Scapegoat Wilderness and designates a new wilderness in Nevada Mountain."

The Lincoln Prosperity Proposal would create the first stand-alone wilderness area - at Nevada Mountain - in nearly 40 years.

Good said the proposal sets aside land for forest restoration to reduce the growing threat from wildfires. She said it also has economic benefits for the town, largely through recreation dollars.

Zach Angstead is the field director in Great Falls for Wild Montana, which is part of the group. He said the plan brings a holistic approach to protecting the landscape.

"The Lincoln Prosperity Proposal is a proposal looking to really expand how we think about managing our national forest land and doing that to the benefit of the people of Lincoln," said Angstead.

Russ Ehnes is president of the Great Falls Trail Bike Riders Association, which also is part of Lincoln group. He said motorized vehicle users have been working over the past two decades to improve trails in the valley.

Ehnes said there was plenty of give and take while developing the proposal.

"When it all came together," said Ehnes, "it was really a situation where every single one of us at the table could see that by having this kind of a collaborative solution, there was something in it that made our lives better."

The Lincoln Prosperity Group has been working with Montana's senators to get a measure introduced in Congress.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Hundreds of Oregon businesses have signaled their support for legislation protecting rivers across the state.

In an open letter, more than 200 businesses have thanked Sen. Ron Wyden - D-Ore. - and Sen. Jeff Merkley - D-Ore. - for introducing the River Democracy Act. The measure would protect about 4,700 miles of rivers in Oregon as wild and scenic.

The rivers were selected through a public nomination process. Chris Daughters, who signed the letter, owns the Caddis Fly Angling Shop in Eugene.

"While I'm in the angling business and I love clean water and high-quality habitat for all types of fish," said Daughters, "which Oregon is blessed to have a lot of - that's also really good for drinking water. And this act protects both of those things."

Outdoor recreation is a $7.2 billion industry in Oregon, according to the Outdoor Industry Association. Currently, only about 2%, or fewer than 2,200 of the state's 110,000 river miles, have the highest protections as wild and scenic.

Patrick Kruse is founder of Ruffwear, which builds outdoor gear for dogs in Bend. He also signed the letter.

"Having these places that we can go and take a swim or play in the waves, or go kayaking," said Kruse. "I think those really are what bring us back to our environment and what really recharge us."

Over the summer, more than 50 Oregon breweries also voiced their support for the River Democracy Act.

A poll from January found 87% of likely voters in Oregon support additional wild and scenic river protections, including 75% of Republicans.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.