Hundreds of people gathered in the Capitol rotunda this week for the biannual Rally for Public Lands.
This Public lands rally has happened during every legislative session since 2015. It draws crowds of people across the state and is put on by a suite of conservation, hunting and fishing and outdoor recreation groups. 2025’s rally was no different, attendees filled the rotunda and spilled out into the hallways.
A theme throughout this year’s rally were the layoffs announced across federal land management agencies recently.
Hilary Hutcheson, a fly fishing outfitter from the Flathead, emceed this year’s rally.
"We feel the pain of disconnection," Hutcheson told the crowd. "In the last week, thousands of federal land management jobs have been slashed, jobs held by our family members."
Layoffs at the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and National Parks Service mean many major recreation areas could be short-staffed heading into the busiest season of the year. And the layoffs come amidst uncertainty over billions in federal funding for conservation work and climate change mitigation. Hutcheson said the layoffs feel personal, after her daughter lost her job.
"After her recent graduation, she was very psyched to start her job as a range scientist with the BLM, a job that was over before it began."
Almost a third of Montana is public land. Data released this week from Colorado College’s annual State of the Rockies poll show 80% of Montanans oppose reducing funding for public land management agencies.
"The fact is, de-funding public lands is a backdoor attempt to set them up for sale and privatization," Hutcheson said. "The fact is, the cuts to the federal public land workforce likely will not impact the nation's federal deficit."
Like Montana, federal public lands make up a significant portion of states across the West and Republican lawmakers have eyed these large swaths of land for development or state management. Most recently, the state of Utah attempted to sue the federal government to gain control over federal public lands. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case. But state leaders say they may take the case to a lower court. Republican attorneys general from states like Idaho, Wyoming and Alaska signed on in support of the case, but Montana’s did not.
However, some Montana Republican lawmakers have expressed interest in supporting Utah’s attempts to control federal public lands. Libby Representative Tom Millett drafted a resolution to do just that, but it has not been introduced.
Helena fly fishing guide Shalon Hastings, another rally speaker, talked about how public land is a key part of Montanans identities.
"If we lose our public lands, if we let special interests lock them up and sell them off or slash investments until our beloved short places are just shells of their former selves, we lose a fundamental part of what makes Montana, Montana."
Speakers at this year’s rally also advocated for greater state funding for public lands. They spoke in support of keeping policies in place that would put more money from the state’s marijuana sales tax into wildlife and public land conservation.
