Senator Steve Daines introduced a bill, called the Montana Sportsmen Conservation Act, in December to reclassify three Wilderness Study Areas - Middle Fork Judith, Hoodoo Mountain, and Wales Creek. Montana Senator Tim Sheehy, and Representative Troy Downing co-sponsored the bill.
Wilderness Study Areas or WSAS are pieces of federal public lands where development, and motorized vehicle use are not allowed.
In a written statement Daines said the legislation would improve public access to these places, particularly for sportsmen. Hunting and non-motorized recreation are allowed in WSAs.
Alex Blackmer is with Wild Montana, a public lands advocacy organization that opposes the legislation. He says a 2022 University of Montana poll found 94% of Montanans oppose removing WSA protections.
“I think it's pretty clear that there is basically no evidence that Montanans have any sort of appetite for large scale removal of WSAS. What people do want is local, collaborative, common sense solutions for these places, and that's not what Senator Daines’ bill does”, Blackmer said.
Blackmer says removing these protections could open the areas up to road development, motorized vehicle traffic, and extractive industries like mining and logging. This is not the first time Daines has brought legislation like this. He introduced the same bill in 2022 but it was never voted on in the Senate.
