Big Bad Bill: Montana’s Public Lands are Still at Risk

— May 22, 2025 —

Ryan Zinke was quick to celebrate when the most blatant land sale provisions targeting millions of acres in Nevada and Utah were stripped from the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” legislation.

Don’t let the headlines fool you. Even without the direct land sales, the bill still poses serious threats to Montana’s public lands.

In Montana, public land is more than just scenery, it's our identity, our economy, and our way of life. This bill is still dangerous. Here’s how:

1. Accelerated Resource Extraction

The bill lowers royalty rates for oil, gas, and coal development on public lands and pushes for increased leasing. At present, American rigs are not pumping due to international oil prices. We have no need to open up wild and working landscapes to extraction. Extraction is not economically viable, and this kind of expansion risks degrading wildlife habitat, polluting water sources, and upsetting the balance between development and conservation that many communities have fought hard to maintain.

2. Weakening Environmental Oversight

Another buried provision allows project developers to pay for faster environmental reviews. That might sound efficient, but in practice, it sidelines public input and cuts corners on science, opening the door for projects to move forward without full transparency or understanding of their long-term impacts. Montanans deserve more than rubber-stamped permits when it comes to our natural heritage.

3. Undermining Local Land Use Plans

Montanans have spent years participating in land use planning processes that help balance recreation, grazing, conservation, and development. This bill threatens to override those plans, especially those created by the Bureau of Land Management with local and tribal input. That means years of public engagement could be tossed aside to suit outside interests or political timelines.

4. Privatization Through Long-Term Contracts

The bill would grant long-term contracts to corporate timber companies, effectively handing over management of public forests to private entities. This is privatization by another name. It could restrict public access, shift management priorities away from conservation, and open the door to overharvesting. Our forests are not corporate assets; they’re part of what makes Montana home.

5. Gutting Public Land Agencies

The legislation also slashes funding for the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service. These agencies are already stretched thin. Further cuts would mean fewer rangers, less fire preparedness, and a backlog of maintenance across our parks, trails, and campgrounds. This isn’t cost-saving, it’s neglect.

While the land sale headlines may have changed, the threats remain.

This bill still tilts the scales toward industry and away from the public interest. It erodes oversight, weakens local control, and risks turning Montana’s wild places into profit centers for outsiders.

We need to stay vigilant. Our public lands are not giveaways. They belong to all of us and it’s up to us to protect them.

Contact Senators Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy and tell them Montanans are not fooled by political theatre. Our public lands deserve protection in truth and in deed.

Senator Tim Sheehy (R-MT)

• Washington, D.C. Office: (202) 224-2644

• Kalispell: (406) 257-3398

• Billings: (406) 252-0559

• Great Falls: (406) 452-9587

• Bozeman: (406) 872-6350

• Helena: (406) 441-1069

• Butte: (406) 782-2048

• Missoula: (406) 218-2658

Senator Steve Daines (R-MT)

• Washington, D.C. Office: (202) 224-2651

• Billings: (406) 245-6822

• Bozeman: (406) 587-3446

• Great Falls: (406) 453-0148

• Helena: (406) 443-3189

• Missoula: (406) 549-8198

• Kalispell: (406) 257-3765

• Sidney: (406) 482-9010