Budget Bill Threatens Montana Hunting Grounds

I want you to try to imagine waking up one morning to read that your favorite high-country ridgeline, the one you’ve hunted every Fall for years, is about to be paved over and transformed into “Elk Ridge Estates.” That’s the sort of horror show we face with the new budget bill.

What began as a pitch to sell off 70,000 acres of federal land has now grown to 1.5 million acres. That’s right! A million and a half acres of your public land. All for sale to the highest bidder.

Also, as the dingbats in D.C. shuffle the maps, thank God for one Montanan stepping up to try and save public land from the sell-off.

The parent company of OnX Maps, whose principal product has for years been helping hunters and hikers figure out where they’re allowed to be, is arguing at the forefront of its emerging case. They’re more than just a bunch of weekend warriors. These are numbers-driven, boots-on-the-ground Montanans who understand what’s at stake.

They discovered that most parcels on the chopping block are landlocked by private property. Once sold, they are gone. No more trails. No more glassing spots. Nothing but locked gates and No Trespassing signs.

Yes, the federal budget’s a train wreck, but don’t balance it on the back of what makes Montana whole. Our public land is not simply part of our economy. It’s part of our identity. If they unload all that, they’re unloading more than acreage. They’re selling away our future.

I’m with OnX on this one.

Public land advocacy groups are urging anyone who cares about this budget bill to ring the U.S. Capitol at (202) 224-3121 and ask to speak to your senators.