Montana

Montana GOP Senate Candidate Embraces A Seriously Toxic Position

Published

9 months ago

October 18, 2023

Montana GOP Senate Candidate Embraces A Seriously Toxic Position

If GOP Senate hopeful Tim Sheehy wanted to know how advocating for transferring control of federal lands to states goes over in a place like Montana, all he had to do was look at the last Republican to take a run at Democratic Sen. Jon Tester.

Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) found out during his 2018 bid for Senate that it is an appallingly unpopular position.

Rosendale embraced federal land transfer as a candidate for the House in 2014, going as far as to call for a Montana takeover of all Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands within Montana’s borders. At a Republican debate that year, he dismissed federal lands as unconstitutional and said, “I believe that the citizens of Montana should have control and management of those areas, instead of the federal government.”

But by the time Rosendale ran for Senate four years later, he’d clearly heard an earful from his constituents. In a Billings Gazette op-ed in April 2018, he wrote, “I’ve listened to the people of Montana and they mean business about protecting our public lands, opposing a federal lands transfer.” He added a section to his campaign website titled “Protect Our Public Lands,” in which he declared his belief that “our public lands must always stay in public hands.” And during a candidate debate, Rosendale acknowledged that “there was a time when I thought they could be better managed by the state,” but said he “talked to people all over the state and they’ve made it exceedingly clear that they do not want those lands transferred. And I not only understand that; I agree with that.”

Rosendale, who is considering a second Senate campaign against Tester, has since sponsored anti-public-lands legislation.

Montana is 35% federally owned. Poll after poll shows that voters in Western states, including Montana, overwhelmingly oppose transferring control or selling off federal lands.

None of this has kept Sheehy, a decorated military veteran and millionaire businessman, from making the same mistake as Rosendale.

“Local control has to be returned,” Sheehy told the Working Ranch Radio Show earlier this month. “Whether that means, you know, some of these public lands get turned over to state agencies, or even counties, or whether those decisions are made by a local landlord instead of by, you know, federal fiat a few thousand miles away. Local control will almost always produce better results than a federal mandate from bureaucrats who are unaccountable to the people that are ultimately subject to these regulations.”

While federal agencies are headquartered in Washington, D.C., most land management decisions are made by local field offices.

People gather at the State Capitol for a rally in support of federal public lands on Jan. 30, 2017, in Helena, Montana. Various conservation groups protested the idea of the federal government transferring public lands to the states or selling them off to private individuals or companies.

William Campbell/Corbis via Getty Images

When HuffPost contacted Sheehy’s campaign about the radio interview, spokesperson Katie Martin tried to walk back what sounded like a full embrace of federal land transfer.

“Tim believes Montanans know best how to manage our land, not the Washington bureaucrats,” the spokesperson said via email. “Tim supports more local control and less federal mandates. Tim opposes a federal transfer of our public lands. Tim opposes the sale of our public lands. Tim supports better management and more local control of our public lands.”

When asked how federal lands being “turned over” to states — Sheehy’s words — differs from “transferring” them, Sheehy’s campaign said, “Calling for better management and more local control is not the same as “transferring them.”

Sheehy’s attempt to walk the line here mirrors a yearslong shift within the pro-transfer movement. As HuffPost previously reported, conservatives have largely been forced to abandon brazen calls for outright transfer and sale ― at least publicly — instead embracing savvier tactics aimed at achieving many of the same industry-friendly goals that would come with stripping lands from federal control. That has included supporting federal-state agreements that would give states a greater role in public land management and pushing permitting reform legislation aimed at giving states the authority to manage oil, gas and other energy development across the federal estate ― a de facto transfer of control that would establish federal lands in name only.

In that same radio interview, Sheehy condemned federal agencies, specifically the Bureau of Land Management and the Department of Agriculture, accusing them of being “hijacked, in many cases, by bureaucrats who are carrying out a political agenda.” And he railed against efforts to put additional federal lands into conservation. In May, the BLM unveiled a draft rule that would place conservation “on equal footing” with energy development and other traditional uses, including by granting the agency the authority to issue “conservation leases” to promote land protection and ecosystem restoration. Cattle ranchers have pushed back against the proposal, saying it would “upend” land management in the West.

“Instead of supporting the producers that they’re supposed to be enabling, they are putting constrictions in place that could potentially put them out of business,” Sheehy said. “So taking some of these leases, you know, out of agricultural production and moving them into conservation is deeply concerning. … We’re seeing battles take place all over the country, from Nevada to Washington to Montana, about what that really means.”

The most famous battle over land rights in Nevada was the 2014 armed standoff that notorious rancher Cliven Bundy led in Bunkerville over fees he refused to pay for grazing cattle on federal lands. It is not clear if Sheehy was referring to that incident. His campaign did not address several of HuffPost’s specific questions.

The Bundy family has long advocated for a state takeover of federal lands.

Sheehy himself is a fledgling rancher. In 2020, he and his friend, former Navy SEAL Greg Putnam, started the Little Belt Cattle Company in Martinsdale, Montana. Today, the company actively ranches approximately 30,000 private and leased acres and owns 2,000 cattle.

Sheehy is digging in on a position he outlined early in his bid to flip Tester’s seat. On his campaign website, Sheehy writes that he has “a unique perspective on what the federal government is failing to address when it comes to tackling wildfires—they need to let Montana start managing our federal lands.”

Federal acres belong to all Americans, not just residents of the state where they are located.

Western voters have made their views on pawning off public lands abundantly clear. Released in 2017, a poll by the Center for American Progress found that 64% of Donald Trump voters opposed privatizing or selling off public lands. A survey by Colorado College in 2016 found that 60% of voters in seven Western states, including 59% of Montanans, opposed selling off significant federal land holdings. And a 2016 poll by Colorado-based conservation group Center for Western Priorities found that 63% of Montana voters would be less likely to vote for a candidate who supported selling public lands to reduce the budget deficit, compared with 20% who said they’d be more likely to support such a candidate.

Aaron Weiss, deputy director at the Center for Western Priorities, told HuffPost that the issue became “such a third rail that candidates across the West generally stopped going there” — and pollsters largely quit posing such direct questions.

“It’s incredibly consistent over the years and not even close,” he said of public opposition. “This is not like an issue that is on the margin for Montana voters. They are very clearly against transferring or selling off public lands.”

Weiss stressed that transferring control of federal lands to states would ultimately lead to their privatization.

“States and counties have to run balanced budgets, and we know the amount of money that the federal government spends just on firefighting alone on national public lands would bankrupt just about every Western state,” he said. “That’s not even getting into the other land management costs that go into managing large swaths of public land in keeping them public.”

“The inevitable outcome of any of these land transfer proposals, as much as folks try to frame them as, ‘Oh, this is just going to be a state issue,’ inevitably it leads to selling off and privatizing public lands because there is no way for states to handle the management costs,” he added. “Full stop.”

Both the Montana Republican Party and national Republican Party platforms support transferring federal acres to the states.

Sheehy may simply be towing the party line — something he has gotten quite good at since launching his campaign in June. But he is likely to soon find out just how problematic his recent comments can be for someone seeking political office in Big Sky Country.

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Montana

Millions of dollars continue to pour into Montana U.S. Senate race

Published

6 hours ago

July 19, 2024

Press Room

Millions of dollars continue to pour into Montana U.S. Senate race

HELENA — Tens of millions of dollars had already poured into Montana’s hotly contested U.S. Senate race even before the June primary election. This week, we got the latest update on how much has been raised and spent since.

The last campaign finance reports for congressional candidates in the state, covering April 1 to May 15, were due 12 days before the primary. In the six weeks after that report, Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester and Republican challenger Tim Sheehy brought in almost $10 million more.

MTN News

Tester’s campaign reported raising $6.4 million between May 15 and July 1, bringing his total since the start of 2023 to $39.2 million. Tester spent another $7.3 million over that period and has spent a total of $31.2 million during this election cycle. His campaign still had more than $10.8 million in the bank.

Sheehy reported bringing in more than $3.1 million during the same period, including a $400,000 personal loan. He’s raised a total of $13.7 million since launching his campaign last summer, and he’s put in $2.6 million of his own money. Sheehy’s campaign has spent $2.1 million over the period and $10.4 million overall, and they had $3.2 million in cash on hand.

While the two candidates have spent millions on their own, that’s only part of the picture in an election that could play a key role in which party controls the U.S. Senate.

As of this week, the Federal Election Commission’s website reported outside groups had already made at least $7 million in independent expenditures supporting Sheehy and $2.1 million in opposition to Tester. Independent groups spent another nearly $350,000 for Tester and $4.7 million against Sheehy. Much more outside spending hasn’t yet been added to that total.

Also on the ballot for Montana’s U.S. Senate will be Libertarian candidate Sid Daoud and Green Party candidate Michael Downey. Neither had a campaign finance report posted to the FEC website as of Thursday. Candidates do not have to file those reports until they raise or spend more than $5,000.

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Montana

Imagination Library expands across Montana, Governor's Office announces • Daily Montanan

Published

13 hours ago

July 18, 2024

Press Room

Imagination Library expands across Montana, Governor's Office announces • Daily Montanan

Imagination Library of Montana celebrated the statewide expansion earlier this summer of the program providing free books to children.

An initiative of First Lady Susan Gianforte, Imagination Library of Montana is a partner of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. The Governor’s Office announced in June the growth of the nonprofit that boosts early childhood literacy.

“It is exciting to see how Imagination Library continues to spread across Montana and inspire a love of reading in our state’s youngest readers,” First Lady Gianforte said in a statement. “Our local partners have done a fantastic job helping families get enrolled and spreading the word that this program is available to all Montana children up to age 5.

“I look forward to seeing its continued growth and impact.”

(Screenshot of video from United Way of Missoula County)

The program provides a free book each month to any child up to 5 who registers for the program.

“Prior to launching the initiative, the program was only available in some Montana counties and approximately 9,500 Montana children were enrolled,” said a news release from the Governor’s Office. “Today, Imagination Library of Montana has 63 local program partners in all 56 counties serving nearly 24,000 of the state’s eligible children.”

It said Montana is the 16th state to take the program statewide. The news release said the program is part of the Dollywood Foundation, a nonprofit that has gifted more than 200 million free books in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland.

The Imagine Library mails more than 2 million “high-quality, age-appropriate books” each month, said the news release.

“Dolly envisioned creating a lifelong love of reading and inspiring children to Dream More, Learn More, Care More and Be More. The program has been widely researched, and results demonstrate its positive impact on early childhood development and literacy skills,” said the news release. “Boosting literacy to empower more Montana children and promoting and expanding access to STEM education, particularly for girls and students in our rural communities, are our First Lady’s chief initiatives.”

United Way of Missoula County announced this month it had delivered its 300,000th book through the Imagination Library program after opening in 2015. It operates in Missoula and Mineral counties and helped launch the program in Ravalli County.

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Montana

Montana No-Tillers Receive Conservation Award

Published

21 hours ago

July 18, 2024

Press Room

Montana No-Tillers Receive Conservation Award

Wickens Salt Creek Ranch of Hilger has been selected as the recipient of the 2024 Montana Leopold Conservation Award.

The award honors ranchers, farmers, and forestland owners who go above and beyond in the management of soil health, water quality, and wildlife habitat on working land.

Wickens Salt Creek Ranch’s owners, Eric and Emma Wickens, will be presented with the award at the Montana Farm Bureau Annual Convention in November. They receive $10,000 for being selected.

Sand County Foundation and national sponsor American Farmland Trust will present Leopold Conservation Awards to landowners in 28 states this year. In Montana the award is presented annually with the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, and the Montana Rangeland Resources Program.

Given in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, the award recognizes farmers and forestland owners who inspire others with their dedication to environmental improvement. In his influential 1949 book, A Sand County Almanac, Leopold called for “a land ethic,” an ethical relationship between people and the land they own and manage.

Montana landowners were encouraged to apply, or be nominated, for the award last year. Applications were reviewed by an independent panel of agricultural and conservation leaders from Montana. Among the many outstanding landowners nominated for the award were finalists: Franck and Kari Groeneweg of Three Forks in Broadwater and Jefferson counties, and Thomas Herefords Ranch of Gold Creek in Powell County.

About Wickens Salt Creek Ranch

Eric and Emma Wickens want to leave land, water, wildlife, and relationships better than they found them.

As engaged college graduates, they returned home to take the reins of his family’s Wickens Salt Creek Ranch in 2007. They have since prioritized conservation practices to improve the health of their grasslands. Doing so nourishes their cattle and builds a more resilient ranch and rural community for their five children.

By emulating the natural behaviors of bison herds, rotationally grazing their Black Angus cattle contributes to nutrient cycling and carbon sequestration. With assistance from the federal Conservation Stewardship Program, prairies have been restored for livestock grazing and wildlife habitat.

Elsewhere on their 4,700 acres they grow a diverse rotation of peas, barley, hay, and wheat using no-till practices. A mix of sunflower, turnip, sorghum, and radish cover crops maintains continuously living roots in the soil to improve water infiltration and increase soil health.

“There is a large circle of life to study on our ranch,” Emma said. “Recognizing how each part has an important purpose really serves to inform the stewardship decisions we make.”

Healthy grasslands provide habitat for sage and sharptail grouse, which eat fly larvae, naturally controlling pest populations around cattle herds.

The Wickens have reduced their reliance on surface water for their cattle by plumbing their pastures with water lines and drinking tanks equipped with escape ramps for birds and wildlife. Strategically fencing water tanks forces cattle to naturally disperse their urine and manure elsewhere across pastures to feed the soil’s microbes. Bale grazing is also used on areas of thin or clay soils to provide the benefits of hoof impact and to supply additional organic matter from manure and compost.

To slow the flow of water through their hilly terrain, the Wickens have installed analog beaver dams. In addition to creating a deep, slow-flowing creek, and recharging a water table recently stricken by drought, beavers are returning to the ranch.

Eric is noticing a wildlife resurgence. Deer and bird populations are more abundant than they were in his youth. For the first time in his life, herds of elk migrate through Wickens Salt Creek Ranch, and grizzly bear are returning to central Montana.

Early on in their ranching career the Wickens decided to move their calving season later into the spring. Warmer weather and drier ground reduced sickness in the calves.

They also switched from raising only cow-calf pairs to raising yearlings, stockers, and bred heifers. In addition, they developed a backgrounding lot to feed calves and finish fat cattle in the winter with a locally grown ration of barley, peas, and legumes.

Wickens Ranch Beef, a direct-to-consumer branded beef business, offers an opportunity to share their conservation story with consumers. Diversifying their livestock and crop production has generated new streams of cash flow.

“Resilience is directly related to diversity,” Eric summarized. “The diversity of our business and biological communities within the ranch create resilience in our entire operation.”

Later this year, Wickens Salt Creek Ranch will become a regenerative agricultural education center known as a “Savory Hub.” Off the ranch, Eric’s community involvement ranges from fighting local fires, to serving on “One Montana” a non-profit striving to bridge the gaps between rural and urban communities.

Accolades

“For generations, Montana’s farmers and ranchers have been dedicated stewards of our land and water resources,” said Governor Greg Gianforte. “It’s great to recognize Eric and Emma of the Wickens Salt Creek Ranch with this year’s award and thank them for setting the standard as exceptional caretakers of our working landscapes.”

“The Leopold Conservation Award provides an excellent opportunity to recognize private land stewardship in Montana,” said Montana DNRC Director Amanda Kaster. “The inspirational farming practices on the Wickens Salt Creek Ranch are a shining example of dedicated conservation efforts that improve the land and build ranch resilience.”

“These award recipients are examples of how Aldo Leopold’s land ethic is alive and well today. Their dedication to conservation shows how individuals can improve the health of the land while producing food and fiber,” said Kevin McAleese, Sand County Foundation President and CEO.

“As the national sponsor for Sand County Foundation’s Leopold Conservation Award, American Farmland Trust celebrates the hard work and dedication of the Montana recipient,” said John Piotti, AFT President and CEO. “At AFT we believe that conservation in agriculture requires a focus on the land, the practices and the people and this award recognizes the integral role of all three.”

The Montana Leopold Conservation Award is made possible through the generous support of American Farmland Trust, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Rangeland Resources Program, Sand County Foundation, Sibanye-Stillwater, AgWest Farm Credit, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative, McDonald’s, Montana Farm Bureau Federation, Ranchers Stewardship Alliance, Soil and Water Conservation Society, Western Landowners Alliance, Western Sustainability Exchange, and World Wildlife Fund.

For more information on the award, visit www.leopoldconservationaward.org.

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