Response to public lands and development

Montana is at a crossroads.  Will we continue to preserve and protect our access to public lands and waterways?  Or, will we allow wealthy corporations and ultra-rich individuals pick apart our access to hiking, biking, fishing, hunting and enjoying the rights we have today?  

The strength and resilience of Montana’s economy is largely dependent upon the wild attractions of our beautiful state.  Yellowstone Park and Glacier Park get a lot of attention, drawing millions of visitors. Of course, Montana has much more to offer.  Statewide there are many more wonderful varieties of wildlands and wilderness study areas that we Montanans adore and draw in people who vacation throughout the Big Sky state.      

I understand that mining and development of natural resources is necessary and should occur as long as it follows the law.  Nonetheless, asking Montanans and all Americans to tolerate development of a massive gold mine in some of the most sensitive areas near Yellowstone Park or Glacier National Park is simply wrong.  With this in mind, early in my candidacy, I declared my support for the Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act and the East Rosebud Wild and Scenic River designation.

When Greg Gianforte introduced his bill H.R. 1519 “Unlocking Public Lands Act,” I knew there was good reason to be alarmed.  Every Montanan who has children and grandchildren, or who loves our way of life, or who understands the importance of the tourism and outdoor industry to Montana’s economy should be alarmed too.

“Unlocking” is simply code for taking away our cherished wilderness and handing it over to oil, gas, gold mining and timber corporations. Montanans use these wilderness study areas now and will continue to use them in the future.  They are just locked from corporate exploitation and corporate welfare.

The 700,000 acres of wilderness study areas that Gianforte and his wealthy corporate donors want to “unlock” is a massive take-away from those of us who enjoy hunting, hiking, biking and recreating on public lands.  It is your water that will be polluted and exploited for the benefit and profit of a multinational corporations and ultra-rich donors. Even worse, the negative impact on the outdoor industry and manufactured goods businesses that employ tens of thousands of Montanans will be significant.

Why must the people who rely on these special wilderness areas for their businesses, their recreation, hunting and for their Montana way of life, get cashed in on by Greg Gianforte?

According to the Federal Election Commission, since I entered the race to replace Greg Gianforte, he has accepted tens of thousands of dollars of political contributions from oil, gas, timber and development Political Actions Committees and wealthy donors. More recently, Gianforte reported that the wealthy Texas family locking up access to lands in Montana, are donating massive amounts of money to his campaign.

I’m running to serve Montana in the U.S. Congress because I stand for the people of Montana, not for the powerful.

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John Heenan of Billings is a Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives