Daines a conservationist? Not so fast

Unless the political winds in Washington change quickly, Congress will soon send the Great American Outdoors Act — GAOA — to President Trump’s desk. Trump has assured he’ll sign it into law. This legislation represents a dramatic win for Montana’s public lands, its watersheds and wildlife. The bill mandates full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund — LWCF — a funding mechanism for conservation derived from royalties from offshore gas and oil drilling. Fully funded, the LWCF drops $900 million into wildlife habitat, infrastructure, cultural heritage projects and access to public lands. In addition, the GAOA allocates $9.5 billion to address deferred maintenance in the nation’s national parks.

Even though Sen. Jon Tester D-Mont., has been the one consistently fighting for this legislation for over a decade in Congress, Sen. Steve Daines R-Mont., is the most eager to claim all the credit. In an email to constituents, Daines has even called the GAOA “my bill” although he’s merely one of 54 senators who originally co-sponsored the act. Its sponsor of record is Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado.

Passage of the GAOA will be one of the greatest conservation victories in several decades and supporters in Washington, like Tester and Daines, should be commended for their efforts. But before judging this as the labor of a public lands loving, conservationist senator, voters would be wise to look at Daines’ larger record.

In June 2018, Daines voted in favor of a spending bill that axed funding for the LWCF, shortly after professing his support for the program in a press conference. A 2015 vote saw Sen. Daines in the “yes” column for a measure that actually prohibited reauthorization of the LWCF. Is it possible that the senator’s outspoken support for the GAOA and the LWCF has anything to do with Daines’ re-election campaign in a state where the vast majority of citizens favor wilderness, wildlife conservation and public lands?

His record on conservation legislation and issues adequately answer that question. Daines was a vocal supporter of the confirmation of David Bernhardt as Secretary of the Interior. In a world awash in petroleum, Bernhardt has upended protection of wildlife habitat (including that of the threatened sage grouse) on public lands in favor of gas and oil drilling in the name of “energy dominance.” William Perry Pendley, a former lawyer who even helped sue Montana to try to restrict our access to our rivers and streams, is now the acting head of the Bureau of Land Management — BLM — with the blessing of Sen. Daines. When dozens of Montana conservation and hunting advocacy groups protested Pendley’s appointment, Daines called their concerns “overblown.”

Daines’ tenure in the Senate has seen his support for the current administration’s federal budgets that slash funding for public lands management agencies such as the Forest Service. He’s working to jerk protections from Montana’s Wilderness Study Areas without a single local hearing. The proposed Blackfoot-Clearwater Stewardship Act would add acreage to the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex while providing local jobs in logging. It was crafted and supported by a diverse group of folks in the timber industry, agriculture, the outfitting business and conservation community. Daines still refuses to support this locally popular legislation.

A single rodeo does not a bronc-rider make. Although his support for the GAOA is certainly commendable, don’t let the Daines’ re-election campaign fool you into believing he’s an advocate for public lands or conservation. His record indicates otherwise.

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Jack Ballard is a nationally recognized outdoor writer from Red Lodge. He was formally a candidate for U. S. Senate but withdrew for health conditions that have since been resolved.