Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester and Republican Senate candidate Tim Sheehy. (Photos viaJennifer Shutt, States Newsroom and Sheehy campaign)
A recent column by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan called into sharp question the “gallingly disingenuous” refusal of Montana’s Democratic Senator Jon Tester to endorse the Harris-Walz ticket at the very top of his party. And the Daily Montanan is right – it’s the worst kind of phony stances taken by people who have been handled far too much by so-called political strategists.
Equally disingenuous is Tim Sheehy’s campaign position to sell off public lands. Beside being a stupid campaign move in Montana, it’s also a clear indication that this cookie-cutter candidate, without a shred of experience in governance, public lands policy, or lawmaking thinks he can ever fulfill his “Sagebrush Rebellion” promise.
On the same day the Daily Montanan’s column was published, full-page ads proclaimed Tester “a champion for Montana’s public lands and will always protect the places like the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest.”
Unfortunately, Tester’s conservation record radically undercuts that campaign myth. His “collaborative” Forest Jobs and Recreation Act not only didn’t protect national forests, it mandated extreme logging levels that even the Forest Serviced opposed.
Likewise, his Blackfoot-Clearwater Stewardship Act doesn’t protect the last of the nation’s wilderness quality lands, it chops them up to be divvied out to local anti-wilderness special interests, including mountain bikers, snowmobilers, and the timber industry. Apparently, Tester has forgotten these are national forests that belong to all 332 million Americans, not just a handful of locals.
It’s also worth remembering he set a horrific precedent by removing wolves from Endangered Species Act protections using a rider on a defense appropriation bill — despite his campaign promise to not use riders because they circumvent the democratic process of committee hearings, public input and floor debate. That’s also what his numerous “categorical exclusions” for extractive industries and federal agencies do by totally excluding public opportunity for review, comment, and objection.
Tester’s “Montana Manchin” mimicry supporting the coal, oil and gas industries does just the opposite of protecting Montana’s national forests. Producing and burning more fossil fuels, as our summers of wildfires and smoke-filled skies prove, actually accelerate the climate crisis that winds up burning, not protecting, our national forests.
Then there’s Sheehy, who has no idea how his phony pledge to sell off public lands could possibly be accomplished. As one newbie senator, he will have none of the seniority that calls the shots in the Senate and it’s likely his bills will die even faster than Tester’s.
For those who vote simply on whether there’s a “D” or “R” after the candidate’s name, Republicans might want to ask Sheehy how selling off the public lands will protect their water supply, which largely comes from public lands in the headwaters of our rivers and streams.
It’s common knowledge that Montana’s rivers and streams are already over-appropriated, meaning the state has granted more water rights than there is water, especially in our drier and hotter climate. Selling off headwaters lands only ensures there will be more people “stealing water” long before it gets to those with valid water rights.
And of course even if Sheehy could somehow convince Congress and the president to sell off public lands, let’s not fool ourselves about who would be far outbidding Montanans for those parcels. Like Sheehy and his pal Gov. Greg Gianforte, they would go to out-of-state millionaires and billionaires.
There’s plenty of “gallingly disingenuous” campaign blather to go around in the Tester-Sheehy race. What’s missing are the hard questions based on their past records and how they’re going to accomplish their campaign promises — and Montana’s voters deserve answers.