KAREN ASPEVIG STEVENSON
In 2017, Sen. Steve Daines introduced a bill that would have stripped protection from nearly 500,000 acres of public lands, and he did it without gathering input from the public. Had it passed, it would have been the biggest rollback of protected public lands in Montana history â a radical bill to say the least, one that a mere 8% of Montanans favor, according to the 2020 University of Montana Public Land Survey.
With a face that wasnât exactly straight, Daines nonetheless said in an interview he gave last year to Montana PBS: âI probably have the best record of protecting public lands than anybody whoâs served from Montana in Washington, D.C., in a long, long time.â