Zinke supports increasing public land access
Hunting and outdoor recreation play an essential role in Montana’s economy. Montana has hunting and outdoor opportunities that other states can only dream of — and Ryan Zinke will work to increase those opportunities by increasing public access to public land, working to open public road closures, and giving Montana more input in management decisions. Ryan Zinke will make sure that future generations can continue the hunting traditions handed down through the generations.
In the past several years, we’ve seen much of the federal land open to public access closed off from the public by the federal government. Roads that we used to travel to hunt, camp, and fish are now inaccessible — blocked off by the federal government with steel gates, fences, or chains and locks.
Our roads, the “public’s” access to “public” lands, have been locked behind steel chains and the federal government holds the key — and I wish that was only a metaphor.
Thousands of acres of access have been lost because of liberal environmental groups and their supporters, like John Lewis. They just don’t understand that to protect our outdoor traditions, we need to be able to access our forests, to manage them by harvesting salvage timber and promoting sustainable long-term timber harvest, so that our wildlife and their habitat can flourish.
Ryan Zinke will work to increase road access and will fight to ensure that Montanans once again have access to the land that they have hunted and recreated on for decades. While John Lewis is calling himself “pro-sportsman” and lying about Ryan Zinke’s record as a long-time supporter of hunting and outdoor recreation, in reality the image he is portraying couldn’t be further from the truth.
John Lewis is aligned with and endorsed by the very same groups that, every legislative session, work to close more roads and access to public lands. These groups and their supporters don’t understand Montanans, our economy or our tradition of outdoor recreation. To them “forest management” means not letting anyone touch it — not managing it in a way that promotes forest health and completely closing off public access.
We need someone in Congress who will fight to increase public access and hunting opportunity — and that person is Ryan Zinke.
Hunters and others who enjoy the outdoor recreation Montana provides bring millions of dollars in revenue to Montana and create thousands of jobs through the expenditures that they make. The businesses that sustain this industry pay millions in state and local taxes, supporting schools for our children and police and fire protection for our communities.
If Montanans select John Lewis to serve as our state’s lone congressman in November, not only will Montana’s economy suffer, but so will our hunting opportunities. Montanans have the ability to choose a candidate who will not only defend the hunting industry, but will strengthen it.
Ryan Zinke has emerged as the only candidate for Montana’s lone congressional seat who will preserve and promote our state’s outdoor heritage.
As the executive director of the Montana Outfitters and Guides Association, and an endowment member of the National Rifle Association, I encourage you to vote to protect our hunting heritage. Hunting is far more than a hobby in Montana. Our rural communities benefit, and the commerce brought to communities in Montana during hunting season is what allows many rural businesses to make ends meet.
Ryan Zinke is an avid sportsman himself, a lifetime member of the NRA, and he understands the need to protect hunting opportunities in our state.
John Lewis would work to close public access. This November, please vote for the candidate who will work to preserve our hunting opportunities and open the road access that has been locked away by the federal government.
Mac Minard is the executive director of the Montana Outfitters and Guides Association.