Wilderness advocate supports Tranel for Congress

In my years as a wilderness advocate, I’ve come to profoundly appreciate the values we derive from the public lands around us.

There are, of course, the products and incomes provided by drilling, mining, logging, and grazing.

But more important than such commercial uses are the benefits we all freely enjoy: the opportunity to hunt and fish, the protection of watersheds and stabilization of climate, and the preservation of an untrammeled natural world.

But we can’t assume public lands will always be here.

The development pressures are intense, and we need leaders who will resist them.

I’m supporting Monica Tranel for Congress because she’s such a leader. She’s a Montanan who knows that to preserve our way of life we must preserve public lands.

She knows that they belong to all of us, and should not be sold. And she believes that public wellbeing should outweigh corporate interests.

As Interior Secretary, Monica’s opponent Ryan Zinke opened public lands to commercial exploitation by oil, gas and mining corporations. He still works for those interests, and those close ties mean that he will not be a guardian of public lands and interests.

But Monica Tranel will be, and she deserves your support.

Dale Harris, Billings