Public lands betrayal: We will not forget or forgive
Montanans cherish our wide-open spaces because they are the backbone of our economy, the spectacular beauty that makes Montana special, and the shared birthright of every American.
So when Sen. Steve Daines quietly collaborated with Sen. Mike Lee of Utah to slip an amendment into the so-called “big beautiful bill” that would have forced the sale of as many as 3 million acres of public land and opened approximately 250 million more to auction, they weren’t proposing “budget savings.”
They were engineering the largest transfer of wealth from taxpayers to wealthy private interests in American history.
Daines proudly messaged Montana would be exempt—knowing another member of Congress could add it back in at any time. His office never produced a single safeguard to prevent it. Make no mistake: Daines signed off on a plan to slice up America’s outdoor legacy for hedge funds, developers and foreign mining conglomerates.
Only after after a wave of public outrage from wildlife and land conservationists, hikers, campers, anglers, hunters, and recreation businesses and the Senate Parliamentarian ruled the amendment extraneous under the Byrd Rule—did Daines reverse course. This was not an act of accountability. It was damage control. Had the parliamentarian ruled the other way—or had the scheme remained under the radar—Daines would have proceeded with his scheme.
Equally troubling is Sen. Tim Sheehy’s complicity.
While Montanans flooded phone lines to protect our lands, Sheehy only offered support for the broader bill. His failure to promptly oppose Daines’ land-sale scheme speaks volumes about where he stands when corporate donors clash with Montana’s values and economy.
The amendment would have erased habitat for wolves, elk, wolverines, grizzlies, Canada lynx, and hundreds of other species, and fast-tracked drilling and logging. It would have undercut an economy that depends on healthy, accessible landscape that generates billions annually. Every acre siphoned into private hands would be one less for the average camper, hunter or mountain biker seeking solitude under big skies.
Daines hopes voters will only blame Sen. Lee. But Montanans—and all Americans who treasure public lands—must never forget or forgive his egregious co-authorship to liquidate the public trust. Trust is earned through consistent action based on values, not reversals and rewritten press releases. If Daines and Lee find a loophole to the Byrd Rule, the next land-grab could appear at 2 a.m. on the last pages of a must-pass bill.
Moving forward we must demand permanent protections. Congress must pass legislation with a clear and permanent “no-sale” clause for our public lands—no loopholes, no carve-outs. Public lands, no matter their location, belong to all of us.
We must also hold Daines and Sheehy accountable. Don’t let Daines off the hook for co-authoring a massive public land giveaway. Don’t forget Sheehy’s attempt to distract from his complicity by pointing to Montana’s temporary carve-out—while still praising the amended bill.
If ever there was a time to support conservation groups, it’s now. We are out-funded by special interest dark money groups and their lobbyists. Keep calling, writing, and showing up. Politicians count on our exhaustion. Prove them wrong.
Public lands are our inheritance. The BBB land-sale fiasco showed just how close we came to losing them. Vigilance and public outcry defeated greed this time. Let’s make sure Senators like Daines and Sheehy—beholden to the wealthy and special interests—never get another chance to steal our land from us again.
Jessica Karjala spent four terms in the Montana House of Representatives, representing part of Billings as a Democrat. She is currently the Montana Director of Bold Visions Conservation.