Distinctly Montana Magazine

D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A • S P R I N G 2 0 1 7 84 M O N TA N A i n 3 yea rs PUBLIC "PUBLIC LANDS" IS A TERM THAT IS OFTEN MISINTERPRETED BY THE PUBLIC. CAN YOU GIVE US A GOOD WORKING DEFINITION? Public lands belong to all of us, not just to wealthy individuals or corporations. Federal public lands are managed for us by agencies such as the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the National Park Service. ese lands are managed for a wide range of values, from timber and minerals to recreation, as well as for values like scenery, biodiversity conservation, climate adaptation, wildlife, and water. Federal lands make up roughly one-third of Montana's landscape. By comparison much of Montana's state lands are required by law to be managed to turn a profit for the state — which means they are used largely for commercial activities. In Montana, state lands are six percent of the land base. WHAT ARE THE TOP THREE CHALLENGES FACING MONTANA'S PUBLIC LANDS OVER THE NEXT 30 YEARS? Climate change tops the list, affecting almost every aspect of the health of public lands, including wildlife habitat, drought, wildfires, and disease, to name a few. e second biggest threat is the misguided notion that federal public lands should be transferred to the states. is is just a thinly veiled attempt to privatize public lands. States cannot afford to manage these lands (consider just the costs of wildfire suppression) and will sell them to corporations and the wealthy. e third threat is the high level of use these lands receive. We're loving them to death a bit, which shows the high demand Montanans place on these lands. Nearly all Montanans — and most of our 11 million annual visitors — use our public lands in some way, whether it's hiking, biking, bird watching, logging, or mining. Doing so benefits all of us and it's what makes us Montanans. We live close to the land. But in some places, like the Forest Service lands south of Bozeman, the multiple-use pressure is already palpable, and our population keeps growing. WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE WILL BE THE GENERAL STATE OF MONTANA PUBLIC LANDS IN 2047? Public lands are a tremendous asset for Montana — and they will increase in value over time. As the world gets more and more crowded, and as farms are overtaken by urban sprawl, Montanans will come to realize that the smartest thing we ever did in this state is to protect our public lands from privatization. Our federal public lands are key to quality of life. ey buffer against sprawl while being large and diverse enough to hold natural processes essential to ecological health like wildfire, nutrient cy- cling, and water flow. Public lands that are large and interconnected to other public lands, like islands in an archipelago, make it pos- sible for wildlife like elk and antelope to move across vast distances while sheltering magnificent animals like the grizzly bear. e size and diversity of public lands, especially our federal lands, also are critical for the survival of many species in the face of climate change. If we do it right, by 2047 federal public lands in Montana should serve as a model for how protecting nature also protects and benefits our health, economy, and quality of life. MANY WOULD ARGUE THAT PUBLIC LANDS CAN BE PUT TO GREATER ECONOMIC USE, THOUGH DIFFER ON WHAT THAT REALLY MEANS. WHAT DO YOU PROJECT THOSE USES TO BE 30 YEARS FROM NOW? Our federal public lands contribute economically in a number of significant ways. People work on these lands, as ski lift operators, backcountry guides, loggers, ranchers, and miners. Public lands also provide critical services, like water. e outdoor recreation industry, which depends on access to public lands, is huge in Montana, with $5.8 billion in consumer spending, leading to 64,000 direct jobs (about the size of construc- tion and

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