Matt Rosendale: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise in opposition to this bill and the precedent it will set for public lands…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise in opposition to this bill and the precedent it will set for public lands, especially in the great State of Montana, where we do treasure them. In our State, we take a balanced use approach, where conservation and public access go hand in hand. It is a good approach, and it is used in other States as well. This bill would replace that conversation with a mandate coming out of Washington that will unilaterally lock up an area nearly the size of Cascade County, Montana. This bill would completely eliminate recreation, resource development, and responsible forest management on 1.5 million acres for an indefinite period of time. A bottom-up, balanced approach almost always works better than a top-down, command- and-control method that the majority is trying to impose on us here. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill.”