This summer we celebrated the passage of the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), which addresses the massive backlog in deferred maintenance projects on our National Parks, National Forests, and other federal public lands, as well as permanently funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund (the LWCF is one of our best tools for conserving fish and wildlife habitat as well as securing outdoor recreation opportunities). Unfortunately, this landmark legislation is already being undermined by the Trump Administration.

Can you take a minute today to help secure funding for deferred trail maintenance in the Bob Marshall and Badger-Two Medicine areas as well as to protect the LWCF?

Please take a minute and contact Senator Daines (email; phone: 202-224-2651) and Senator Tester (email; phone: 202-224-2644) and share with them the following:

1. Please ask Sen. Daines and Sen. Tester, both of whom sit on the appropriations committee, to ensure Congress appropriates the full $1.1 million requested to conduct badly needed trail maintenance in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex and adjacent areas, including the Badger-Two Medicine. While the Department of Agriculture has identified this project as a priority for GAOA funding (Hooray!), the Department has apparently failed to indicate how much funding the project should actually receive. Appropriating the full $1.1 million requested is critical to maintaining our crumbling backcountry trail infrastructure.
   

2. Please thank Sen. Tester and Sen. Daines for publicly pushing back against Secretary Bernhardt’s attempt to undermine Congressional-intent in how the Land and Water Conservation Fund operates. Senator Tester issued a letter sharply criticizing Bernhadt’s Order, which undercuts the ability of private landowners to sell their land to the federal government, and it deprioritizes the Bureau of Land Management as a recipient of LWCF funding. Sen. Daines, who co-sponsored the legislation, has also criticized Sec. Bernhardt’s order publicly, only not quite as forcefully as Sen. Tester. Please encourage both of Montana’s Senators to continue to push back against the Administration’s latest attempt to kneecap the LWCF.

Thank you for taking a minute to speak up on behalf maintaining backcountry trails in the Bob Marshall and Badger-Two Medicine country and conserving Montana’s open spaces.

P.S. Want more information? You can read Glacier-Two Medicine Alliance’s original comments in favor of funding the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex and Adjacent Lands project here. More information about this and other regional projects is available on the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest website. Secretary Bernhardt's Order is available here. Senator Tester's letter of rebuke is available here.