What makes America great

It’s past time that folks in the West extended an invitation to the president to get outdoors. A little time in the backcountry has a way of helping us remember who we are and where we come from. It’s hard to spend time on our state’s public lands without quickly learning some humility, and it’s equally hard to return to your day job without being inspired by all we have in common.

Where I come from, 18 holes might be relaxing, but it’s not the same as sleeping under the stars, watching a herd of elk crest a hill at 5:30 in the morning, or feeling the tug of a trout from a blue-ribbon river on your line. If President Donald Trump had grown up the way so many of us have, he might feel differently about pulling the rug out from under so many people whose livelihoods depend on our access to public lands.

Trump’s decision to substantially shrink the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah reveals how he and his administration misunderstand what it means to preserve and protect our history—our heritage— for future generations. Sixteen presidents have designated 157 national monuments, dating to 1906, when Theodore Roosevelt first used the Antiquities Act to protect Devils Tower in Wyoming. In contrast, Trump’s plans add up to the largest elimination of protected areas in U.S. history.

Earlier this year, the halls of Montana’s state capitol shook with thousands of voices chanting to keep our lands in public hands. As a Montanan and as the governor entrusted with the stewardship of our state, I stood with hunters, ranchers, anglers, veterans, grandparents and children of all ages and declared that Montana’s public lands would not be sold to the highest bidder.

Public lands are our history, our heritage and our birthright, and we will not see them diminished. Not on our watch.