Montana senator wants to eliminate wilderness study areas

Montana Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines has introduced a bill to eliminate wilderness study area designations on nearly 450,000 acres of federal lands in the state, a move he said will improve public access but was met with jeers from some conservation advocates. Called the Protect Public Use of Public Lands Act, the bill moves to release five wilderness study areas managed by the U.S. Forest Service. If released, the lands would stay in federal control but restrictions on uses like logging and grazing and motorized use could be changed. The bill targets study areas that the Forest Service didn’t recommend to become wilderness and all but two that were included in a resolution supporting release that was passed by the Montana Legislature last spring. The 151,000 acre Hyalite-Porcupine-Buffalo Horn Wilderness Study Area is not included in Daines’ bill. During a conference call with reporters on Thursday, Daines said the designations have been an impediment to Montanans’ ability to use the lands over the last few decades. “I’m fixing that today,” he said...more

Ah, but there is something else afoot here:

The bill does have support from motorized use advocates, some county commissioners near the study areas and mining industry groups. Daines also said that releasing the study areas might help advance a bill seeking to ban new mining claims on 30,000 acres of public land east of the Paradise Valley, called the Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act. In the past, Daines has expressed uncertainty about whether that bill — sponsored by Montana’s Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester — has a serious chance of passage. He said Thursday that the release of the study areas may help forge bipartisan support for that measure. “Pairing these would be one path forward,” he said.

Looks like we may have a little tit for tat going on here...and its about time. Any new legislative withdrawals, wilderness areas, parks, monuments, nca's, etc. should contain provisions to return other areas to multiple-use.