Cooney: the Right Choice for Montana Hunters and Anglers

    “Why do you live in Montanan?” This simple question might generate a surprising number of answers. However, I doubt we would hear much about low taxes or balmy winter weather, because we don’t have them. Instead, an appreciation of the state’s wildlife, wild places, and outdoor recreational opportunities would likely head the list.
    All of us who fall into that demographic need to realize the importance of this November’s election. Due to the unique political climate of the times, the presidential contest will likely receive most of the attention. However, a number of races unique to Montana will likely have more immediate impact on our lives, none more so than the race for the governorship, in which differences in the candidates’ views on issues crucial to our outdoor heritage could not be clearer.
    No one can control the location of their birthplace, and everyone not lucky enough to be born in Montana has a right to locate here, including East Coast billionaire Greg Gianforte. Most such new arrivals soon learn some appreciation for local values, a process with which Gianforte seems to have exceptional difficulty.
    He got off to a terrible start in 2009 by filing a lawsuit against the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, seeking to invalidate a previously negotiated public easement allowing access to the East Gallatin River across his land. He followed through by selecting as his running mate Kristen Juras, an attorney who has written extensively about landowners “right to exclude” access to public lands and waters.
    In the interval, Gianforte’s position on these issues has grown muddled by “green-washing,” a dishonest process by which politicians with a long history of opposition to public access and similar issues suddenly become their champions. This tactic is especially likely in states like ours, where hunters and anglers form such a large voting bloc. Gianforte now touts his vote in favor of full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Act—once it was clear that this bill was going to pass and after he voted against it once and refused to co-sponsor it at the request of his constituents. Coupled with his support for virulent public land opponent William Pendley (recently removed from office after becoming a political liability) as Bureau of Land Management head and his statements supporting privatization of Montana public land, it’s not hard to tell where his heart really lies.
    His opponent, Mike Cooney, offers a stark contrast. During four decades of experience in state government, he has consistently supported programs of vital importance to Montana sportsmen and women, such as Habitat Montana, the Block Management program, the Public Lands Access Act, the Montana Stream Access law, and the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. Cooney did not support these policies overnight with an eye to an upcoming election. He has championed these positions from the time he was first elected to the Montana legislature throughout his term as Lieutenant Governor.
    No matter whether they hunt, fish, or enjoy the outdoors by other means, Montanans who value these freedoms are facing a period of exceptional challenge. So, ask yourself another simple question. Would you be comfortable with Greg Gianforte supervising the State Land Board or determining the fate of our stream access law? Neither would I. That’s why I’m voting for Mike Cooney and encouraging friends to do the same.

                                Don Thomas
                                Lewistown
 

Sportsmen/women, Defeat Gianforte!!!

 This November, a number of Montana races are important and the margins are tight. But the outcome of the governor’s race is the most crucial for the future of regular sportsmen. Will Montana remain the last best place or the last place to be bested?
The Montana Sportsmen Alliance encourages all Montanans to vote for Mike Cooney and here’s why: his opponent, Greg Gianforte, is an entitled East Coast carpetbagger who is aligning with other millionaires - many he met while in Congress - to turn Montana into part industrial honey-pot and part playground for the rich.
Gianforte would happily turn us into a state where the rich own or run everything, and regular Montanans could no longer hunt, fish or camp without permission or a payout. Remember, to the rich, average Joes and Janes with less than six-digit incomes are just losers, to be manipulated if possible, then tossed aside.
Montana has had to suffer such men before. Look at the Copper Kings of the 1890s. Marcus Daly, William Clark and Augustus Heinze rolled into Butte, pilfered the land, abused the miners and amassed their riches. William Clark even tried to buy his way into a Congressional seat when state legislatures controlled who landed in the U.S. Senate. Clark is reported to have said, "I never bought a man who wasn't for sale."
Now, the rich and the industries that make men rich have once again turned their eye on Montana. But these men are filthy rich, making the Copper Kings look like pikers, and they come armed with influence and the computer technology to manipulate the masses.
Look at Gianforte himself, trying to buy the governor’s seat just like William Clark. Montana fortunately has campaign contribution limits, but that doesn’t apply to the candidate himself. So Gianforte has contributed $3.6 million to his own campaign, something few other Montanans could do. This is a gap in Montana’s campaign laws that should be fixed.
Take away Gianforte’s contribution and his coffers start looking a lot more like that of Cooney, who has raised about $2.5 million.
But then, look at who else is contributing to Gianforte’s campaign. The list is a who’s-who of out-of-state U.S. millionaires that confirms America has become an oligarchy, which is the political domination of a wealthy few. And they know Gianforte is for sale.
A few of the more notable are:
 HYPERLINK "https://www.forbes.com/profile/thomas-peterffy/" \l "170a932e1c0f" Thomas Peterffy of Florida, a Hungarian immigrant and digital trading pioneer whose net worth is estimated at $16.6 billion. He also owns 500,000 acres of Florida timberland.
Ted Uihlein of Kansas, great-grandson of a Schlitz Brewing founder, who has emerged as the biggest GOP donor in the nation, donating more than $21 million to tea party candidates in the 2018 midterms alone.
Koch Industries, a Koch Brothers conglomerate
The Reynolds American Tobacco Company
Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, whose net worth is $50 million, ran TD Ameritrade and co-owns the Chicago Cubs baseball team
North Dakota Gov. Douglas J. Burgum, who, similar to Gianforte, made his money – $1.1 billion – by selling his software company to Microsoft.
And of course, JoAnn Wilks, wife of Farris Wilks. The Wilks Brothers made their $3.2 billion in fracking and then bought ranches in Montana. Along one ranch, they blocked a road to the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument and then tried to pressure the Bureau of Land Management into swapping the road for the Durfee Hills, BLM land surrounded by another of their ranches. Sportsmen rallied to protest and defeat the deal. But last year, they  HYPERLINK "https://idahonews.com/news/local/another-road-closure-reported-on-billionaire-wilks-brothers-idaho-land" were still blocking roads in Idaho.

Fortunately, Montana hasn’t completely followed the nation into oligarchy. Montanans tend to be an independent lot who support campaign contribution limits and ignore party politics to vote for candidates who do the right thing. Or at least more than the other guy.
Cooney is the guy who will do the right thing for sportsmen. A native Montanan, he has already proven himself as a Montana legislator. He can balance the Republican-led Legislature to keep Montana from careening off the tracks into extremism. He’s already published his “Protect the Last Best Place” plan, which reiterates support for policies that Montanans care about like Habitat Montana and stream access.
Montanans have fought for some of the best stream access laws in the country, but it wouldn’t take much to lose it if rich landowners pushed a bill to lock the public out. After trying to lock anglers out of the East Gallatin River flowing along his property, Gianforte might finagle a bill himself. The Republican Legislature would pass it, and Gianforte would sign it with a greedy flourish.
Because Gianforte is for sale.
Governors can stand up to a Congress that tries to overreach. So if Congress ever made the mistake of considering a federal land giveaway, Cooney and other smart governors could push back. Gianforte would not. In fact, he’d probably put the land under Montana’s ownership and then funnel it to his millionaire buddies, claiming a need to “raise money for the state.”
Because Gianforte is for sale.
This may be Cooney vs. Gianforte but it’s really Montana vs. the millionaires. Montana is the last best place, because so far, we haven’t been bought.
Let’s show them we aren’t for sale.
Let’s not make 2020 the year we fold.
Vote Cooney-Schreiner.

MSA Leadership Team