Guest Opinion: Our Threatened Outdoors

For many Montanans, our state’s attraction is its abundance of outdoor recreational opportunities, especially hunting and fishing. These resources have traditionally been managed according to the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, which holds that wildlife is a public resource held in trust by the state, should be allocated democratically, and should not be commercially exploited. These principles have allowed Montanans of ordinary means to enjoy our outdoors.

Now the scales have started to tip in favor of wealthy out of state interests, with two homegrown organizations contributin...