What's at stake for public lands in this special election

Public lands have become a major issue in this campaign, and for good reason. Whomever Montanans elects as their next congressman, he will have the opportunity to vote on congressional budgets that will have an enormous impact on our public lands.

Budgets are more than numbers; they’re also value statements. And the budget President Trump recently proposed makes clear that he does not value our public lands the same way Montanans do.

His budget would cut the Department of the Interior’s budget by 12 percent, representing a decrease of $1.5 billion from the 2017 budget. The Department of the In...