Vote Public Lands

Ladies and Gentleman, it is time to vote.

Each of us must decide where they stand when it comes to support of OUR public lands. Are you going to vote to protect, nourish, and grow OUR public lands, or are other issues more important to you?

Support for public lands is a bright-line issue.

Do you want to continue to see OUR public lands managed by lackies of the extraction industry? Do you want to continue to see the polluters administering the agencies that are supposed to protect our environment? Do you want to continue to see our National Monuments given away to strip mine companies, frackers, corporate ranches and developers? Do you want to continue to see our fisheries depleted by overfishing and mismanagement? Are you OK with writing off endangered species like the Sage Grouse? Do you want to see the scars of seismic survey ripped across the last unspoiled place in the country? Are you OK with denying science, ignoring empirical evidence, lying, self-dealing, and corruption? Do you want the money grubbers, corporatists, Armani suit CEO’s, and earnings per share locusts to continue exploitation of OUR public lands?

This is where we are today, this is what we face.

I know it is impossible to reach the Zinke water carriers, the tribalists, and those that refuse to get their information from more than one TV network. For all the rest, for those that do their OWN thinking, make your vote count and make it a vote for public lands. Vote the rascals out!

The wolves are at the edge of the light, circling, circling; throw some wood on the fire and chase the wolves away.

Cheers,

Mark

Ye Shall Be Free To Roam….

Voting for public lands would mean not voting republican. Many say they are all for our public lands but they still think it's more important to be anti Democrat regardless of the consequences.

pro life outweighs public lands with my conscience. cannot and will not vote Democrat.

Gr8bawana said:

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I've seen some stupid shit, but that top one might take the cake.

Mark and Gr8banana, very compelling and well stated arguments...

brushcreek said:

pro life outweighs public lands with my conscience. cannot and will not vote Democrat.

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This illustrates why you cannot automatically rely on your hunting, fishing and forum pals to vote to protect public lands. We will find our allies among BHA, TRCP, RMEF and hikers, bikers, birdwatchers, backpackers, even treehuggers. Be sure you know the position on PLT of every candidate before you fill out your ballot. Thanks in advance for voting to preserve and enhance public lands.

Carnage2011 said:

I've seen some stupid shit, but that top one might take the cake.

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I believe A couple posters do more harm than good

Schaaf said:

I believe A couple posters do more harm than good

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I had a Marylin Monroe poster in High School that caused a lot of.self harm.

elkduds said:

This illustrates why you cannot automatically rely on your hunting, fishing and forum pals to vote to protect public lands. We will find our allies among BHA, TRCP, RMEF and hikers, bikers, birdwatchers, backpackers, even treehuggers. Be sure you know the position on PLT of every candidate before you fill out your ballot. Thanks in advance for voting to preserve and enhance public lands.

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TRCP & RMEF here. Some of my fishing and hunting friends vote with "Public Lands" as their #1 issue while other fishing and hunting friends vote with other priorities facing our nation. Both sets of friends are a mix of HT members, TRCP and RMEF supporters. You can not pigeon hole people because of organizations we support.

Edited. Vote as you see fit. Cheers all.

Ben Lamb said:

I had a Marylin Monroe poster in High School that caused a lot of self harm

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I think you mean chafed arm

Ben Lamb said:

I had a Marylin Monroe poster in High School that caused a lot of.self harm.

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Be careful Ben. You are reviling your age

I focus on the public land issues now...back in the day my Farrah Fawcett poster.

antlerradar said:

Be careful Ben. Your are reviling your age

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Many on here are reviling their (our) age...………………...

I think I figured out what Mark's handle mfb stands for. It stands for "mobs for Beto".

elkduds said:

This illustrates why you cannot automatically rely on your hunting, fishing and forum pals to vote to protect public lands. We will find our allies among BHA, TRCP, RMEF and hikers, bikers, birdwatchers, backpackers, even treehuggers. Be sure you know the position on PLT of every candidate before you fill out your ballot. Thanks in advance for voting to preserve and enhance public lands.

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Thanks for thanking those of us who will do that.
Many regulars on this forum won't be doing that.
We will see how it all works out in the long run...…………………..

Ben Lamb said:

I had a Marylin Monroe poster in High School that caused a lot of.self harm.

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With this bit of TMI offered up here, please try to behave yourself if you ever dine at Paul's Pancake Parlor in Missoula, Ben. Especially in the men's room.

Ben Lamb said:

I had a Marylin Monroe poster in High School that caused a lot of.self harm.

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..'beats' the hell out of straining a shoulder patting yourself on the back.

Ok, serious response time:

I'm voting for candidates who reflect my values. That's conservation as well as civility and basic common decency along with true economic opportunity for citizens, healthcare as a right and a backstop to a growing cancer in the executive branch that is intent on stealing more power.

I'm also pro-choice, but pro-life.

On Conservation: For the races I'm voting in, that means voting for Democrats at the congressional level. It also means voting for democrats at the state legislative level and on the ballot initiatives. I'm voting for medicaid expansion & clean water, and I'm voting for the 6 mill levy to continue funding for our state university system. All of these help people gain a foot up in the larger economic scheme of things. Public lands as an economic driver are one of Montana's biggest assets. From ranchers who graze cattle to outfitters who run on public to manufacturers like Sitka, Kenetrek, Adipose boats, etc that rely on vast expanses of public land & access to our rivers & land to create the number of hunters & anglers who demand their products - public lands are a great equalizer in the business world. Tech companies routinely use surrounding public lands to lure in new hires - all of whom come with attractive salaries & boost the overall GDP of the state. Healthcare is THE largest sector of the Montana economy, and public lands are, just as they are within the Tech industry, used to bring in top talent rather than let them go to urban centers with less quality of life.

Then there's the esoteric aspect to public lands. We all could live comfortably in air-conditioned houses and drive our cars to our jobs, playing golf on the weekend and eating factory beef and chicken, or we could remain predators in our own world. Public lands give me the opportunity to relive our past, and keep connected to nature. It keeps me grounded in that I know I'm not the top of the food chain, and that my own skills are lacking and need improvement. That drive to do better helps me in my business, and it helps me keep from having a heart attack and dying at the ripe age of 46. I don't get that from a gym, I hate gyms. I hate lifting weights, but put a mule deer 1/2 on me and I'll go. I get to hone my competitive skills on public lands, and they provide a quality of life that is far, far better on the freedom index than suburban cookie cutter houses and country clubs full of bastards who think a putting green is nature. I am a part of my surroundings, and that means the grizzly bear that's 10 miles from my house, or the lion that's 1 mile, are part of my life. Same with the elk within sight of the Capitol or the grouse that lives at the trailhead frequented by hikers, bikers and dog walkers. That kind of existence is the marrow of life that Thoreau talked about. Without it, we are all lesser people.

As for other issues, like pro-life, I vote for people who support healthcare for all because if people don't have the option of better healthcare, they choose bad options that lead to abortions. I want women to have free or low-cost birth control and I want sex education in school. I want women who make that decision to abort to not die because of it, I want safe, healthy medical procedures instead of back-alley coat-hanger jobs. Abortion is an awful, awful thing and the best way to reduce it is to provide better options up front, rather than simply take that choice away. Same goes for economic situations - when people feel like they can't afford a baby, they give it up through whatever means necessary. That's where public lands again prove their economic worth - with the kinds of jobs that public lands provide, economic certainty for lower income people becomes easier as our economy isn't tethered to the last century. The public land economy is the entirety of the economic swath - from entry level jobs to entrepreneurs that build businesses off of their bounty, providing jobs for people who feel similarly.

And then there's clean air, water and soil. Without all of these, we're all going to die or be held captive by those who control them. True freedom is contained in those public lands. Without them, we are tethered to concrete and asphalt. We are dependent upon the benevolence of masters to provide our basic necessities and we are held captive in urban cages, unable to roam freely and over great expanses of our birthright as Americans.

As for Marylin - I've always had a thing for women who have curves, and while that poster was on my wall 25 years after she died, she still inspired.

Double post. Was thinking about MM too much, apparently.