Sponsor
Troy Downing
Representative · R-MT
Representative · R-MT
The bill shifts specified lands out of wilderness study status so local managers can expand access, economic uses, and active management under existing plans, but it trades away the option of future permanent wilderness protections and raises risks of habitat degradation, local conflict, and some administrative costs.
Rural residents, recreationists, and sportsmen gain expanded public access and recreation opportunities on the named areas and the ~104,000 acres placed under existing plans (trails, hunting/fishing, and permitted uses consistent with those plans).
Rural communities and small business owners can pursue economic activities (timber, grazing, recreation development) on the released acres consistent with current land-use plans, creating local economic opportunities.
Local governments and land-management agencies get clearer management authority and reduced administrative uncertainty by placing the lands under recently adopted Forest Service and BLM plans.
Recreationists, conservationists, and residents lose the potential for future formal wilderness designation and long-term wilderness protections on the ~104,000 acres released (and, as noted, removal of WSA status can affect broader pools of lands awaiting action), reducing permanence of protections.
Nearby residents and recreation users risk habitat degradation and loss of scenic or wilderness character because reduced protections may permit motorized use, resource development, or other activities that harm environmental values.
Local communities and outdoor users who favor permanent wilderness protections lose a voice in securing those protections, reducing their ability to lock in stronger safeguards for these lands.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Three Montana wilderness study areas (Middle Fork Judith, Hoodoo Mountain, Wales Creek) are removed from WSA review and will be managed under existing Forest Service and BLM land/resource plans.
Official title: To release from wilderness study area designation certain land in the State of Montana, to improve the management of that land, and for other purposes.
Introduced December 17, 2025 by Troy Downing · Last progress December 17, 2025
Removes three specific Montana wilderness study areas from the statutory wilderness-study/designation process and directs that those lands be managed under the existing Forest Service and BLM land and resource management plans instead of as wilderness study areas. The change affects roughly 103,960 acres (about 81,000 acres in Middle Fork Judith WSA, ~11,380 acres in Hoodoo Mountain WSA, and ~11,580 acres in Wales Creek WSA) and shifts management authority to apply current multiple-use plans to improve access, hunting/fishing opportunities, habitat and wildfire mitigation while still complying with applicable environmental and administrative laws.