Sponsors (2)
The bill trades away wilderness-study protections for about 104,000 acres—reducing long-term conservation and wilderness prospects—in exchange for clearer management, increased public access, and more immediate local economic and land-use opportunities under Forest Service or BLM plans.
Rural communities, hunters, and local small businesses gain increased public access and enhanced recreation/sportsmen opportunities in the Middle Fork Judith, Hoodoo Mountain, and Wales Creek areas.
Local economies and permit holders (timber, grazing, recreation, utilities/energy companies) could access expedited permitting and more immediate economic opportunities under Forest Service or BLM management compared with wilderness-study restrictions.
Land managers and local governments can apply existing Forest Service or BLM management plans, enabling active land and resource management (including wildlife habitat actions and wildfire mitigation).
Residents, visitors, and conservation interests lose wilderness-study protections for roughly 104,000 acres, reducing long-term conservation safeguards for those lands.
Wildlife, undeveloped recreation, and natural values face increased risk from potential development, motorized access, roads, and resource extraction under BLM/Forest Service management.
People who favor permanent wilderness protections lose the prospect that these areas could be added to the National Wilderness Preservation System.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Removes wilderness study status from three Montana WSAs and places them under standard Forest Service or BLM land-use plans for multiple‑use management.
Official title: 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 Steve Daines · Last progress December 17, 2025
Removes wilderness study area status from three named Montana areas (Middle Fork Judith, Hoodoo Mountain, and Wales Creek) and directs that those lands be managed under the Forest Service or BLM land-use plans that already apply to surrounding lands. The change ends the special statutory protections tied to wilderness study status and substitutes ordinary multiple-use land management, intended to improve access, sportsmen opportunities, wildlife habitat management, and wildfire mitigation while leaving other environmental laws and planning processes in place.