Jon has turned Montanans’ ideas into action when it comes to protecting our outdoor heritage and passing down our outdoor values to future generations.

After hearing from Montanans on the ground, Jon introduced and passed into law the Cooperative Watershed Management Act to help protect Montana’s streams, rivers, and fishing areas. The law directs the Secretary of the Interior to establish cooperative watershed management efforts under which grants can be provided to local groups.

Jon also helped pass into law the Clean Boating Act to prevent recreational boaters from needing to purchase expensive boating permits.

When federal regulators started to overreach and ban parts needed for all-terrain vehicles, Jon introduced the Dirt Bike Bill to allow motor-sports dealers to continue selling dirt bikes, ATVs and mechanical parts for use by young people.

And when Montana loggers, conservationists, hunters, anglers, and motorized users came together to make a plan that could work for Montana’s forests, Jon took their ideas and ran with them. After hosting several public listening sessions and hearing from Montanans across the state, he introduced the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act — landmark legislation to create jobs and reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire by requiring at least 100,000 acres of timber harvest in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge and Kootenai National Forests over 10 years.

The Forest Jobs bill would also create six areas dedicated to outdoor recreation, safeguard some of Montana’s best hunting and fishing areas, and improve the health of Montana’s forests through stewardship contracting.

In 2010, legislation that Jon helped introduce, the North Fork Protection Act, passed out of the Energy Committee. The measure would permanently prevent new oil, gas, and mining leases in the North Fork of the Flathead and, as Jon said at the time, “ensure our kids and grandkids can have the same opportunities to hunt, fish, hike, and camp in the Flathead that we enjoy today.” The bill follows Jon’s successful efforts to get most oil, gas, and mining leases voluntarily retired in the area.

Click HERE to see more about where Jon stands on protecting Montana’s outdoor heritage.