FLASHBACK: Rehberg supported unpopular public land giveaway

Congressman supported bill to sell off Montana’s prized hunting land at rock-bottom prices

BILLINGS, Mont.— Hunters preparing trips across Montana will never forget Congressman Dennis Rehberg’s self-serving plan to sell federal lands to developers and permanently oust Montana’s hunters and anglers from acres of public land.

In 2005, Rehberg voted to pass a controversial plan to make prime public hunting land available for sale to private owners for as little as $1,000 per acre.

Rehberg’s public land giveaway would have overturned a 30-year law that ensures public ownership of public land. Rehberg’s plan would have devastated hunting across Montana.

The St. Louis Dispatch called Rehberg’s scheme an “an early Christmas present to real estate developers… a chance to buy thousands—maybe millions—of acres of public land at bargain basement prices.” [St. Louis Dispatch, 11/23/2005]

Thousands of Montana sportsmen and women, however, would have been forced to give up their right to fish and hunt on public lands.

“Most Montanans can’t afford to hunt on private preserves,” said Mat Millenbach, a former manager of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management office in Montana in an interview with the Missoulian. “These public lands are what we count on. We all stand to lose a lot.” [Missoulian, 11/15/2005]

“Montanans will never forget ‘mansion-ranchin‘ Dennis Rehberg’s attempts to sell us out, putting Montana’s public land up for sale for wealthy developers, not ordinary Montanans, to enjoy,” said Montanans for Tester spokeswoman Alexandra Fetissoff. “Dennis Rehberg cannot be trusted to put Montana’s best interests ahead of his own, period.”

Rehberg consistently supports measures that trample on public access to public land.

Rehberg sponsored and voted for a controversial plan to give the federal government unprecedented control over Montana’s best hunting and fishing areas. Rehberg also voted for the unpopular Patriot Act five times.

Read more about Rehberg’s self-serving attempt to sell off Montana’s public lands HERE.

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