Public lands are Montana’s latest wedge issue. What’s behind the rhetoric, and how is it shaping the debate?

By Alex Sakariassen - September 6, 2018 - Originally published in the Missoula Independent  Last spring, a billboard appeared in the Bitterroot Valley. It featured six pissed-off-looking locals and a demand aimed at Ravalli County’s five-member commission: “Respect public lands.” The same photo and message were duplicated on yard signs distributed throughout the county by a group of citizens calling themselves Our Land, Our Legacy. Four months later, the commission asked Attorney General Tim ...