I think that's right, to a large degree. Jeff Wleborn carried the Ditch Bill in his first term and is now a champion for us on many, many issues. Same with Senator Vincent (with whom there are still several disagreements on policy) leading against the transfer of public lands from his chairmanship of Senate Nat. Resources.
But in this specific instance (Habitat Montana and the three land board members who vote consistently agaisnt sportsmen): It was tried all of last year as people worked with staffers and land board members directly to push them to the right place. We tried that last session when Senate Leadership in conjunction with some land board members kept pushing legislation that would have corrupted Habitat Montana regardless of having 0 support from sporting organizations or landowner groups.
Stapleton has publicly stated that easements are a bad idea because they limit development. His opposition is that easements actually conserve land rather than allow for 40 acre horse ghettos.
Arntzen is blowing in the wind, with no real presence other than to follow Rosendale. Her legislative record on sportsmen's issues was always sub-par, voting to gut programs or set seasons by statute.
Rosendale's past voting record has played out in the Land Board arena. Less access, and more delays while not understanding easement law, despite having a full time staffer who works on these issues.
And all of them have full time staffers who are supposed to be experts on land board issues, yet here we are a year into their terms, watching them claim ignorance on how to do their jobs.
I'm all for trying to work with those who've been elected. AG Fox has been a great land board member, and an honest broker in how to do this work, and is generally a nice guy. He's surrounded himself with competent staff who know their jobs well. Same with the Governor.
How much more of a chance do they need?
