Burgum Avoids Public, Holds Closed-Door Meetings and Staged Photo Ops in Montana
Burgum, Joined by Retiring Rep. Ryan Zinke, Pushed Extractive Exploitation After Gutting Public Land Protections & Public Participation
HELENA, MT – Late last week, Yellowstone Club member Doug Burgum was in Montana to push for more extractive exploitation. His push threatens Montana’s public lands and waters by fast-tracking permits, gutting America’s bedrock environmental protections, and blocking the public from meaningful public participation. In shocking news, after Burgum’s visit, Representative Ryan Zinke announced he would be retiring at the end of his term today.
“Doug Burgum can’t be bothered with the public when he’s busy setting up the pins to auction off our public lands to private interests. Explaining to Montanans why this administration is so hellbent on selling off public lands and giveaways to billionaires isn’t easy, but it's what public service demands,” said Save Our Parks spokesperson Jayson O’Neill. “Instead, Burgum held canned, closed-door meetings and staged photo ops with Ryan Zinke to distract from the push to sell off our outdoor heritage and birthright to special interests that want to take public lands out of public hands.”
Burgum also touted the Trump administration’s “Project Vault,” the Interior Department’s latest corporate polluter giveaway scheme. Project Vault’s purposefully vague mission, alongside the Fast-Track 41, including the controversial Sheep Creek mining proposal in Montana, gives Donald Trump and Burgum leeway to exploit America’s public lands. Instead of doing his job of protecting our national parks and public lands, Burgum traveled to Montana with a clear message for extractive interests: our public lands and resources are ripe for the taking, the American people be damned.
According to the latest polling, 84 percent of Montanans support protecting public lands.
To speak with Save Our Parks spokesperson Jayson O’Neill, email jayson@focalpointstrategygroup.com.
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