BOZEMAN – Today, Montana Conservation Voters (MCV) announces its endorsement of Kathleen Williams for Montana’s sole seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Last week Williams won the five-way Democratic primary election and will face U.S. Representative Greg Gianforte in the general election.

“Kathleen will be a champion for conservation issues in Congress and will stand up for our Montana values of clean air, clear water, and protecting public lands,” said MCV PAC Chair Dave Tyler of Belgrade. “Representative Gianforte tomorrow is pushing two bills that strip protections from hundreds of thousands of acres of pristine public lands. MCV is proud to endorse Kathleen who shares our outdoor heritage values.”

“I am so proud to earn MCV’s endorsement,” said Williams who earned a 100 percent rating with MCV during three sessions in the state House. “In Congress, I will work closely with all Montanans to protect the unrivaled outdoor spaces and natural heritage that makes our state the Last Best Place. Unlike my opponent, I won’t make decisions about our most precious places by legislative fiat in Washington. I will always be there for Montanans and the public lands we hold dear.”

Despite his short tenure in Congress, Gianforte has already pushed several proposals to sell out public lands and threaten protections for national monuments.

• Today’s announcement comes the day before a hear on Gianforte’s H.R. 5148 and 5149. These bills strip existing protections from hundreds of thousands of acres of Montana’s wildest national forest lands – the largest loss of protected public land in Montana’s history.
• As a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, Gianforte voted for H.R. 3990 which arbitrarily limits the scope and size of land protected under the Antiquities Act while giving presidents authority to shrink or abolish existing national monuments, including Montana’s Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument. Gianforte also refused to support a resolution demanding that the Trump administration be transparent about their unprecedented national monument review, which included Montana’s Upper Missouri River Breaks.
• In 2016, Gianforte was named to the national League of Conservation Voters’ Dirty Dozen in the States list as one of the 12 most anti-conservation state level candidates in the country. Gianforte sued to eliminate a popular fishing access spot next to his riverfront mansion on the East Gallatin River and Montana Fish, Wildlife, & Parks even had to demand that he remove intimidating signs and a gate that were put up to keep out anglers and other Montanans.

Gianforte scored a dismal nine percent on the League of Conservation Voters’ 2017 National Environmental Scorecard. His votes included reducing Montanans’ ability to participate in forest management decisions, rolling back clean water protections, and slashing funding to clean energy investments.

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MCV Congressional Action Fund works to elect pro-environment candidates.

Paid for by MCV Congressional Action Fund and authorized by Kathleen Williams for Montana.