(Washington, D.C.) - Montana's senior U.S. Senator Max Baucus continued his work today to pass the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act during a hearing before a key Senate committee. The bill is the result of a wide variety of Montanans working together since 2007 on a cooperative effort to protect the Front, while protecting grazing opportunities for ranchers and public access for hunters, fisherman, and outdoor enthusiasts.

"This is a Made-in-Montana bill and it's important to give credit to all the folks who have worked together and worked hard to bring this forward.  The Rocky Mountain Front is part of who we are as Montanans and we owe it to our kids and grandkids to protect our outdoor heritage," said Baucus. "This bill is about doing the right thing today that will pay dividends for tomorrow, which is why I'm doing all I can to bring it to the finish line."

Baucus also invited Choteau rancher Dusty Crary to testify before the Public Lands and Forests Subcommittee today. The following is an excerpt from his testimony:

"This legislation was not generated at the federal level and sent down for comment.  If ever there was a start from scratch, kitchen table proposal, this is it.  We wanted this legislation to do just what it needs to and not one thing more.  And that quite simply is the goal of the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act.  It is an insurance policy for the future.  My kids are the fifth generation of Crarys growing and working on the ranch my great grandfather started. This is our Homeland Security Bill, and it is our hope that you will give the RMFHA your favorable consideration."

Baucus sponsored the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act after attending public listening sessions and analyzing input from Montanans with diverse interests and backgrounds

-          Read "What Montanans are Saying about the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act" online HERE

-          Read more from Montanans, find maps and legislative text online at Baucus' Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act Resource Guide HERE.

The Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act:

• Protects public access for hunters, fishermen and outdoor enthusiasts
• Designates 208,000 acres as a Conservation Management Area, a home-grown designation which would limit road building but protect current motorized recreation and public access for hunting, biking, timber thinning and grazing.
• Prioritizes noxious weed eradication and prevention on the designated public lands which in turns helps protect adjacent private working lands.
• Designates 67,000 acres of the Rocky Mountain Front as additions to the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex.
• Ensures that Montana ranching families can continue their tradition of responsible grazing
• It will not impact current mineral leasing that is booming in Teton and Pondera Counties.
• It will not stop Montanans from benefiting from producing oil and gas on their land.

{Remarks as prepared for delivery}
Statement of Senator Baucus
Re: S. 1774, the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act
Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee, Public Lands and Forests Subcommittee Hearing
March 22, 2012

Chairman Wyden,

Thank you for allowing me to testify today in support of the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act, a bill that I introduced last fall.

I'd like to start by giving you some idea of how special a place the Front is.

It embodies the preamble of the Montana State Constitution which reads:

"We the people of Montana grateful to God for the quiet beauty of our state, the grandeur of our mountains, the vastness of our rolling plains and desiring to improve the quality of life, equality of opportunity and to secure the blessings of liberty for this and future generations do ordain and establish this constitution."

This spirit continues to define us as Montanans, and the Front is a big part of that.

Ben Long of Kalispell wrote me to let me know his son took his very first steps on the trail to Ear Mountain.

Allisa Corrow of Stevensville thanked me for introducing this bill. She wrote: "Having access to wild lands is very important for hunting, not just for bringing home your own meat and filling your own freezer, but also to get out and connect with the land."

The Front is our heritage and our future.

It is critical for Montana's economy.

Sportsmen spend around $10 million every year during hunting season on the Front.

Good-paying jobs rely on the mineral leasing that's booming now in Teton and Pondera Counties.

This bill won't stop Montanans from benefiting from producing oil and gas on their land.

The point of the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act is to keep that heritage the way it is. No more and no less.

Mr. Chairman, this is a Made in Montana bill.

No one sat down in Washington and started drawing lines on the map.

Wallace Stegner wrote: "Who built the West as a living-place, a frugal, hard, gloriously satisfying civilization scrabbling for its existence against the forces of weather and a land as fragile as it is demanding, was not rugged individuals but cooperators."

I would add: rugged cooperators.

Dusty Crary and Karl Rappold, who are both here today, ranch along the Rocky Mountain Front.

They are rugged cooperators.

Gathered around kitchen tables in small towns like Choteau, Augusta and Fairfield - these rugged cooperators came up with the bill we're here to talk about.

They came up with a good balance: 208,000 acres of a Conservation Management Area; 67,000 acres of Wilderness additions in places already managed that way; and a plan to block the invasion of noxious species like spotted knapweed that damage valuable forage.

Dusty is testifying because the bill is a great idea. It is also his idea. And the idea of many of Montana's rugged cooperators.

They brought it to me and I am proud to bring it to you.

Finally, after hearing from many ranchers at home, I would like to commit today to work with the committee and the Forest Service to strengthen the bill to make double sure that the responsible way ranchers manage their cattle on the Front won't change. I am confident we can ensure that.

Thank you, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

{end remarks as prepared for delivery}