Environmental activists initiate a significant ad campaign targeting Montana GOP Senate contender

An environmentalist group launched a seven-figure ad blitz Thursday attacking Montana Senate Republican hopeful Tim Sheehy, a boost for vulnerable incumbent Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT).

The new 30-second ad spot, “Signs,” criticizes Sheehy’s stance on public lands. It opens with footage of Montana’s rolling hills and snow-covered fields before zooming closely on a large, black-and-orange sign that reads “Private Property, No Trespassing.”

“Places we’ve hunted and fished for years are being closed off,” Andrew Posewitz, a Montana resident and sportsman who depends on public land access to hunt and fish, says in the ad.

“And you want to know what? Tim Sheehy would make it worse,” Posewitz continues. “He’s out there saying he would end protections for public lands.”

The advertisement is backed by Montana Outdoor Values Action Fund, the political action committee of Montana Conservation Voters, which has endorsed Tester’s reelection campaign.

The group told the Washington Examiner it plans to air the ad statewide on broadcast and cable television.

The seven-figure ad commitment is significant in Montana, and takes aim at what Democrats perceive as an area of weakness for Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL and aerial firefighting company CEO who garnered criticism last fall after he appeared to voice support for the transfer of federal lands to states and counties in a radio interview.

“Local control has to be returned” to public lands, Sheehy said in October in an interview on the Working Ranch Radio Show.

“Whether that means [some] of these public lands get turned over to state agencies, or even counties—or whether those decisions are made by a local landlord instead of by federal fiat a few thousand miles away, local control will almost always produce better results than a federal mandate from bureaucrats who are unaccountable to the people that are ultimately subject to these regulations,” Sheehy said.

Asked for comment on the issue, campaign spokesperson sent the Washington Examiner the following comment, which echoes language on Sheehy’s campaign website:

“Public lands are part of our Montana way of life. As Senator, Tim will work to preserve, protect, and expand access to our public lands. Tim believes public lands must stay in public hands. Tim believes Montanans know best how to manage our land, not the Washington bureaucrats,” the spokesperson told the Examiner. “Tim believes it’s important we listen to the voices of local communities when considering public lands policy. Tim opposes a federal transfer of our public lands. Tim opposes the sale of our public lands. Tim supports better stewardship of our public lands, including through active forest management.”

Public lands issues carry major sway at the ballot box in Western states, where federal acres make up large swaths of land, including acres rich with minerals, oil and gas reserves, timber, wildlife, and other resources.

Congress in 1976 tasked the Department of the Interior with overseeing federal lands and making them available under a “multiple use” framework, allowing the lands to be used for mining, recreation, natural gas leases, hunting and fishing, scientific studies, and more.

In Montana, roughly 30% of the state’s total acreage is owned by the federal government. Polling indicates that voters overwhelmingly oppose selling off federal acres.

Nearly half of voters in the state said clean water, air, open spaces, and public lands were “very important” and a “primary factor” in deciding which candidate to support in November, according to a 2024 poll conducted by the University of Montana.

More than 78% of voters saying they believe the presence of national public lands in Montana helps the state economy, according to the survey.

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Tester’s seat is considered to be among the most vulnerable to being flipped by Republicans this fall, with the Cook Political Report rating it earlier this month as a “toss-up.”