Outdoors Fest celebrates state's wealth of public land

Montana’s public lands and outdoor recreation provide 71,000 jobs in the state and $7.1 billion in consumer spending, Montana Sen. Jon Tester told a capacity crowd at the Last Best Outdoor Fest Tuesday night in Columbia Falls.

The fest celebrated Montana’s abundance of public lands and was also a political rally to oppose any measures to sell them off.

With a host of public lands at its doorstep and a river running through it, Columbia Falls is becoming the place to live for those who love the great outdoors.

Mayor Don Barnhart noted that the city was once the industrial hub of the valley, but now most industry is gone, and the town is embracing its outdoor heritage and the value of its open spaces and the people it attracts.

As an excavator contractor, Barnhart sees the value of open spaces as it draws people to the city.

“They need me to dig their hole so they can enjoy their new home,” he said.

A new study by the Business for Montana’s Outdoors has shown that five Montana counties, including Flathead, are responsible for 75 percent of job growth in the state from 2000-2015. Flathead County added more than 14,000 new jobs — a 31 percent increase.

Drawing people to the valley is its outdoor opportunities, the study found. Flathead County is 73 percent public lands — 53 percent Forest Service and 19 percent Glacier National Park. Non-residents spent $635 million in Flathead County in 2015 and the tourism and travel industry created 10,000-plus jobs and contributed $31.4 million in state and local taxes.

“People are coming from all over because this is where they want to live,” said economist Ray Rasker of Headwaters Economics and author of the study.

The event at the Coop was hosted by Business for Montana’s Outdoors and Montana Brewers Association. A panel discussion at the Cedar Creek Lodge preceded the Fest.

At the panel discussion, legendary mountaineer Conrad Anker noted that his livelihood is dependent on the public lands that improve quality of life for Montanans.

“We live to recreate,” Anker said.

But Anker was concerned about the future of wild places.

“Wild animals can’t write letters to their senators. We have to speak up for them,” he noted. “These wild places are an escape valve from the rapidly changing warming climate.”

Anker said 52 percent of Montanans watch wildlife and 44 percent self-identify as birders.

“We need to stand up for public land,” he said. “It belongs to all of us and we have the opportunity to care for it ever so briefly.”

Anker then urged Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke to leave all the country’s national environmental monuments as they are. Zinke is currently reviewing monuments nationwide and whether some of them should be reduced in size, though he did recently announce that he would not change the boundaries of the popular Missouri River Breaks.

Zinke was not at the panel.

Tester announced he was introducing the Outdoor Economy Act, which will create an Outdooor Recreation Advisory Committee at the Department of Interior to better advise the administration on ways to increase public access to public land.

Sen. Tester asked Rasker whether areas with more protected public land had higher growth rates. Rasker said they did, demonstrating the importance of conservation of public lands.

Randy Newberg, an accountant and professional hunter who hunts public lands 100 days every year, was happy to brag about his job and the role of public lands.

“We have something here in Montana that is special,” Newberg said, noting that more than 70 percent of hunters rely on public land. “These public lands are the greatest accumulation of undistributed wealth on the planet.”

Sarah Calhoun of Red Ants Pants designs workwear for women and runs a nonprofit that supports female leadership in rural areas and industries. Calhoun moved her business from Bozeman to White Sulphur Springs, where her music festival fundraisers draw upwards of 17,000 people – many more than the 2,000 in the whole of Meagher County.

Matt Leow of Montana Brewers Association talked about exports, the next chapter in Montana craft brewing.

“We package a great beer, but we’re selling the mystique of Montana,” he said.

Leow noted that in order to craft great beer, a brewer needs great water, and the clean water coming off Montana’s public lands is critical to their success.

Montana’s wild places inspire the employees at Biomimcry 3.8, who work with Fortune 500 companies to create sustainable designs.

“Not only do our clients value nature, they look to it as a source of inspiration,” managing director Nicole Hagerman-Miller explained. “There’s 3.8 billion years of research and development at our back door.”

Ryan Busse, vice president of Kimber Manufacturing, wouldn’t be here in the Flathead if not for public land access.

“We came here because of the public lands and the outdoor recreation this area offers us,” he noted.