Two Texas Oil and Gas Billionaires That Restrict Montanans’ Access to Public Lands and Their Way of Life
Besides being a twice-failed GOP candidate attempting for a third time to represent Montana in Congress, Maryland real estate developer Matt Rosendale continues to profit off his business ties to the Wilks brothers, two Texas billionaires, profiled last month by the New York Times, for being notorious for buying up thousands of acres of property in Montana and then blocking access to public lands for Montanans.
Rosendale has not only received hundreds of thousands in royalties from the Wilks brothers, he leases two oil rigs to them on his property and is in their pocket supporting legislation the Wilks brothers are pushing to block access to public lands. The Wilks Brothers legislation would have “privatized elk hunting in Montana” by limiting access to Durfee Hills – one of Montana’s premier spots for elk hunting.
Rosendale’s business associates have not only shuttered trails used by the public, but revoked road-use contracts critical to the snowmobile industry. The Wilks have also shut down hunting and timber work in the area, costing jobs for many westerners. The Wilks brothers’ long and inglorious history of buying up millions of acres of western lands and working diligently to block access to public lands, have found their ideological partner in Matt Rosendale in their efforts to roll back Montanans’ and westerners’ public access rights.
“When Maryland Matt isn’t ripping health care coverage away from Montanans with preexisting conditions, he is privately profiteering off of his business ties with those who are working to rip away Montanans’ access to their public lands,” said DCCC Spokesperson, Andy Orellana. “Not only have the Wilks Brothers backed Rosendale’s failed campaigns and given him a lucrative deal worth thousands in royalties, they also got Rosendale to vote and lobby for their legislation that would have privatized a Montana way of life – the right to hunt, angle and recreate on public lands.”
More about Rosendale’s hypocritical views on protecting public lands and respecting Montanans’ way of life can be found in a recent publication by Outside Magazine, HERE.
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