Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, welcomed episode number thirty two The Hunting Collective.
Speaker 1: I'm Ben O'Brien, and today I am joined by very
Speaker 1: special guests and a very important guest, and his name
Speaker 1: is Senator John Tester. He's a Democrat from state of
Speaker 1: Montana and he's currently running for re election against Matt Rosendale.
Speaker 1: And this is, you know, for me, just uh what
Speaker 1: I believe is relatively normal guy to be able to
Speaker 1: sit down with somebody like John Tester and talk about
Speaker 1: the issues that I'm that I feel like are important
Speaker 1: to me and important to do you all listening, Um
Speaker 1: was fantastic and it was a privilege. I found Senator
Speaker 1: Tester be straightforward and we talked before and after the
Speaker 1: podcast about very uh important issues. I mean obviously has
Speaker 1: limited time this time of year to chat, but um,
Speaker 1: I found it to be credible and believable and firm
Speaker 1: handshake and look you straight the eye and speak about
Speaker 1: what he believes. And so whether you agree or disagree
Speaker 1: with some of the things he'll say in the podcast upcoming,
Speaker 1: I hope you listen with an open mind and m
Speaker 1: and learn more about his stance on public lands, his
Speaker 1: stance on chronic wasting disease, his stance on mining and
Speaker 1: astraction on his lands of Montana, and really just why
Speaker 1: he loves the state where he was born. So, without
Speaker 1: further ado, please welcome Senator John Tester. Senator Tester, thanks
Speaker 1: for joining me. It's great to be here. Thanks for you.
Speaker 1: Snowy Montana. It's uh it's fall in Mintiana and uh
Speaker 1: you Spring used to be my favorite time here. But
Speaker 1: I guess maybe it's with age you gravitate towards fall,
Speaker 1: because I just love the fall after a hot summer,
Speaker 1: you got the air's crisp. You know, it's pretty cool,
Speaker 1: and you know winner is coming. So if you're gonna
Speaker 1: live in Montana, I find you gotta love the winner. Yeah, no,
Speaker 1: I mean it is. I mean winners aren't like they
Speaker 1: used to be when I was a kid. You know,
Speaker 1: when we'd have thirty below for weeks on end and
Speaker 1: you were stuck in the house. And yeah, it's now.
Speaker 1: But I will say one thing. Last winter we had
Speaker 1: a good winner here, first one since seventy eight, and
Speaker 1: it makes you appreciate spring when it comes. But I
Speaker 1: gotta tell you, I love the winner as long as
Speaker 1: as long as you don't have to be somewhere because
Speaker 1: you never know if the wind blows, the roads are closed,
Speaker 1: so you've got a kind of plan ahead. But it's
Speaker 1: a you know, montan is a great state because of
Speaker 1: the four seasons, because of our public lands, because of
Speaker 1: our ability to go out get there like and or
Speaker 1: whatever you need. But but but but it is. I mean,
Speaker 1: I was you know, I've been able to get all
Speaker 1: over the country as the U. S. Senator. And uh,
Speaker 1: and there's no other place like Montana on the lower
Speaker 1: forty eight. I'll just tell you that. Um uh, you know,
Speaker 1: Alaska's marvelous, but it's not lower forty eight. That's all
Speaker 1: the bandings will take it. No, I mean, I'm just
Speaker 1: moving here. And um, as somebody likes to go outside,
Speaker 1: there is moving here. People speak differently about going outside. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Levin living in Texas and I'm from the East Coast.
Speaker 1: Originally people speak differently about going outside. Their eyes light
Speaker 1: up when you talk about a certain canyon or a place.
Speaker 1: Everybody shares that we can all go if we want to.
Speaker 1: And so it's just a different way to interact about
Speaker 1: going outside. And and part of it is and at
Speaker 1: least from my my perspective, part of it is is
Speaker 1: is public lands. Part of it is as a block
Speaker 1: management programs that we set up at the state level
Speaker 1: where you don't have to be a millionaire to be
Speaker 1: I'll be able to access some unbelievable places, whether it's
Speaker 1: for hunting, whether it's for fishing, whether it's for just
Speaker 1: going out and running up and down on mountains without
Speaker 1: your cell phone working, you know. Right. It's uh, it's
Speaker 1: because of that ability to and it's and and it's
Speaker 1: also because I might add, and this is changing, and
Speaker 1: it's changing pretty rapidly of of the ranchers willingness to
Speaker 1: let on hunters to help manage the game. Um. But
Speaker 1: but you know, we've always had a strong tradition in
Speaker 1: this state of of um, you know, being able to
Speaker 1: get out there and uh, you know, on harvesting deer, elk,
Speaker 1: or catch a few fish, whatever you might be. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, when I was thinking about this conversation, my
Speaker 1: first question that paying the mind is that you seem
Speaker 1: like a pretty easy going uh you know, you know,
Speaker 1: wheat farmer from big sandy and small town Like why uh,
Speaker 1: you know, the political why jump into the political pressure cooker,
Speaker 1: Why take you know, take your life the way you
Speaker 1: have and and stand up for what you believe. I mean,
Speaker 1: I know it's not an easy gig. I can I
Speaker 1: can just tell you that we've got a pretty good
Speaker 1: life on the farm. I mean, we do that. We
Speaker 1: we've we've farmed the land. My grandmother and father homestead
Speaker 1: and my folks farmed it. It's an incredible honor, special
Speaker 1: in this day and age because there's not many folks
Speaker 1: who have that opportunity. But but it's also a time
Speaker 1: when you know, my my grandmother passed away when I
Speaker 1: was sixteen. My grandmother was a political animal. And so
Speaker 1: when we'd go have dinner at my grandmother's house when
Speaker 1: I was in grade school and junior high and early
Speaker 1: early high school years, I talked a lot of politics.
Speaker 1: I mean talked a lot about who was doing this,
Speaker 1: you know at that moment time the Kennedy years, L B. J.
Speaker 1: Nixon and uh, and they talked a lot about what
Speaker 1: was going on. And and my grandmother was smart. She
Speaker 1: immigrated here from Sweden when she was sixteen, um and
Speaker 1: never went back, which is always amazing to me. But
Speaker 1: but she was smart, I mean whip smart, and and
Speaker 1: she uh, she just osmosis. I guess got me involved.
Speaker 1: My mother kind of fell off of her her her
Speaker 1: her standard there. And my mother was very, very very
Speaker 1: in tune with what was going on. She read a
Speaker 1: normal amounts of information about what's going on. So long
Speaker 1: story short, I'm a junior in high school. We go
Speaker 1: to the state legislature. They pack up all the juniors
Speaker 1: and seniors. It was nineteen seventy three. Jumped on the bus.
Speaker 1: Never been to the state capitol before in my life.
Speaker 1: We talked politics, but we never did go to see
Speaker 1: the legislature. Work had a chance to do it through
Speaker 1: our school district and walked in and got to meet
Speaker 1: some of the folks that you know represent me in
Speaker 1: Big Sandy, Montana, and and saw that beautiful building that
Speaker 1: we have in Montana called our state capital. And I
Speaker 1: said to myself, and this is gonna sound corny, but
Speaker 1: it's absolutely a fact. I said, one of these days,
Speaker 1: if I get a chance, I want to do this.
Speaker 1: And um, we talked to him there. They were good people,
Speaker 1: the senators and the House members that were there. And
Speaker 1: in my neighbor who who was a different political party me,
Speaker 1: but he was a very very good friend. And I
Speaker 1: was never going to run against him, decided not to
Speaker 1: run for re election. And I told my my wife,
Speaker 1: you know what, my daughter was just graduating from high
Speaker 1: school and my son was just going into seventh grade.
Speaker 1: It wasn't the ideal time to run for the legislature.
Speaker 1: But if we were't gonna do it now, we'll probably
Speaker 1: never do it. And so I did it. And one
Speaker 1: thing led to another and ended up in the US.
Speaker 1: Here we are, um and and not only are you
Speaker 1: a farmer there, but you've got a bit of a
Speaker 1: butcher's shop there. Yeah, we do. Look it's it's not
Speaker 1: a huge farm. So dad, in the in the fifties
Speaker 1: actually started cutting meat to help supplement the income. And uh,
Speaker 1: and so you know, as he said, I didn't have
Speaker 1: any change in my pocket when I went to town,
Speaker 1: and so uh he started cutting meat, and one thing
Speaker 1: and into another, and then he end up building the
Speaker 1: shop in the early sixties and and cut me till
Speaker 1: he retired in seventy eight. I taught school coming out
Speaker 1: of college, and in the spring and the fall of
Speaker 1: seventy eight, and I couldn't make enough money to put
Speaker 1: tires on the car, and people were asking me to
Speaker 1: cut meat. So my wife and I started the butcher
Speaker 1: shop and me ran it till I got into the
Speaker 1: state legislature. Yeah, I mean, I think the things that
Speaker 1: you're talking about when you describe your life, your early
Speaker 1: life and and even your current life, is a lot
Speaker 1: around values, like what what values your grandparents and your
Speaker 1: parents instilled in you, and then what values that you
Speaker 1: hold to be Montana values. So give us a quick
Speaker 1: overview of of your you know, your boiler plate on
Speaker 1: what's Montana values? What's that mean when you take that
Speaker 1: to d C. Well, I mean, I'll just tell you.
Speaker 1: Your word is your bond. Your handshake makes something that
Speaker 1: means something. You don't you look somebody and I are
Speaker 1: telling me you're gonna do it. You don't need a
Speaker 1: written contract to do it. That's the way it's gonna be.
Speaker 1: And uh, in agreements, in agreement, I would say that's
Speaker 1: the most basic of all. But but also along with
Speaker 1: that is hard work. You never get anything done. And
Speaker 1: you know everybody says, you know, farmers are hard workers.
Speaker 1: They are teachers are hard workers. You bet doctors are
Speaker 1: hard workers. Nurses you got on the list, anything worth doing.
Speaker 1: It takes hard work to be successful. At it. And
Speaker 1: so that's that's another value that I think is important.
Speaker 1: But the most important one is your word is your bond,
Speaker 1: and your handshake means something. And when you look somebody
Speaker 1: in the eye and you say, you know what, deal
Speaker 1: is a deal. It's a deal. You don't have to
Speaker 1: have three pages of paper work to follow it up
Speaker 1: with a bunch of lawyers or sign an off stand
Speaker 1: this is the right thing to do. So so so
Speaker 1: I would say that, and then then I would also
Speaker 1: say from a from a just a Montana perspective, and
Speaker 1: it goes to to to you and your in your show,
Speaker 1: is is that what makes Montana great is it's overall
Speaker 1: state where you can get outside and get away from
Speaker 1: it all. And and I'll tell you there's not a
Speaker 1: lot of places like that left. And uh. Being able
Speaker 1: to go out there and and and and see uh nature,
Speaker 1: see ecosystems as they're working, Um, is just pretty amazing,
Speaker 1: especially in this century we live. And it's why I
Speaker 1: pushed so hard for things like the Land of Water
Speaker 1: Conservation Fund. Why because these ecosystems aren't going to be
Speaker 1: around in ten years or fifteen years. They're going to
Speaker 1: be developed. There's gonna be houses on them. There's gonna
Speaker 1: be chains across the across the posts in the road,
Speaker 1: so you can't go up and get to your favorite spot,
Speaker 1: whether it's for hunting or fishing or whatever. And so,
Speaker 1: uh we need to understand what we have, and we
Speaker 1: need to understand that if we don't look with a
Speaker 1: little bit of vision moving forward, it's simply not going
Speaker 1: to be here. And and it's one of the reasons
Speaker 1: too that that I really I'm nervous about the billionaires
Speaker 1: that want to buy up ranches for their own you know,
Speaker 1: private hunting place. Um, many of these ranches, you know,
Speaker 1: they're the old time ranchers, are the folks that help,
Speaker 1: you know, build this state. And they were always open
Speaker 1: to have hunters come on as long as the hunter
Speaker 1: was respectful to the land. They could come on and
Speaker 1: they could hunt, and they could fish, they could do
Speaker 1: whatever ever they need to do as long as they gave,
Speaker 1: you know, got permission to do it. Now we're seeing
Speaker 1: these these you know, these big ranchers, billionaires coming in
Speaker 1: and buying up ranches and locking them up. And uh
Speaker 1: so now public land becomes that more valuable because now
Speaker 1: that private land is locked up, they don't put it
Speaker 1: in block management. They don't and do things necessary to
Speaker 1: do to be able to allow Um, you know us
Speaker 1: Montana is to be able to get out and enjoy
Speaker 1: the great outdoors. Yeah. I mean, I think a lot
Speaker 1: of people that listen to this show, and there's a
Speaker 1: lot of people that go outside, are particularly interested in
Speaker 1: your you know you started on that down that path
Speaker 1: a little bit and what you were just saying, but
Speaker 1: your philosophies and and maybe your ideologies around like land
Speaker 1: use in general. You know, how did you develop you know,
Speaker 1: where you currently stand on public land and private land
Speaker 1: use and and how all those things played together in
Speaker 1: this state in a very important way because there's a
Speaker 1: lot of public land here. Yep. Well, I mean, look,
Speaker 1: I'm a big believer in multiple use. I think public
Speaker 1: lands can be used in multiple ways, and I think
Speaker 1: it can help it can help hapitat for instance. Um,
Speaker 1: I think you know, well, managed forest helps habitat. That
Speaker 1: means you cut, you cut some trees, you you helped
Speaker 1: develop that grass basis out there. Um. I would also
Speaker 1: say that that that uh, um, why public lands have
Speaker 1: become such a big thing as is it? Um you
Speaker 1: kind of take it for granted, unless unless there's a
Speaker 1: you've never been able to find a place to go hunt.
Speaker 1: And and and when I say you don't have to
Speaker 1: be a millionaire to go hunt in that public land.
Speaker 1: You know, we're all public land owners, that's right. So
Speaker 1: you can go out there and you can access it.
Speaker 1: If you take the time, you can, you can really
Speaker 1: have a really good experience. But but but but in
Speaker 1: the end, you know, it's the public lands. I mean,
Speaker 1: if you take a look at western Mississippi versus Eastern Mississippi.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's one of the big issues. It's it's
Speaker 1: why when we talk about things like the Land Water
Speaker 1: Conservation Fund. Now it helps for parks in some of
Speaker 1: the cities and things, which is very very important, but
Speaker 1: the bulk of that goes to the west. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean it's it's that's a veried use. And that's
Speaker 1: one of the big topics right now in in the
Speaker 1: public lands, uh sphere. And you've been a big proponent
Speaker 1: of Lando Wark Conservation and everybody, hopefully everybody's listening to this,
Speaker 1: knows what that is. If you don't let me know,
Speaker 1: I'll tell you, I'll tell you in another format. But
Speaker 1: you've been a big proponent of at there. You know,
Speaker 1: I feel as though it's not as accepted among your
Speaker 1: colleagues in a lot of ways. And why do you
Speaker 1: think that is. I mean, it seems to me, uh,
Speaker 1: you're taking royalties from offshore drilling and you're you're forwarding that, uh,
Speaker 1: those moneys to play. Like you said, there's a park
Speaker 1: here in Bosman that my son plays that that has
Speaker 1: a little sign right right beside it that says funded
Speaker 1: by l w CF. So, um, there's a lot of
Speaker 1: compelling reasons to to sign that villain and perpetuate that
Speaker 1: money year over year and fully fund this. Why you know,
Speaker 1: I think you've already said kind of why you support it,
Speaker 1: But what what's the dynamic? Well, I think that part
Speaker 1: of the reasons. I don't think a lot of people
Speaker 1: understand that this really pays back to the treasury in
Speaker 1: a big, big way. Because you know, it's seven billion
Speaker 1: dollar year industry in the state of Montana, the outdoor
Speaker 1: economy of seventy four thousand jobs, arguably the biggest industry
Speaker 1: in the state of Montiana, and the Land and Water
Speaker 1: Conservation Fund is the key for access. It's the key
Speaker 1: to make sure we have of land. Moving forward, We've
Speaker 1: got this checkerboard thing going in where you've got a
Speaker 1: section of public land a section of private land. And
Speaker 1: and you know you can't walk dagon lea across the
Speaker 1: get right. You can get some amazements to make it
Speaker 1: so there's more accessibility and and and that's why I
Speaker 1: fight for it. I think the folks who are opposed
Speaker 1: to it are opposed because they don't think the federal
Speaker 1: government should own anything. Um, the federal government is us,
Speaker 1: by the way, it's our land. It's it's not the
Speaker 1: federal government owns it. It's And it seems to be
Speaker 1: a strange dichotomy whereas, you know, Center Mike Lee out
Speaker 1: of Utah is talking about introducing a homestead Act, and
Speaker 1: your family homesteaded in this state of the nineteen ten,
Speaker 1: nineteen twelves, and here you are, you know, coming from
Speaker 1: a long line of homesteaders. And here's another here's the
Speaker 1: land transfer advocate talking about, you know, reinstating the Homestead
Speaker 1: Act and trying to spin up these this political jargon
Speaker 1: around around that terminology. So how do you find that
Speaker 1: to be how do you speak about that in a
Speaker 1: way that really hits home for folks that are confused
Speaker 1: because they're hearing from one side. Um in some ways,
Speaker 1: you know, Senator Least said it straight out, public land
Speaker 1: is elitist, wilderness is an elitist um principle. And on
Speaker 1: the other side, we're saying it's for everybody. Everybody owns it.
Speaker 1: So there's just, you know, like a lot in our politics,
Speaker 1: there's a large separation the division. Well, I can tell
Speaker 1: you how I've found the most success, and it's just
Speaker 1: talking about economy. Um, if if if, if it didn't
Speaker 1: contribute to seven billion dollars, and that's Montana's economy. Colorado's
Speaker 1: got different figures, Oregon has got different figures, Each state's
Speaker 1: got different figures. If it didn't contribute seven billion dollars
Speaker 1: to our economy seventy four thousand jobs, it would be
Speaker 1: tougher to sell by just talking about quality life, even
Speaker 1: though quality of life is probably more important than all
Speaker 1: that stuff. But but but but so you have to
Speaker 1: talk about it from economy when when I'm talking to
Speaker 1: somebody who's who's a strict conservative, and by the way,
Speaker 1: strict conservatives based off of conservation, so you think that
Speaker 1: be on board, but they're not. But but when I'm
Speaker 1: talking to I'm talking to him about you know, this
Speaker 1: is jobs, this economy, this is we invested all or today,
Speaker 1: we get a dividend tomorrow. And and really that's that's
Speaker 1: the pattern moving forward. And and but but you know,
Speaker 1: Mike Lee, you know where Michael is coming from. I'll
Speaker 1: tell you. I'll tell you the people that I get
Speaker 1: really really discussed it with. It's the folks that on
Speaker 1: one stand will be with you on a news conference
Speaker 1: on Atlanta Water Conservation Fund and then thirty minutes later
Speaker 1: walking and take a vote to cut the Lanta Water
Speaker 1: for Conservation Fund. And regular people aren't paying attention to
Speaker 1: this stuff, so they never know when they get away
Speaker 1: with it. But it drives me crazy. Either you understand
Speaker 1: it and you're for it and you'll promote it like
Speaker 1: Richard Byrd does in North Carolina bout the way because
Speaker 1: he's a real stalwart for this fund, or or you
Speaker 1: turn around and say, you know what, I kind of
Speaker 1: like it, but I'm not going to put it on
Speaker 1: the line for it. And that's more accurate. You know,
Speaker 1: that's not hypocritic. Well, you you would imagine as you
Speaker 1: as you try to you know, you campaign and you
Speaker 1: try to spin up that what I would call pandering.
Speaker 1: That public land pandering is pretty easy to do. It's America,
Speaker 1: it's idealism, it's what we all get to share it.
Speaker 1: It's like everybody a big hug around this public lands.
Speaker 1: I think easy to do. Um. Your opponent, if you
Speaker 1: go to his website right now, says I support UM. Well,
Speaker 1: he says I oppose land transfer, and his record is
Speaker 1: maybe a little bit against that. What's your what's your
Speaker 1: take on that? My my take on that is is
Speaker 1: that I think he changed because Montana's told him that
Speaker 1: he wasn't going to get the first base if he didn't,
Speaker 1: and so he changed. I still think internally he wants
Speaker 1: to transfer land to the States. I don't think there's
Speaker 1: any doubt about that. If you take a look at
Speaker 1: the the Kyo Ranch, um, the situation was on the landboard,
Speaker 1: a prime l cabitat for access to for hunters in Montana,
Speaker 1: and he voted against it. If you take a look
Speaker 1: at the Horse Creek twenty thousand acres in southeastern Montana,
Speaker 1: really really really good habitat uh and voted against it. Uh.
Speaker 1: There's a proposal in Washingt d C. Right now that's
Speaker 1: not a comprehensive proposal at all to remove wilderness study areas,
Speaker 1: just just remove them for no no particular reason, just
Speaker 1: remove them so you can mine them or whatever you want. Um.
Speaker 1: And he supports that. He also has been supported by
Speaker 1: billionaire Wilkes brothers and their whole family both politically and
Speaker 1: through uh, through leases on his land. And I think
Speaker 1: a lot of the conservation votes he's taken to keep
Speaker 1: those easements out of things like Horse Creek in Tikio
Speaker 1: Ranch is because he's being influenced by those billionaire ranchers
Speaker 1: from out of state that want to buy up to
Speaker 1: lant to make a private hunting uh, you know, paradise
Speaker 1: for them only to use. It's it's uh, it's what
Speaker 1: we've got to be careful of his Montana's to be
Speaker 1: honest with you, and and I you know, look, there's
Speaker 1: all sorts of folks that that come to this state
Speaker 1: and and I love them all as long as they
Speaker 1: appreciate that Montana is the greatest state in the greatest
Speaker 1: country in the world. And the reason it's the greatest
Speaker 1: state in the great country in the world is because
Speaker 1: of the people. And quite frankly, our public lands, access
Speaker 1: to the great outdoors. It's really that's simple. You know,
Speaker 1: you can go to New Jersey. I'm not urges is great,
Speaker 1: but you know it's not Montana by a long shot.
Speaker 1: I mean I'm moving here from Texas. Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: it is. Uh. And having lived in Illinois in the
Speaker 1: past and growing grew up out of East I mean
Speaker 1: there is Like I said when talking before we hit
Speaker 1: record about it's the way people speak about the outdoors here,
Speaker 1: the way um every weekend that you can't find anybody
Speaker 1: in town. I mean, there is a different not only
Speaker 1: a different lifestyle, but just a different way of thinking,
Speaker 1: in a different spirit and people that have the freedom
Speaker 1: to go outside and doing I agree, and I think
Speaker 1: it's it's it's good for you. I think it's it's
Speaker 1: good for your health and uh. And I think it's
Speaker 1: good for your mental health too. And it's one of
Speaker 1: the things that I serve as ranking member and the
Speaker 1: v A Committee is to use the outdoors, use use
Speaker 1: those programs of fishing and hunting out there to help
Speaker 1: these folks that are coming back from from seventeen years
Speaker 1: of war with with mental health issues. Because I think
Speaker 1: it's good physically and I think it's good mentally, I
Speaker 1: think it's good for the soul. Yeah, I would agree
Speaker 1: with that. UM. Speaking of health, I want to talk
Speaker 1: to you a little bit about chronic wasting disease. You
Speaker 1: have been the big proponent of funding research and testing
Speaker 1: UM for for states and for tribal associations to be
Speaker 1: able to do one test, but then fund research around
Speaker 1: where c CWD is showing up. How do we fight it?
Speaker 1: How do we stop it spread? So you have a
Speaker 1: bill out there for a sixty million dollars of funding.
Speaker 1: Talk about that bill and then kind of where it is,
Speaker 1: and it seems to be held up a little bit.
Speaker 1: It is, it hasn't been moving. Look, the key is
Speaker 1: is that we do something. We do some of, if
Speaker 1: not the best research in the world. Chronic wasting disease
Speaker 1: can be Uh. It's a big problem. It's a big
Speaker 1: problem not only in widelife. It's a big problem in
Speaker 1: domestic livestock too. So we have an opportunity to just
Speaker 1: go out and try to get ahead of this curve.
Speaker 1: And by the way, it's a hard curve to get
Speaker 1: ahead of because we're already starting to see a crop
Speaker 1: up just about it bewhere and so my point was,
Speaker 1: let's give the researchers the tools they need to try
Speaker 1: to find a test for c w D so that
Speaker 1: we can pinpoint it uh and potentially UH stop it
Speaker 1: spread uh as quickly as possible. Uh. The bill right
Speaker 1: now is is just setting a committee. It needs. It
Speaker 1: needs to get out. We need to get bipartisan support
Speaker 1: for it. UH. As with anything, it costs money, and
Speaker 1: oftentimes money is hard to come by in Washington, d C.
Speaker 1: But I will tell you from uh from from a
Speaker 1: wildlife standpoint and a domestic livestock standpoint, We've got to
Speaker 1: get some research done. And I can't help to think
Speaker 1: that research on on elk, for example, or or any
Speaker 1: pick pick, any game game animal couldn't be easily transferred
Speaker 1: over to cattle. Yes, absolutely, Especially the funding shifted around
Speaker 1: in the techniques for finding out what causes this and
Speaker 1: how how we can deal with it in a common
Speaker 1: sense way of moving forward, I think will help everybody.
Speaker 1: It's a matter of letting people understand that this is
Speaker 1: a problem and we need to get on top before
Speaker 1: before real bad things happen. Ye. Is there anything that
Speaker 1: Montana's or folks listening can do to kind of get
Speaker 1: educated about your legislation and similar legislations that around there.
Speaker 1: Well you can. You can go to my website, my
Speaker 1: my my senter website, and uh, if you search around
Speaker 1: a little bit, you'll find it and as you can
Speaker 1: read up on it. And then the other thing I
Speaker 1: would just say is if you're concerned about c w
Speaker 1: D and you think we need to have research to
Speaker 1: find out it's caused and how we can potentially prevent it, Um,
Speaker 1: write your congressman, write your senator. I know you're your
Speaker 1: This podcast goes far and wide, and so uh, just
Speaker 1: drop an email and in or or pick up the
Speaker 1: phone and make a phone call. And I will tell
Speaker 1: you that a lot of people say, ah, that doesn't
Speaker 1: do any good. Those guys don't listen to us anyway.
Speaker 1: Far from the truth. The truth is is that those
Speaker 1: emails make a big difference. Those phone calls make a
Speaker 1: big difference. And so just do that and just say, hey,
Speaker 1: look at this bill Tester's got. It's a good bill.
Speaker 1: I wish I could give you the number of it.
Speaker 1: I can't right now, but it'll be listed on my
Speaker 1: website and you could even give them the number. And look,
Speaker 1: I talked to folks from both as. Yeah, I work
Speaker 1: with people from both as. If you get them get
Speaker 1: it on their mind, they'll able to come up to
Speaker 1: me and talk to me about it, then we'll get
Speaker 1: them signed up. It's called the Chronic Wasting Disease Support
Speaker 1: for States Act, and that's a it's a proposal for
Speaker 1: sixty million dollars man which which by the way, is
Speaker 1: a rounding error and it's not a briefcase that's right,
Speaker 1: But but the truth is it would be money well spent. Yeah. Um.
Speaker 1: The other big point around your works, and really that
Speaker 1: goes along with access is extraction and mine and your
Speaker 1: philosophy is around that kind of land use and and
Speaker 1: it's a big political thing. But also a big thing
Speaker 1: is you've seen in the Yellowstone Corridor and the game
Speaker 1: to Yellowstone. Um, talk about your philosophy around extraction where
Speaker 1: you don't want to see it, where you like to
Speaker 1: see it, what your what you thought? Well, there's places
Speaker 1: where it is entirely acceptable, and there's other places where, um,
Speaker 1: the ecosystems are more more valuable than gold. Very frankly,
Speaker 1: the best one I can think of is the mine
Speaker 1: at the head of the Yellowstone River at the doorstep
Speaker 1: of Yellowstone Park. Um, I've got a bill that hopefully
Speaker 1: we can get through in the Lame Duck yell Still
Speaker 1: Gateway Protection Act, because it's it's gone through committee in
Speaker 1: the House and in the Senate, and so it's it's
Speaker 1: teed up to get done. That would stop a huge
Speaker 1: mining operation by a foreign company at the headwaters of
Speaker 1: the Yellostone River. So, um, is there gold there? There
Speaker 1: probably is gold there. But the truth is that the
Speaker 1: impacts on the water, the impacts on wildlife, the impacts
Speaker 1: on those hundreds of small businesses up and down Paradise
Speaker 1: Valley in the Livingston um is not acceptable. And uh,
Speaker 1: I have not looked at the figures per SAE, but
Speaker 1: my guess is it's probably that Paradise value is probably
Speaker 1: worth about a billion dollars in economic activity to the
Speaker 1: state of Montana. And then if you want to talk
Speaker 1: about if they screw up like they did insortment Landusky
Speaker 1: and the water is polluted, Um, that fishery is gone,
Speaker 1: then you're treating water in perpetuity. It's just not the
Speaker 1: right thing to do. So I've got to build to
Speaker 1: basically take the federal lands off by the same token. Um,
Speaker 1: there's a mine south, the Columbus Platinum Pladium mine that
Speaker 1: is incredibly responsible. Mind, they do everything right. It's a
Speaker 1: zero discharge. They absolutely they play by the rules, and
Speaker 1: they pay their employees and they treat them well and
Speaker 1: and uh they provide a valuable asset to the whole
Speaker 1: world and so um in those cases, it's the right
Speaker 1: thing to do. At the head of the they the Elstone,
Speaker 1: it makes no sense. You're you're you're asking for a disaster. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it's I always talk about pro nuance and
Speaker 1: anti bullshit like that's my political stance. I don't know
Speaker 1: what party alle get Maybe I don't know about that,
Speaker 1: but it's to that point. And this is one of
Speaker 1: those things where around national monuments here last year became
Speaker 1: a big political football throw back and forth. Um. And
Speaker 1: to me that a lot of the nuance is lost
Speaker 1: in the conversation of should we you know, should it
Speaker 1: be a monument, should it not? Should we extract here?
Speaker 1: Should we not? A lot of the nuance is lost.
Speaker 1: And uh, the balance that you're talking about there, I
Speaker 1: think is important. No, it's it's it's it's critically important.
Speaker 1: And I will tell you, I will tell you just
Speaker 1: just from how we look at laws and how we
Speaker 1: look at projects and business, you've got to have a
Speaker 1: little more vision than ten or fifteen years. Yeah, I mean, truthfully,
Speaker 1: I mean that's if if you're looking short term, long
Speaker 1: term is gonna each up. And I think anybody who's
Speaker 1: successful in business, they look short term, but they also
Speaker 1: look long term. If you're not always looking. And in
Speaker 1: this day and where the economy is changing so rapidly,
Speaker 1: you've got to fifty years ahead. And and like I
Speaker 1: said earlier with the Land of Water Conservation Fund, if
Speaker 1: these landscapes go, if these ecosystems go, because we're making
Speaker 1: stupid decisions today. Man, we're doing our kids a total injustice,
Speaker 1: just a total injustice. Yeah. And there they're not coming back,
Speaker 1: not coming back exactly right. They we're giving away one
Speaker 1: of our greatest economic drivers, and that's our outdoor recreation economy. Yeah. Well, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, I think Hunters Bangas can appreciate your voice
Speaker 1: in that way and and and how you speak up
Speaker 1: in a pragmatic way for the things that makes sense.
Speaker 1: And the only thing, you know, I don't get to
Speaker 1: talk to senators that much. So the only thing that
Speaker 1: The other question I have for you is is today's
Speaker 1: political climate. You've been um, you've been in the Trump
Speaker 1: sphere as of late and and been um you know,
Speaker 1: in the ire of some of his attacks, and just
Speaker 1: what is what's you're taking the current political climate? You know,
Speaker 1: how it's affecting this country and how we forward the
Speaker 1: conversation because as hunters of anglers, everybody that I talked to,
Speaker 1: everybody seems to be like a common sense, pragmatic one,
Speaker 1: the right thing for the outdoors, onright thing for the country.
Speaker 1: How do you how do you find um going to
Speaker 1: d C and and and fighting through the bullshit way?
Speaker 1: It's way to partisan Um, both parties a running their
Speaker 1: corners way too quick um. And And quite frankly, I
Speaker 1: believe it's for a number of reasons. I blame it
Speaker 1: on campaign finance. I think that the decisions have came
Speaker 1: out to UH to have corporations to be people and
Speaker 1: allow and limited amounts of dark money without no where
Speaker 1: it comes from him and who's trying to buy your
Speaker 1: state isn't helpful UH. And it creates for more of
Speaker 1: a piper hyperpartisan situation. I think the fact that we
Speaker 1: don't have reapportionment done in a way, and now reapportions
Speaker 1: the districts and nieces in the House, not the Senate.
Speaker 1: Where you have a district that is bright blue or
Speaker 1: a district that's bright red. It doesn't allow for bipartisanship.
Speaker 1: Been working in the middle to get things done that
Speaker 1: can help everybody. And I think if we if we
Speaker 1: dealt with both of those in a common sense way,
Speaker 1: which wouldn't take nuclear physics degree to figure it out,
Speaker 1: I'll tell you that, uh, it'd be it'd be easy
Speaker 1: to go. But but I'll also tell you on the
Speaker 1: other side of the coin, I've got great friends on
Speaker 1: broad side. CI Johnny Isaacson, for example, the chairman of
Speaker 1: the Veterans Committee, and I as a Republican, I serve
Speaker 1: as ranking member. As a Democrat, you wouldn't find a
Speaker 1: finder man. Johnny is a good man, and and we
Speaker 1: trust one another, well, stick up for one another. We
Speaker 1: has have one another's backs. And we started this a
Speaker 1: year and a half when I took over and he
Speaker 1: took over, and we just said, do you want to
Speaker 1: get something done? And we just want to put out
Speaker 1: political rhetoric and fight like everybody else does. And we
Speaker 1: both agreed, let's get something done. That ended up with
Speaker 1: eleven bills being put on the President's desk, just with
Speaker 1: v A, just just you know, uh, letting the v
Speaker 1: A have the tools they need to be able to
Speaker 1: serve the veterans of this kind country. And I think
Speaker 1: if other committees did that, um, I think we'd be
Speaker 1: far better off. Um. And and I don't know if
Speaker 1: it's just because Johnny Isaacson and myself have the personalities
Speaker 1: that we can get together. But it hasn't been that tough.
Speaker 1: I'll just tell you it's just you sit down and
Speaker 1: you talk. If I got a problem, I don't talk
Speaker 1: behind Johnny's back. I go look him in the eyeball
Speaker 1: and say, hey, this is what's going on. And you
Speaker 1: know what, he does the same thing. And we end
Speaker 1: up find a common ground pretty darn fast under those rules. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean that's what we need. Common ground. I mean
Speaker 1: I think we public lay in common ground. I don't know,
Speaker 1: there's some sweet uh there's always a sweet spot, sweet
Speaker 1: ending right there where I could hide it all together.
Speaker 1: I'm not that smart. Center. Well, thanks thanks for joining me.
Speaker 1: We really you know, I feel like, um, I just
Speaker 1: want to say thanks for your public service. I know, UM,
Speaker 1: you fight hard for what you believe in, and it
Speaker 1: means a lot to folks like me to have you
Speaker 1: out there, regardless of if we agree on every issue
Speaker 1: or what your political party is, that you that you
Speaker 1: stand up for what you believe in. You're serving the
Speaker 1: public and your um and your endeavor. So we I
Speaker 1: appreciate that. I can. I can tell you for a fact,
Speaker 1: I believe in this state, and there's a day to
Speaker 1: go by that I don't fight for Montana. And I'll
Speaker 1: tell you why, because I think what's good for Montana,
Speaker 1: it's good for this country. I go. We'll end it
Speaker 1: right there. Thank you. That's it. That's all the episode
Speaker 1: number thirty two in the books. Thank you so much
Speaker 1: the Senator John Tester for joining the podcast and being
Speaker 1: part of this conversation. Very honored to have somebody like
Speaker 1: that be willing to spend time with me and to
Speaker 1: speak to all of you about when I believe, I mean,
Speaker 1: he truly believes. UM. I'm not one to dismiss all politicians.
Speaker 1: I'm not wanted to dismiss any idea that might come
Speaker 1: across that I don't agree with. But I found again, Uh,
Speaker 1: Senator Tester to be credible and to be pragmatic and
Speaker 1: straightforward dude, and I enjoyed this conversation I was able
Speaker 1: to have with him, and I hope you did too.
Speaker 1: Don't be afraid to let your opinions fly in the
Speaker 1: comments on Instagram. Go to the meat Eater dot com
Speaker 1: to where you'll find all my podcasts under the Hunting Collective.
Speaker 1: Go to um Benny O b for your one on Instagram.
Speaker 1: But we'll be talking about a lot of the issues uh,
Speaker 1: surrounding this podcast that we spoke with Senator Tester about.
Speaker 1: Hopefully this will be the start of a dialogue, um,
Speaker 1: not the start of any arguments um that we might have.
Speaker 1: So thanks for joining us again. We'll see you next
Speaker 1: Tuesday on The Hunting Collective. Hi,