Viewpoint: Be leery of ‘multiple use’ talk on wilderness

By Bill Schneider, retired publisher & outdoor writer
Missoula Current
January 13, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

…Instead of celebrating our good fortune to have a small part of our state still wild and undeveloped, our political leaders want to develop the last of wild Montana when they should be working to protect it, which is what most Montanans favor. ….In the common vernacular, especially among those who favor commercial uses of public lands, “multiple use” means development instead of protection. What they really mean when then say is “logging use” or “commercial use” or “motorized recreation use” or in some cases, “single use.” …The words, “multiple use” have been marginalized into a political catch phrase. Instead of saying they favor “multiple use” instead of Wilderness, politicos should be honest and say they want commercial use of public lands and stop trying to fool us by supporting “multiple use” because it sounds like support for the majority while hiding the true intent.

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