Y2Y’s senior director of conservation programs Scott Brennan wrote this opinion piece originally published in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle on March 5, 2025.
There’s something profound about standing beneath a wide Montana sky, feeling the grit of the trail beneath your boots, hearing the rush of a river during spring thaw or the first elk bugling each fall.
These moments—big and small—connect us to the land in ways that can’t be explained, only felt. A love for the outdoors isn’t just about the views; it’s about the experiences that shape us, the memories made around a campfire, and a profound sense of belonging from being out there, on the land.
But these connections don’t happen by chance. They happen because someone welcomed us in, cleared the trail, helped us find our way, and ensured our public lands remained safe and accessible.
Montana’s identity is deeply rooted in its public lands and their abundant nature. And these landscapes are more than just scenery—they are essential to Montana’s economy, culture, and way of life. That’s why the recent layoffs of thousands of Forest Service, National Park Service, and Bureau of Land Management workers who steward these lands and welcome us in should concern all Montanans.
Caring for public lands is more than a bureaucratic function; it’s hands-on work performed by skilled and committed professionals who put their blood, sweat and tears into maintaining trails, toilets and campgrounds, restoring watersheds, managing forests, and fighting weeds as well.
The people doing this work steward our landscapes and sustain Montana’s economy. Outdoor recreation in Montana generates over $7 billion annually and supports more than 70,000 jobs. Without adequate management, that economic driver—and the quality of our outdoor experiences—will be at risk.
The recent staff reductions will be felt firsthand by all Montanans—not just outdoor enthusiasts but also local businesses that depend on tourism and recreation. And the people directly affected? They are our family, friends, and neighbors—dedicated professionals who play a vital role in welcoming first-time visitors as well as seasoned outdoor adventurers.
For people to truly love and cherish the outdoors, they need to experience it firsthand, and many of the professionals who have lost their jobs are the folks who make these experiences possible and have committed their careers to this work. They deserve our support, and their absence will be felt across the state.
Rather than weakening the agencies responsible for caring for our public lands, we should strengthen and support them. This will help ensure our forests stay healthy, our waters remain clean, and our outdoor traditions thrive by introducing future generations to the lands we all love.
Rather than weakening the agencies responsible for caring for our public lands, we should strengthen and support them. This will help ensure our forests stay healthy, our waters remain clean, and our outdoor traditions thrive by introducing future generations to the lands we all love.
Many small businesses, including outfitters, guiding services, and tourism-based enterprises, rely on well-maintained public lands for their livelihoods. Visitor access will decline without an adequate workforce to clear trails and maintain campgrounds, directly affecting these local economies and making it harder for people to experience and fall in love with our public lands.
As so many people in Montana have worked for decades and continue to promote conservation solutions that support both all people and the public lands we care so much about, the ripple effects of these layoffs are deeply concerning.
Now is the time to act, and I encourage you to make your voice heard by reaching out to our state and federal representatives (find your representatives here) and asking them to restore funding for public land management and reverse these harmful job cuts.
We are all fortunate that we have the opportunity to connect directly with decision-makers in Montana to let them know how important these lands are to us and our families and to remind them that investing in public lands is investing in the future. The future of our public lands—and communities —depends on it.
Scott Brennan has supported collaborative conservation projects for the good of Montanans and our public lands for the past 18 years and could not have done any of it without the committed professionals of our federal public land management agencies. Today he lives in Bozeman and serves as senior director of conservation programs for the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative.
