Tester Makes the ‘Outdoor Life 25’

By Kellyn Brown, 11-18-09

Montana Sen. Jon Tester has made Outdoor Life’s list of “25 men and women who have changed the face of hunting and fishing.”

The magazine chose Tester, in large part, for crafting the yet-to-be-passed “Forest Jobs and Recreation Act.” From Outdoor Life:

Every Montana politician for a generation has tried to untangle the land-use stalemate before being cowed by one interest group or another. Now, thanks to a U.S. senator with a flat-top haircut and a butcher’s build, hunters will be able to access these lands, watersheds will be preserved and unemployed loggers and mill workers will go back to work. Jon Tester crafted his landmark “Forest Jobs and Recreation Act” to preserve the majority of land as wilderness, but require sustainable timber harvest on much of the rest.

There’s something for everyone, but not enough for a single group to claim victory. The collaborative agreement is being eyed by conservationists across the nation as a model for resolving similarly intractable issues.

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