Tester seeks support at UM for forest bill

MISSOULA- Montana Senator Jon Tester asked University of Montana students and community members on Friday to help him pass a bill that he says will protect the Treasure State’s outdoor heritage.

Tester says his Forest, Jobs and Recreation Act will protect the state’s best place to hike, hunt and fish. But most importantly, he says the bill will create jobs and puts Montanans back to work in the woods.

“This summer we lost a million acres, another million acres of trees to beetle kill and we lost almost a million and a quarter million acres to fires. We need to responsibly manage our forests,” Tester said.

The Forest, Jobs and Recreation Act is one of the Senate Appropriations Bills that Congress will take up after the November election.