Viewpoint: Beware of radical politicians tampering with Montana’s constitution

Brandon Smith

Coming from small town eastern Montana, and recently moving to western Montana for college, I’ve seen just about everything Montana’s land has to offer.

There’s an underappreciated beauty to Montana’s rolling hills, shrubby grasslands and rugged badlands.

That being said, I love our state, especially our constitution. The recent attacks against our state constitution are deplorable and upsetting on a personal level. Extremist politicians suggest that our constitution isn’t providing Montanans a high level of decency and freedom. Have the last five decades been so absolutely mortifying that nobody wanted to talk about it until 2022?

Whatever the case is, there is clearly an agenda, and not one that the average Montanan wants. Isn’t the spirit of Montana to avoid taking hogwash from people who want to take away our rights?

My number one worry is the proposed removal of our right to a clean and healthful environment. How tragic that our state’s lands and rivers have to stay clean, and that we have such wonderful state parks that people from all over the country are clamoring to move here.

It’s not as if we don’t already have an industry for oil and coal, I grew up right in the middle of the Bakken, that was THE oil country for years.

Extremists who know nothing about our great state are now ruining what we love. I implore any Montanan readers to understand what’s at stake and urge them to protect their rights.