Since September when Congress allowed the 50-year-old Land and Water Conservation Fund to lapse, Montana’s conservation groups, sportsmen and land trusts have pushed for reauthorization while anticipating efforts to change the law. Those efforts took form on Thursday when Utah Rep. Rob Bishop introduced his bill to vastly change LWCF funding priorities.

After leading Congressional opposition that killed the LWCF in September, Bishop unveiled his ideas of what the LWCF should be in the House Natural Resources Committee Thursday morning.