The Montana Outdoors Coalition’s Only Employee Appears To Be A Steve Daines Staffer
Dan Stusek, the Montana Outdoors Coalition’s Only Listed Employee on LinkedIn, is a Montana Political Operative
Stusek Worked as a “Field Representative (mining/coal)” and a “Western Regional Director” for Steve Daines. According to his profile, he worked as a “Field Representative (mining/coal)” from January 2015 to December 2016 and as a “Western Regional Director” from August 2013 to December 2014. [Search of “Montana Outdoors Coalition” on LinkedIn; LinkedIn profile for Dan Stusek, accessed 08/15/19; Legistorm, accessed 08/15/19]
Stusek Might Have Moved Back to Daines’ Office In As Recently As July 2019. He is listed on the July 29, 2019 Carbon County Commissioners Meeting Agenda to give “Senator Daines Office Update.” [Carbon County Commissioners Meeting Minutes, 07/29/19]
- Stusek updated his Facebook profile to say he moved to Billings in June 2019. [Facebook, accessed 10/01/19]
Stusek’s LinkedIn Account Doesn’t Mention Ryan Zinke, But According To Campaign Filings He Was Reimbursed By “Zinke for Congress” For Rent And Staff Lodging. One filing also indicates that Lola Zinke was reimbursed by the Zinke campaign. [Federal Election Commission, accessed 12/17/19; Federal Election Commission, accessed 12/17/19; Federal Election Commission, accessed 12/17/19]
Stusek Donated $110 To The Montana Republican Party. [FollowTheMoney, accessed 08/15/19]
Stusek Donated To Two Republican Candidates For The Montana Senate. [Montana Campaign Electronic Reporting System, accessed 08/15/19]
Stusek was Registered to Lobby in Montana Under the Principal Name of “State Auditor/Commissioner of Securities and Insurance” from January 2017 to September 30, 2018. [Montana Lobbyist and Principal Search, accessed 08/15/19]
Stusek was Appointed to Work For The Montana State Land Board by Matt Rosendale. Rosendale, Montana’s State Auditor, appointed Stusek to the position of Land Board adviser and director of government affairs. Rosendale is an anti-public lands extremist who said that, other than for post offices and military installations, it violates the Constitution for the federal government to manage and own land. [Independent Record, 12/07/16; The Montana Post, 09/24/18]
Senator Steve Daines Uses The Montana Outdoors Coalition to Sound Like a Steward of Public Lands
Daines Refers to the Montana Outdoors Coalition in a Senate Floor Speech
Daines Refers to the Montana Outdoors Coalition in a Senate Floor Speech on S.47, The Natural Resources Management Act. In discussing his support for the Act, Daines mentions that the Montana Outdoors Coalition supports it. [C-Span, 02/17/19] (01:26:20)
Daines Quotes Dan Stusek in a Press Release. In a press release on the passage of the public lands bill in March, Daines includes a quote from Stusek in his capacity as “Executive Director” of the Montana Outdoors Coalition. Stusek says, “This historic legislation will both open and improve access to federal lands benefitting Montana’s sportsmen and women. We applaud Senator Daines for his leadership on passing this bill that also takes steps to curtail costly frivolous litigation and permanently reauthorizes LWCF. Montana wins, and we thank you.” [Senator Steve Daines, 03/12/19]
The Montana Outdoors Coalition is Registered in Montana but Has Little Online Presence
The Montana Outdoors Coalition is Registered in Montana
The Montana Outdoors Coalition is Registered in Helena, Montana as a Nonprofit. [Montana Online Business Filing System, accessed 08/15/19]
The Montana Outdoors Coalition Has Little Online Presence
The Montana Outdoors Coalition Has a Facebook Page That Has Not Posted Since May. It mostly posts to endorse bipartisan public lands bills, but gives Republicans the credit. It also links to a website that is “currently undergoing scheduled maintenance.” [Facebook, accessed 09/17/19; Montana Outdoors Coalition, accessed 09/17/19]
The Montana Outdoors Coalition Does Not Have a Twitter Account. [Search of Twitter, accessed 08/15/19]
A Senior Fellow and Former President of the Property and Environment Research Center is On the Board of the Montana Outdoors Coalition
A Senior Fellow and Former President of the Property and Environment Research Center is On the Board of the Montana Outdoors Coalition
Terry Anderson, “A Senior Fellow And Former President Of The Property And Environment Research Center…Dedicated To What It Calls ‘Free Market Environmentalism’…Is Also On The Board Of The Montana Outdoors Coalition, Which Has Promoted A Report From A D.C.-Based Dark Money Group Denouncing The Montana Wilderness Association And Others As ‘Green Decoys,’ I.E., Front Groups For ‘Radical’ Environmentalist Agendas.” [Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, 09/11/18]
The Montana Outdoors Coalition Pushes Out-Of-State Dark Money Messages To Attack Conservation Groups
The Montana Outdoors Coalition Published A Report Calling Conservation Groups “Green Decoys,” A Term Coined By Industry Mega-Lobbyist Richard Berman
The Montana Outdoors Coalition Published A Report Called “Green Decoys: Montana In The Crosshairs.” The report alleges that conservation groups “cloak themselves as hunters and anglers to try to attract the support of Montana’s largest—and generally more conservative — voting bloc that might reject messages from openly environmental groups.” [Montana Outdoors Coalition, accessed 10/01/19]
Richard Berman, The Washington, DC Lobbyist Behind “Green Decoys,” is Known for Orchestrating Pro-Industry Campaigns to Fight Regulations. “To Washington insiders he is Dr Evil: the hidden orchestrator of industry campaigns against the Humane Society, Mothers against Drunk Driving, and other seemingly uncontroversial groups. […] Those familiar with Berman say he is a prime example of a new industry strategy of bypassing traditional lobbying organisations, and using thinktanks, foundations, experts, and social media to shape the public conversation and – ultimately – legislation.” [The Guardian, 02/23/15]