In a recent article, Montana’s Republican Attorney General nominee Austin Knudsen likened the American Legion Park dedicated to World War II veterans to his own personal “backyard.”

Knudsen is currently being sued by Montana veterans for blocking access to the only road with access to the American Legion Park in Culbertson – near his family ranch.

Montana has the fourth highest percentage of veterans living in the state at 10.2% of the population. Last month, DAGA launched a video series featuring Montana veterans calling out Austin Knudsen for his harmful public lands policy and his anti-veteran stance.

• Spencer Keck, a Combat Corpsman who served in the Persian Gulf War and Afghanistan said, “It angers me that Austin Knudsen is blocking access to veterans and their families [to] the American Legion Park in Culbertson.”
• John Tarr, a retired military officer and former commander said, Austin Knudsen’s “moral compass is off. He’s denying access to veterans in his own community to a park dedicated to World War II veterans. This is just wrong.”
• John BowenHollow, a retired Navy Seal and Purple Heart recipient who served in Vietnam said, Austin Knudsen “blocking access to land owned by the American Legion on the Missouri [River] is un-American. It’s not good for veterans because it diminishes their dignity.”

Austin Knudsen’s dangerous anti-public lands record is well documented and forecasts the kind of policies he would support as Attorney General. Austin Knudsen wants to sell and cut off public access to sacred Montana public land. Knudsen voted to cut access to land used for hunting and recreation and he believes in privatizing federally protected land. If Austin Knudsen has his way, he’d treat Montana’s public lands like his own private property—or in his word’s “my backyard” – ready to sell it off to the highest bidder.

In stark contrast, Democrat Raph Graybill has released a detailed plan on how he would use the office of Attorney General to protect access to public lands.