NBC News: Sheehy's "not a rancher — he’s a dude rancher"

Today, NBC News published a new report exploring Tim Sheehy’s problematic cattle ranch and Montanans’ overwhelming concerns that Sheehy doesn’t understand, and directly threatens, Montana values.

Tim Sheehy’s cattle ranch, Little Belt Cattle Company, flouts a common Montana practice by refusing to let hunters utilize the land free of charge. Instead, they use imagery evoking the controversial TV show Yellowstone to draw in out-of-staters who can afford to pay $12,500 for a 5-day “first-class” vacation.

This is just the latest exposé detailing how Sheehy is out of touch with Montanans. As a reminder, Sheehy has already come out in support for privatizing public lands, privatizing all health care, and dismantling the Department of Homeland Security.

And that’s not to mention his shady China ties, his business in the Cayman Islands, or the remaining questions over how he received a bullet in his arm – questions he refuses to answer by simply releasing his medical records.

Click here to read the full story on Tim Sheehy’s cattle ranch, or see below for key excerpts:

• “Super wealthy folks are buying huge tracts of land and turning Montana and other Western states into a playground for the rich,” Noah Marion, political and state policy director for Wild Montana Action Fund

• In the University of Montana’s recent 2024 Voter Survey on Public Land, 47% of voters described “clean water, clean air, open spaces and public lands” as “very important” and “a primary factor” when deciding which candidates to support. Another 36% said these concerns are among several that will factor into their vote. 

• “Pay-hunting is kind of gross,” said Matt Rinella, a research ecologist and founder of Hunt Quietly, a group that opposes the “hyper-commercialization” of hunting and recreation. “I have ‘Trespassing Allowed’ signs on my property, just to give you a sense of how important this stuff is to me.”

• The listing promised a “premier destination for hunters or folks just seeking a taste of the hard work, commitment and care that characterizes life on the ranch” and “all the comforts of a first-class vacation.”

• At one point in 2022, Little Belt offered LandTrust’s “most spendy package currently available in Montana” — “a 5-day, 5-person archery hunt … which runs $12,500,” according to the Montana Free Press.

• “People who can’t pay $12,000 a head are losing access to these special places,” said Marion, of the Wild Montana Action Fund. “And they’re left with fewer places to go and fewer animals to hunt on public lands.”

• One Facebook post from 2021 shows Tim Sheehy clad in a cattle ranch cowboy hat while holding a Coors Banquet, the official beer of the “Yellowstone” TV series, which tells the story of a fictional ranch-owning family in Montana.

• “He’s not a rancher — he’s a dude rancher”