Terry Zink, 57, of northwest Montana, is a third-generation houndsman and small business owner who makes his living tracking big game like mountain lions and bears, according to Politico.
He also runs an archery target company, and his livelihood has long depended on access to public lands for both work and way of life. He’s spent decades relying on access to public lands not just for sport, but for survival.
“You won’t meet anyone more conservative than me, and I didn’t vote for this,” said Zink.
Despite supporting President Donald Trump, Zink is among many rural Montanans outraged by sweeping cuts made under the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
Federal Jobs Slashed, But Spending Still Climbs
The agency, briefly run by Elon Musk in early 2025, was tasked with slashing the federal workforce and government spending.
While DOGE successfully reduced staffing by over 270,000 positions, the largest peacetime workforce reduction in U.S. history, government outlays still increased nearly 6% this year, jumping from $7.135 trillion to $7.558 trillion, according to the Brookings Institution.
Those cuts, aimed at trimming what Musk called “entirely wasteful” spending, hit federal public lands agencies especially hard.
Montana communities that rely on those agencies for jobs, conservation work, and access to land are now feeling the consequences.
Hunters and Ranchers Feel the Strain
“We have to listen to our wildlife biologists. We have to be strong advocates for those people,” Zink said.
He and other hunters have already seen trail crews laid off, forcing them to clear their own access paths during hunting season.
He worries about what happens next, especially with scientists also being let go.
Montana, a state Trump carried by nearly 20 points in 2024, saw its political landscape turn fully red for the first time in a century.
But here, public lands are not a partisan issue. A 2024 poll found 95% of Montanans visited public lands that year, and over 70% of Republican respondents said conservation issues influenced their vote.
Cuts Disrupt Conservation and Water Programs
For ranchers like Denny Iverson in the Blackfoot River Valley, the impact is financial and deeply personal.
“I’m worried about what this means in the long term, what it’s going to look like in the future,” said Iverson, 67, who relies on federal grazing allotments and collaborative conservation programs, according to Politico.
His ranch lost access to millions in federal funds meant for drought mitigation, irrigation, and wildfire prevention when DOGE froze agency accounts earlier this year.
While some funds have since been restored following pressure from landowners, Iverson says the unpredictability is unsustainable.
“My hay production was at 60% this year. We’re in a terrible drought, and getting assistance with that will be slow to come.”
Trump’s 2026 budget proposes even deeper cuts, including to the WaterSMART program, which helps Western states manage water.
Meanwhile, the U.S. House recently voted to toss out years of land use planning developed with input from ranchers, tribes, and local communities.
Montana Republicans Troy Downing and Ryan Zinke supported the move.
Foresters, Outfitters, and Local Crews Left Hanging
Foresters and outfitters are also scrambling.
One contractor in western Montana, who requested anonymity to protect his business, said he lost a month of income and was unable to pay his employees after the DOGE cuts halted his wildfire mitigation work.
“I started in 1985, and I’m 57 now. I realized pretty early on, you’re not going to get rich. I just love to be in the woods. It gets into your blood,” he said. Now, that way of life feels at risk.
Missoula County Commissioner Juanita Vero, who also helps run her family’s E Bar L Guest Ranch, said the staffing cuts under DOGE disrupted conservation work across her community.
“A lot of these guys were on a payment plan for buying equipment, ready to do this contracted work, and funds are frozen, and they can’t do their work. They don’t have a cushion,” Vero said.
Musk’s Exit and Ongoing Fallout
Elon Musk, who left DOGE in May, has acknowledged the limits of his effort. In a podcast interview earlier this month, he said the agency had been “a little bit successful” and that he wouldn’t want to run it again.
Despite the spending cuts at some agencies, USAID was dismantled and folded into the State Department, and the FCC saw its budget slashed by two-thirds.
Broader federal spending rose, largely due to increases in Social Security payments, interest on the national debt, and defense spending.
According to the Cato Institute, “DOGE failed to cut spending because most federal spending was for entitlement programs.”
A Rural Backlash Is Brewing
Back in Marion, Zink doesn’t see any of that as justification.
“Both the rich and the poor get to use public lands. I believe every piece of public land in the West should be able to be accessed by public land hunters. The wildlife belongs to we the people,” he said.
That sentiment is shared across party lines in Montana, where outdoor recreation, grazing, timber and outfitting are not just pastimes but economic lifelines.
Many residents say they’re open to smarter government but fear DOGE went after the wrong targets.
“If we get poked too hard on this, they’re going to get primaried and voted out,” Zink warned.
Whether that happens in 2026 remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: in Montana, cutting public lands staff to the bone has stirred up a backlash, even from those who helped put Trump back in the White House.
“For me, it’s about, what are they doing for Montana? Are they advocating for conservation and farmers and ranchers, and the things I really care about?” Iverson said.
Montanans may not agree on every issue, but when it comes to protecting public lands, they’re watching closely and ready to make their voices heard.