A Montana nonprofit founded by state Democrats launched an attack ad against Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) this week over his support for a border security bill.

The Montana Hunters and Anglers Action, established just a few weeks ago according to records maintained by the Montana Secretary of State, posted the ad to its YouTube account Monday along with a statement. The account does not include any other videos.

The MHAA video, which is airing in two Montana media markets, features individuals participating in various activities -- fishing, hunting, riding an ATV -- with duct tape over their mouths. The ad alleges the border security bill would grant the Homeland Security Department total control over "millions of acres of Montana public lands." It urges viewers to contact Rehberg -- who is challenging Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) next year -- and also links to a website, NoRehbergLandGrab.org.

The subject of the video is a border security bill sponsored by Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) that would allow the Department of Homeland Security to waive roughly three dozen environmental laws -- including the Wilderness Act, National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act -- if it enhances national security on public lands within 100 miles of the Mexican and Canadian borders.

The authority only applies to Interior and Agriculture department lands and may only be used for constructing and maintaining patrol roads; constructing fences; patrol vehicles; installing, maintaining and operating surveillance equipment and sensors; using aircraft; and deploying temporary tactical infrastructure, including forward operating bases. For Montanans, those lands include Glacier National Park, a wildlife refuge, five American Indian reservations and Bureau of Land Management-administered grazing parcels.

The House Natural Resources Committee passed the bill last month on a party-line vote (Greenwire, Oct. 5). Rehberg has defended the measure as necessary.

"This bill is about ending a dangerous turf war being waged between various federal government agencies," he said in a statement. "And it's a turf war that is threatening America's national security. The simple idea of the bill is to provide the Border Patrol with the same access on federal land that it currently has on state and private land. There is nothing about this bill that creates any new authority to intrude into the lives of Americans."

Rehberg also sought an amendment to the bill, which was approved by the Natural Resources Committee, to ensure the measure does not restrict "legal uses, such as grazing, hunting or mining on the land."

"Montanans know I'm committed to making sure families are protected from terrorism, crime and the harmful impacts of illegal immigration. They also know I'm committed to the protection of their private property rights and public access to federal lands," Rehberg said. "There is nothing in this bill that pits those against each other. This legislation is simply about making sure that the Border Patrol has the same critical access to do its important job on federal lands as it has on non-federal lands. Bureaucratic turf wars should never be allowed to put Montanans at risk."

According to the Montana Hunters and Anglers Action's website, the group's leadership includes Land Tawney, who also serves as the National Wildlife Federation's senior manager for sportsmen leadership; state Sen. Kendall Van Dyk (D); Barrett Kaiser, a former aide to Sen. Max Baucus (D) and now principal at Hilltop Public Solutions; and George Cooper, former CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and now a senior vice president at Cauthen Forbes & Williams.

Federal Election Commission records show Kaiser has donated $3,600 to Tester's campaigns since 2006 and Cooper donated $2,500 this year.

Both Tawney and Van Dyk were tapped in 2008 as Montana Sportsmen for Obama, and Tester, who serves as chairman of the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus, named Tawney to his Montana Sportsmen's Advisory Panel in February.

"We saw this bill introduced back in April and saw how troublesome it was at that point, and there's been an appropriate kind of grass-roots response, but once it passed the House Natural Resources Committee ... it became way more real," said Tawney, MHAA's president, in an interview last night.

Asked about the group's heavily Democratic makeup and its criticism of a Republican lawmaker, Tawney said: "On this issue it doesn't matter if you're a Democrat or a Republican ... our public lands are sacred in Montana."

Tawney said the ad buy, which is airing in the Missoula and Billings markets for three weeks, cost more than $200,000.

Stewardship of public lands is playing out as a major issue in the the Montana Senate race, where Rehberg hopes to unseat Tester. Tester won election to the Senate in 2006 by narrowly ousting then-Sen. Conrad Burns (R).

Tester raised $1.2 million between June 1 and Sept. 30, and Rehberg took in less than $700,000. The incumbent had $3 million in the bank to the challenger's $1.8 million.

Reporter Phil Taylor contributed.