Fight of Our Lives
Dear friends,
I want to take a second to explain my delay in corresponding—I have been overwhelmed by everything happening all at once. Of course, I expected Trump to come in with a firehose, but I guess I didn’t fully appreciate the weight of dread and sorrow that came with it. I’ve had anxiety. I haven’t been eating much. And my sleep is hit or miss. I know you all can relate to this, and I’m really sorry. My friend Reverend Peter Matthews beautifully captures a collective anguish and anger in his most recent dispatch of The Urban Budda.
Old high school pals, Reverend Peter Matthews and Betsy Gaines Quammen
But today, maybe something has shifted and I sat down to offer my thoughts in a way that I’ve felt too overwhelmed to share for the past couple of weeks.
This morning, I went into the gym with two kickass women and worked out until I was limp. Yesterday, I had breakfast with one of my favorite humans, who owns a bookstore in Helena with their wife, and I realized midway through the conversation that in those moments I was focused on joy, not lost in a disorienting fog. The night before, too, I’d had the opportunity to hang out with the all-women staff of the Montana Conservation Voters and a big crowd of public lands supporters, a handful of state legislators, and some amazing climate activists. I had come up to Helena to help rally this crowd as we face federal layoffs that could lead to public land liquidation efforts. It was a task I wasn’t sure I would be able to accomplish. But I remembered that we are all in this fight together and together we are strong. We are a constellation. We are a coalition. We are the frontlines.
Here is an excerpt from my talk:
Our lands are in jeopardy. They are at stake because of lies about cutting taxes and defunding public services as a way to save money. Journalist Anne Helen Petersen talks about the ongoing “patchwork of public-private solutions to make stuff [public works] sort of work” – of course she’s referring to the ongoing whittling away of what truly makes America great, from our arts to our schools, our libraries to our outdoors. We’ve been told that privatization will improve our lives. It’s a lie. We know that fewer taxes and more layoffs do not make our lives better. We know that the people who care for public lands are far more valuable than the tiny fraction allocated in our national budget to their salaries. We know that the work of biologists, rangers, and firefighters is not expendable, nor are our forests, parks, and monuments. We are being lied to. As Oglala artist and poet Layli Long Soldier said, ‘I don’t trust nobody but the land.’
This is not a new fight. We’ve seen ongoing Native resistance and the success of Bears Ears National Monument. We’ve seen mighty legal battles and protests against the Sagebrush Rebellion, the Wise Use movement, and the pushes states have launched to seize federal lands, most recently thwarted when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Utah's lawsuit seeking to take over 18.5 million acres of federally controlled public land. We’ve seen victories again and again, not just because of legal arguments, but because of moral clarity. We keep winning because we understand these lands are not just for us; they’re for generations to come.
We are a constellation of resistance. We are the voices rising in defense of this land. All of us here who cherish and depend on public lands. We will stand together in Montana—hunters, anglers, ranchers, Native peoples, conservationists, artists, families, and adventurers—to protect these lands. They are not just for a select few rich people or for endless extraction. They are ours, our children’s, and our children’s children’s. With our constellation of perspectives on how we view these lands, we will be united in our passion and in our determination to fight. This is a dark time. Let us be Orion and shine so very brightly together to defend our common ground.
Someone wrote Layli Long Soldier’s quote on a piece of wood at the Montana Conservation Voter’s event
What I said up in Helena, quoted above, focused on what’s happening across the West. I was thinking about the massive layoffs of federal land staff and the precariousness our lands now face. I was inspired by this incredible piece, How We Fall Out of Love With the World, by Anne Helen Petersen, whom I often refer to in my newsletter. I was also very concerned over a piece by Mark Haggerty and Jenny Roland Shea, Trump Quietly Plans To Liquidate Public Lands To Finance His Sovereign Wealth Fund, in American Progress, which states:
“On February 3, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to create a sovereign wealth fund (SWF), saying the United States will have one of the largest funds in the world. That requires raising trillions of dollars very quickly. For context, Norway’s fund is currently worth $1.8 trillion U.S. dollars. Sovereign wealth funds are typically financed with surplus revenue from trade or natural resource development. Given that the United States is roughly $36 trillion in debt, experts question where the money would come from. The Trump administration seems to be signaling that selling out and selling off the nation’s public lands to the highest bidder might provide the necessary funding. Selling federal public lands would turn America’s treasured places into a financial asset for the Trump administration without the need for surplus revenue, making it a potentially enticing idea for the administration.”
I wrote my speech for the Montana Conservation Voters the day before Donald Trump and JD Vance shamelessly berated President Zelenskyy, a man who has bravely fought a brutal war for three years, defending Ukraine against Putin’s aggression. In one moment of performative television, Trump undermined the sacrifice my grandfather and so many others gave to this country during WWII and flipped off our treasured allies. Trump further—I’ll offer this with the complete recognition that American history is deeply fraught—changed what it means to be an American.
And so, here we are. I appreciate the analysis of David Frum in At Least We Know the Truth, in The Atlantic. He wrote, “Trump and Vance have revealed to Americans and to America’s allies their alignment with Russia, and their animosity toward Ukraine in general and its president in particular. The truth is ugly, but it’s necessary to face it.” We’ve known, and now we really know.
Rally at the state capitol for public lands and federal workers
I’ve promised to share what I am personally doing. Simple stuff. I’m writing, and that really helps. I’m getting outside, being with friends, and reading all that I can—substacks, articles, research materials and even fiction, like Kevin Barry’s The Heart in Winter, set in Butte, MT. I’m loving my family, my animals, and the land. Also, I’m networking with amazing people who are fighting on local, regional, and national levels.
In Bozeman, I’ve joined a group of equally concerned people who are gathering together frequently. All have volunteered to take one or two topics, follow them, and report back on actions we collectively can take. These include trans bills, DEI initiatives, attacks on public lands, education, climate issues, immigration, free press, housing, federal layoffs, federal lawsuits, social security and Medicaid, reproductive rights, veterans’ issues, Gaza, Ukraine, and voter suppression efforts. The Trump administration is going after everything all at once, so we are focusing on just the topics we can capably follow, then providing info for the group to act as a whole. Anyone who is interested in connecting to this group, active in Bozeman, let me know.
I’m also networking with activists in Idaho who are working to support Teresa Borrenpohl. She’s the woman who was violently pulled out of a public Kootenai County Republicans meeting, after she raised the subject of women’s health. If you’re in Idaho, connect with Idaho 97%ers Alicia Abbott or Mike Satz on Bluesky or sign up for Political Potatoes, a group of Idaho Republicans fighting corruption in their party.
I’m on Signal with other Montana state activists, discussing actions, articles and issues. I’m joining as many conservation and human rights groups as I can afford. I’m making sure I’m firmly embedded in a community and that I’m not letting myself succumb to despair. We just cannot. Here is a great read from Pam Houston to harden your resolve, Postcard from Senja.
I’ve recently taken a community organizing class with the great Garrett Bucks and Barnraiser. The class is free. I also highly recommend Garrett’s newsletter—it’s incredible. I also attended a rally for public lands in Helena. I think we are just beginning to see protests grow, and I predict they will get bigger—and potentially violent, which we don’t want—by this summer. Be careful and know your rights.
Finally, I'm feeling better, not because I know everything will be okay, but because I know, without question, what I need to do. This is a fight for everything that I love and I'm laser-focused, unwaveringly, on my own duty.
Upcoming actions:
“No Kings Day” protest organized by https://indivisible.org: click link to find details for actions near you. March 4, 2025
In solidarity and with love,
Betsy