TEA Party Congressman Dennis Rehberg is taking some serious incoming for his bill to give the Department of Homeland Security the authority to seize control of any federal lands within 100 miles of the border.  It was called “ridiculous” yesterday by the New York Times–and worse things by hunters and anglers who have unleashed a full scale campaign to stop Rehberg’s bill from becoming law. 

This week, they’ve put an ad up statewide. Here’s the ad:

Now, Montana’s top law enforcement official, Attorney General Steve Bullock, is pressuring pressuring Congress to shelve the bill. In a letter (PDF here) to Speaker John Boehner and Senator Harry Reid, Bullock writes: 

“The language of this proposed bill rightfully reminds many Montanans of the REAL ID Act. That legislation–which would have mandated federal ID cards to board airplanes and enter courthouses–was unanimously opposed by the Montana Legislature, and as a state we’ve refused to implement it.  Twenty-four other states have followed in our footsteps and opted out of the program.

Our opposition to REAL ID–not unlike the opposition of many Montanans to HR 1505–is not a statement that we do not take the security of our country seriously, rather the opposite.  (Montana has a higher rate of military service than nearly any other state in the country.)  What our opposition to these federal measures does represent is a reverence for the rights protected in our Constitution and a recognition that federal authorities working with, rather than around, local law enforcement and land owners have a better chance for success.”