S. 2206, sponsored by Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), would remove protection from nearly 450,000 acres (over 180,000 hectares) of national forest land in Montana. The lands have been protected for nearly 40 years as wilderness study areas; they include elk habitat and blue-ribbon trout streams and protect community watersheds. Removing protection would open the land to private developers for activities such as mining, logging and fossil fuel extraction.