WASHINGTON - Saying he doesn't support putting a padlock on Montana's hunting, fishing and recreation lands, Montana Sen. Max Baucus Monday came out swinging against a Bush Administration proposal to sell off more than 300,000 acres of public lands.

"This plan is dead in the water as long as I'm in the U.S. Senate," Baucus said. "Our public lands shouldn't be sold off to the highest bidder. We should be looking at ways to boost access to hunting and fishing lands, not at ways to put more padlocks on more gates."

Baucus is taking issue with a proposal outlined in President Bush's fiscal year 2007 budget proposal to sell off more than 14,000 acres of public land in Montana to pay for the Secure Rural Schools Act, which provides payments to counties for timber-related sales. Baucus supports extending the program, which he helped establish in 2000, but not by selling off public lands.

Baucus sponsored an amendment to the act that lets counties choose between a steady payment or receiving 25 percent of its timber receipts, which have declined in recent years. At the time, Baucus said Montana would get at least $7 million more per year under the program. The 2000-enacted Rural Schools program is set to expire or "sunset" this year. Baucus has co-sponsored legislation to fund the program for seven more years without selling public lands.

Last year the program received $403 million nationally. The Bush Administration's plan would slash that funding to about $800 million over the next five-year period.

"The merits of the Secure Rural Schools program are not in question," said Baucus, Montana's senior U.S. Senator. "The proposal to sell off public lands is."

The proposal will be debated as part of the fiscal year 2007 budget.