Republican governor wins in Montana, raising fears for beloved wilderness

Greg Gianforte, who pleaded guilty to assaulting a Guardian reporter, has previously tried to strip environmental protections

Admirers of national parks and world-class trout streams in the state of Montana have expressed alarm over the election of a new Republican governor and his environmental plans.

The governor, former software developer Greg Gianforte, has in the past sought to strip protections from 700,000 acres of wilderness, and his conservative Montana Comeback Plan" election platform promises to streamline" permitting processes to increase logging, coalmining, and oil and gas production.