President Barack Obama has signed wilderness legislation that preserves large areas of land in the North Fork of the Flathead and on the Rocky Mountain Front.
    
Democratic Sen. John Tester of Montana hailed the legislation as a victory both for Montana and for bipartisanship.
    
The Missoulian reports (http://bit.ly/1GEm9IH ) that Obama signed the measure shortly after Tester met with wild land advocates in the North Fork to celebrate their success.
    
The measures were added as riders to the National Defense Authorization Act. Tester and Sen. John Walsh worked with Senator-elect Steve Daines to include the wilderness designations and six other Montana lands bills in a broader lands package. The legislation passed the Senate last week by a vote of 89 to 11.

MORE>>>NBC Montana