Sam Forstag

Sam Forstag is a smokejumper and union leader running to represent Montana’s first Congressional District.

After working his way through school at the University of Montana, he went to work for the Forest Service, where he climbed the ranks to become a smokejumper — a firefighter who parachutes into remote areas to stop fires before they grow. While serving as Vice President of the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) Local 60, Forstag spearheaded the effort to unionize Montana's last non-unionized forest by organizing Forest Service workers across the Custer-Gallatin National Forest.