Tim Sheehy, a decorated military veteran who Republicans are recruiting to take on Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) in 2024, is a newfound rancher who says he prefers Montanas tough farm country and laments that many of the states scenic valleys have gone the way of luxury resorts and subdivisions.

But Sheehy is more wealthy businessman than rugged cattleman, with thousands of acres of land and multimillion-dollar properties on Flathead Lake and in the lavish resort community of Big Sky. A Minnesota native, his Montana roots are still relatively young something that can create headaches when running for public office in Big Sky Country.

Sheehy told HuffPost via email that he and wife Carmen Sheehy, a Marine veteran, are fortunate to have successful businesses that employ hundreds of Montanans and proud to reinvest those earnings back into our community through new business ventures, real estate investments and charitable organizations.

He declined to comment on the upcoming U.S. Senate race, telling HuffPost that he and his family have not made a decision about whether he will run. But Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), who chairs the powerful National Republican Senatorial Committee, is among a growing list of Republicans encouraging him to throw his name in the hat, as Axios reported in March.

Weve put a lot on the line for the country, Tim Sheehy said of he and his wife in a recent interview with Montana Talks radio show. Were being asked again to consider serving, and were certainly considering it.

If Sheehy decides to run and is victorious in what is likely to prove a competitive Republican primary, he would square off against Tester, a third-generation Montana farmer who in February announced he will seek a fourth term in the senate. Sheehy has been in touch with former President Donald Trump about his interest in the race, according to Axios.

A former Army Ranger and Navy SEAL, Sheehy deployed multiple times to the Middle East and is a recipient of Purple Heart and Bronze Star. In 2014, upon retiring from the Navy, he moved his family to Montana and founded Bridger Aerospace, a Bozeman-based aerial firefighting company, and its affiliate Ascent Vision Technologies, which developed surveillance and imaging systems for the defense and aerospace industries. CACI International acquired AVT in 2020 for $350 million.

That same year, Sheehy waded into the ranching business a move that could play well in a future run against Tester, the only working farmer in the Senate and considered one of the most vulnerable Democrats in Congress.

In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sheehys purchased three contiguous ranches in Martinsdale, Montana and, with the help of Tims friend and fellow former Navy SEAL Greg Putnam, started the Little Belt Cattle Company. Today, the company actively ranches approximately 30,000 private and leased acres and owns 2,000 cattle, Sheehy said, with a focus on regenerative ranching practices.

Our mission is to have the ability to feed, process and deliver sustainably raised USDA certified beef right here in Montana, Sheehy said, referring to the Department of Agriculture. I am proud to be supporting the Montana AG [agriculture] community by forging alternate paths to market for our ranchers and their products.

In 2020, Sheehy partnered with Montana Land Reliance, a nonprofit land trust, to protect his privately owned ranch lands, over 6,000 acres, under a single conservation easement. He said that while his day job is aerial firefighting, he is involved in day-to-day ranching activities with his wife and four children.