He also said over the next week, Quinn and others will decide how to handle pressures from potential tourists coming to Montana this summer.

"Recognizing that we can control our destiny to a certain degree, but also recognizing when you talk about an industry that's been hit, the tourism industry has been significantly hit," Bullock said. "So as we look at phased re-opening that's part of how we can be most protective, but how we can also make sure people can have their livelihoods."

In a tele-townhall before Friday's announcement from the governor, Montana’s Republican U.S. Sen Steve Daines called for “safely reopening Montana’s economy.”

“Unemployment is skyrocketing. We’ve never seen this kind of job loss," Daines said. "Small businesses are closing their doors and owners are wondering if they’re going to have to let hard-working employees go. The spread of the virus and transmission is slowing. New cases are declining, and there’s now a much higher percentage of negative cases compared to positive cases (in terms of test results).”

Daines said half of Montana counties don’t have a single confirmed case, and two-thirds of Montana counties have either one case or zero.