Tag Archives: Max Baucus

Ben Lamb: Why the Baucus/Tester wolf delisting bill is the better choice

Commentary, Environmental Issues, , , ,

Ben Lamb had an excellent guest commentary posted to last Wednesday’s New West. He’s lost patience with all the political posturing over wolf management. It’s an entertaining read . . .

The political wrangling over wolves since the latest relisting in August is now in full force. It’s unfortunate that we’ve arrived at a place where the only solution that most Montanans see regarding wolves is political in nature.

Looking back over 100 years of wildlife conservation in the state of Montana, political solutions have rarely helped wildlife. In the past, hunter-conservationists struggled mightily to remove political influence from wildlife management, and we were largely successful. . .

Read the entire article . . .

Montana’s congressional delegation aims to delist wolves

Environmental Issues, News, , , , , , ,

From today’s Flathead Beacon, here’s some more information on the attempt to remove the gray wolf from the Endangered Species List. This write-up includes links to useful external material . . .

Just days after Republican Congressman Denny Rehberg announced that he had drafted legislation that would remove the gray wolf from the Endangered Species List, Montana’s Democratic Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester said they were introducing a similar bill.

Read the full article . . .

Baucus & Tester introduce bill to return wolf management to Montana

Environmental Issues, News, , , ,

Montana’s congresscritters are really jumping on the wolf issue.

A late post to today’s Missoulian . . .

Montana and Idaho could win back state management of gray wolves through legislation offered by senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester late Tuesday.

The state’s two Democratic senators introduced their bill in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg drafted a bill removing wolves from Endangered Species Act protection on Sept. 15, but has not introduced it yet.

Read the full article . . .

XTO Energy releases more North Fork oil and gas leases

Environmental Issues, News, , , ,

From today’s Missoulian . . .

Another 11 oil and gas exploration leases along the west side of Glacier National Park have been voluntarily released, according to Montana Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester.

XTO Energy has decided not to pursue its development options on about 21,000 acres along the North Fork of the Flathead River. That means nearly 79 percent of the area’s oil and gas leases, totaling more than 200,000 acres, have been taken off the table. XTO Energy is a subsidiary of ExxonMobile Corp.

Read the full article . . .

Partnering to protect the Transboundary Flathead watershed

Commentary, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Dave Hadden, director of Headwaters Montana, Robin Steinkraus, executive director of the Flathead Lakers and Will Hammerquist, program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association’s Glacier Field Office have a nice commentary piece in today’s Flathead Beacon . . .

Here in Montana, August brings us the county fair and farm harvests. And this year we also celebrate a harvest of victories for Glacier National Park, the North Fork Flathead River and Flathead Lake. In addition to commemorating Glacier’s first 100 years, citizens from across the Montana-British Columbia border, Gov. Brian Schweitzer, B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell and Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester did yeoman’s work to protect this special place.

Read the full article . . .

North Fork protection nearing completion

Environmental Issues, News, , , , , , ,

Here’s an interesting article from the past week’s Hungry Horse News . . .

A deal to permanently protect the North Fork of the Flathead could come soon, Montana Sen. Jon Tester said last week.

“Maybe as soon as September we could get an agreement that is binding,” Tester said in a conference call with reporters last Thursday.

Read the full article . . .

Mining ban on North Fork federal lands clears Senate committee

Environmental Issues, News, , , , , , , ,

Posted early this morning to the Missoulian’s website . . .

A measure that would ban federal-land mining along Glacier National Park’s western edge has passed a major Senate hurdle, and has been expanded to provide water-quality protections for nearby communities…

…the bill banning future federal mine leases has been expanded from its original to include the watershed upstream of Whitefish Lake, the nearby Haskill Basin drainage, and the wild and scenic Middle Fork Flathead corridor.

Read the full article . . .

Protecting the North Fork must be a team effort

Commentary, Environmental Issues, , , , , ,

Dave Hadden, Executive Director of Headwaters Montana, had a letter to the editor published in today’s Flathead Beacon . . .

The North Fork of the Flathead River (a.k.a. the Transboundary Flathead) continues to play in the news of late. The news media report that Gov. Brian Schweitzer and Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester are at odds over how to best protect our river, Glacier Park and Flathead Lake from upstream industrial activity. While a bit confusing to the reader, we think it’s important to keep the North Fork in the news for one simple reason: Our fabulous North Fork ain’t protected yet.

Read the complete letter . . .

Two more energy companies agree to retire North Fork leases

Environmental Issues, News, , , , , ,

From an Associated Press article posted this afternoon . . .

Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester say two more energy companies have agreed to retire their leases in the North Fork watershed of Montana’s Flathead River.

Louisiana-based Allen and Kirmse, Ltd. will relinquish its interest in 50,889 acres of land in the region, which borders Glacier National Park and extends into British Columbia. Texas-based Anadarko will relinquish its interest in 24,111 acres.

Read the full article . . .