Tag Archives: Jon Tester

More detail available on Tester’s “Forest Jobs & Recreation Act”

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

As mentioned yesterday, Sen. Jon Tester’s “Forest Jobs and Recreation Act” has been rolled into the massive, end-of-year, Senate omnibus appropriations bill. There have been some, fairly minor, revisions to the act– nothing substantive. Neither the act’s supporters or opponents seem willing to predict its chances for passage.

Tester’s forest bill added to Senate appropriations measure

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

Sen. Jon Tester’s “Forest Jobs and Recreation Act” has been stubbed onto one of those end-of-year Senate appropriations bills. The biggest change from the original proposal appears to be the longer and more obscure title. It is now the “Forest Jobs and Restoration Pilot Initiative.” Today’s Missoulian has the story . . .

A revised version of Sen. Jon Tester’s Montana logging and wilderness initiative has been included in a last-minute omnibus appropriations bill before the U.S. Senate.

Tester spokesman Aaron Murphy said on Tuesday the renamed “Forest Jobs and Restoration Pilot Initiative” is essentially the original version of a bill Tester submitted last year as the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act.

Read the full article . . .

BP retires oil and gas leases in and near the North Fork

Environmental Issues, News, , , , , , ,

BP has climbed on the bandwagon, retiring their local oil and gas leases, including “a 394-acre parcel near the Polebridge entrance to Glacier National Park.”

The Missoulian has the story . . .

The oil company BP voluntarily gave up its rights to explore for energy along the western border of Glacier National Park, U.S. Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester announced Friday.

“Permanently protecting the North Fork for our kids and grandkids has been one of my biggest priorities for many years,” Baucus said in a written statement. “Today’s decision by BP is another step toward that goal.”

The deal takes 1,853 acres out of potential exploration. That includes a 394-acre parcel near the Polebridge entrance to Glacier National Park.

Read the full article . . .

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 . . .

Tester discusses setbacks in Forest Jobs and Recreation bill

Environmental Issues, News, ,

From today’s Missoulian, here’s a good overview of the current status of Sen. Jon Tester’s proposed Forest Jobs and Recreation Act. Short version: Still stuck in committee because of debate over the logging mandate . . .

The first questioner at Sen. Jon Tester’s Monday public forum in Missoula wanted to know how the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act was coming along.

Read the full article . . .

Note: See Sen. Tester’s web site for the full text of the current draft of the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act.

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 . . .