"STATEWIDE WILDERNESS BILL" COMING SOON

Tester Ready to Test Political Waters on Wilderness Issue

After 26 years, will this be the year Montana breaks the Wilderness Drought?

Perhaps. Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) and his staff are working hard with stakeholders right now and preparing to introduce a bill that combines aspects of three collaborative efforts that could loosely be defined as a statewide wilderness bill, but it probably will not have the word "wilderness" in the title.

From the Missoulian

Tom Tidwell is New Forest Service Chief

The new Chief of the U.S. Forest Service will be Tom Tidwell, the Region 1 Forest Supervisor, according to a Missoulian news story by reporter Rob Chaney.

In February 2007, the U.S. Forest Service promoted Tidwell to regional forester for the Northern Region, which includes more than 25 million acres of public land in Montana, Idaho and North Dakota. Prior to the promotion, Tidwell had been deputy regional forester in the Pacific Southwest Region.

A Victory for Libby

Long Time Coming: EPA Declares Public Health Emergency in Libby

Nearly 10 years after government cleanup crews first arrived to deal with asbestos contamination that has killed hundreds of people, the EPA has announced that a public health emergency exists in Libby, Montana.

The declaration -- the first of its kind -- was made today by EPA administrator Lisa Jackson at a joint press conference with Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Montana Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester. 

The announcement acknowledges the dire medical needs of Libby area residents, who are suffering an epidemic of asbestos-related diseases. Libby residents die from asbestosis, a scarring of the lungs, at a rate 40 to 80 times normal, according to government studies.

The public health emergency declaration paves the way for medical assistance money to arrive in Lincoln County for Libby and nearby Troy. The EPA, in connection with the Department of Health and Human Services, announced it will provide a short-term grant to the area to help provide asbestos-related medical assistance for screening, diagnostic and treatment services.

Crisis of Care

Rising Child Abuse Fills Shelter, Leaves Kids With No Haven

The calls come at 3 a.m., or at all hours in tough times like these. Fran Albrecht picks up the phone, and her heart sinks at what she hears.

Kids need help, the police tell Albrecht, the director of the Watson Children’s Shelter. The children’s parents were arrested during a drug bust. Or their father beat up their mother. Or the kids have been abused or abandoned.

“Do you have an opening?” the authorities ask Albrecht, whose 16-bed emergency shelter in Missoula is the only one of its kind for abused and neglected children in Western Montana.

“No,” Albrecht has to say, because she has no choice--her shelter is full. “No, we don’t have an opening.”

GAME OVER, FINALLY, GUN GUYS WIN

Political Irony Reigns as President Obama Signs “MasterBlaster Bill”

I suppose I should let it go, but nobody else does, so why should I?

This is my third column about the now-infamous administrative rule to allow loaded, concealed firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges (links at end of column). The rule evolved into a symbolic and high priority political battle, and both pro-gun and anti-gun groups seized on it as a way to find out who had the power.

And now we know. The gun lobby wins, easily, which is no surprise to me.

From the Flathead Beacon

Single-Payer Advocates Ambush Baucus in Washington, D.C.

With cameras in hand, advocates for single-payer health care ambushed U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., last week. Led by Russell Mokhiber of singlepayeraction.org, activists followed Baucus down an alley near the Kaiser Family Foundation in downtown Washington, D.C., yelling questions as he was pulling into the building.

From the Flathead Beacon

Baucus Announces $6 Million Libby Health Care Grant

Two weeks after a federal jury acquitted W.R. Grace & Co. and three executives on criminal charges that they knowingly exposed residents in Libby to deadly asbestos, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., announced what he calls a “breath of fresh air” for the northwest Montana town: a $6 million grant from the Department of Health and Human Services to provide health care for residents stricken with asbestos-related diseases.

Guest Column

Montana Property Rights, Traditions Need Protection

Some segments of state and local government, and myriad private special interest groups, are pushing agendas that are having a very negative impact on how we can use our property. And the impacts just aren’t on big farmers and ranchers -- homeowners are finding themselves under attack as well.

WILDEST BILL ON THE HILL ADVANCES

House Holds Hearing on Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act

UPDATE, May 21, 2009:

The 111th Congress will take a close look at the so-called "Wildest Bill on the Hill," the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (NREPA), starting with a hearing in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The House Natural Resources Committee announced today that its subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands will hold the hearing on May 5, 2009. NREPA also had a hearing in the same subcommittee early in the 110th Congress, but the bill never made it to the floor for a vote.