Montana Conservation Voters Review Successes, Failures from 2009 Session

By Dan Testa, Flathead Beacon, 5-03-09

While no special interest group, whether left-leaning or right-leaning ever emerges from a Legislature declaring total victory or total defeat, the dismal state of the economy and a number of bills aimed at expediting natural resource development by rolling back certain environmental regulations made for a tough 90 days when it came to conservation issues, says Ryan Busse, the vice chairman of the state board of the Montana Conservation Voters.

“There were some really unveiled, outright, right-at-the-heart attacks on environmental and conservation measures,” Busse said. “Several of these bills presented this kind of false choice of ‘it’s either jobs or it’s environmental protection’.”

The Flathead County chapter of the Montana Conservation Voters held a small town hall meeting Thursday night to review the successes and failures of the recently adjourned legislative session. Rep. Cheryl Steenson, D-Kalispell and Sen. Bruce Tutvedt, R-Kalispell were present at the meeting to explain which bills they helped pass.

Among the successes MCV enjoyed was some $15 million in federal stimulus money allocated for improving energy efficiency standards in Montana schools, and a landmark stream access bill setting into state law how recreationists can access waterways from bridges. The so-called “Big Sky Rivers Act,” which would have enacted streamside setback regulations on several of Montana’s largest rivers failed to pass, however, though Busse said the amount if support it garnered boded well for similar measures in future sessions.

But a good many bills opposed by the MCV made it through, including a bill allowing hydroelectric dams to receive renewable energy credits for upgrades, and others that limit citizen review and appeals of applications for energy development permits. Schweitzer may yet veto some of these measures.

Tutvedt, while not exactly in friendly territory, did take credit for helping to shoot down a bill that would have voided the state’s wolf management plan that might have delayed federal delisting. Steenson, meanwhile, lauded the energy efficiency standards for schools.

In the next few days, MCV plans to release a legislative scorecard, rating lawmakers on their conservation voting record in the 2009 session.

This story originally appeared at FlatheadBeacon.com.

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