A slate of governors from across the West are set to converge on Whitefish next week to tackle a suite of issues facing the region that transcend state boundaries, including forest management, energy security, the transboundary relationship with Canada, infrastructure, microbreweries, and more.
A veritable who’s-who of state leaders, outdoor industry officials, business owners, energy experts, political consultants, and technology innovators will participate in roundtable discussions, while keynote speakers include Academy Award-winning actor Jeff Bridges, a part-time Montana resident and advocate for ending child hunger.
Other well-known speakers include Frank Luntz, a political consultant known as the “Focus Group Czar” who frequently appears as a commentator on Fox News, and Conrad Anker, a renowned mountaineer who lives in Bozeman and has summited the world’s highest mountains.
Montana’s Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock is the current chair of the Western Governors’ Association, which also met in Whitefish in 2010. The association includes the governors of 19 western states, along with governors from the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands and Guam.
Established in 1984 through the merger of two governors’ organizations, the Western Governors’ Association aims to help top Western state leaders with bipartisan policy development and information exchange, and is an avenue for collective action on critical issues.
The goal of the association, which also invites Canadian premiers to its annual conferences, is to advance the role of Western states in the federal system, address important policy and governance issues in the West, and strengthen social and economic ties.
The West continues to gain prominent standing in the national economic conversation as its economy evolves, and the pace of its change has prompted a paradigm shift in assumptions and policies tailored to serving the needs of future generations.
How does the region encourage economic prosperity while ensuring that future generations are provided with similar opportunities?
That question and others will be considered by state leaders who hail from far and wide, from the Desert Southwest to the Colorado River Basin to the northern Rocky Mountains.
So far, 11 Western governors have confirmed they’ll attend, including Dennis Daugaard, of South Dakota; Bill Walker, of Alaska; John Hickenlooper, of Colorado; David Ige, of Hawaii; Butch Otter, of Idaho; Brian Sandoval, of Nevada; Doug Burgum, of North Dakota; Ralph Torres, of the Northern Mariana Islands; Gary Herbert, of Utah; and Matt Mead, of Wyoming.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, a Whitefish native and the first Montanan to serve in a presidential cabinet, will deliver a keynote address and lead a public conversation with the governors about public land management, open spaces and natural resource development.
As the only state to share a border with three Canadian provinces — British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan — Montana is a unique setting to host the annual meeting, which will include a session on the transboundary relationship with the state’s neighbors to the north, set to take place one week before Canada’s 150th anniversary celebration.
Canadian premiers Brad Wall, of Saskatchewan, and Brian Pallister, of Manitoba, will be on hand for the discussion.
Click here to view the agenda.
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