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Considering the West

A breakdown of key issues discussed at the 2017 Western Governors’ Association conference in Whitefish

By Tristan Scott
U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell, center, listens to discussion regarding forest and rangeland management during the Western Governors' Association annual meeting in Whitefish on June 27, 2017. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon

As the evolving Western United States continues to make gains in national policy conversations, the region’s top leaders sat down in the Flathead to grapple with critical issues that are defining the course of our future.

With the aim of unpacking a host of challenges that lie ahead and exploring opportunities for smart growth, a bipartisan group of governors from across the West gathered in Whitefish for three days last week, engaging in round-table discussions on initiatives surrounding forest management, endangered species, child hunger, energy development, public land stewardship, infrastructure, and more.

Showing off a bumper sticker that read “Bipartisanship Happens,” Montana’s Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock, the WGA’s outgoing chairman and one of six Democrats on the 22-member association, kicked off the meeting with a sentiment that he hoped would promote productive discussions and future collaboration.

Here is a roundup of the conversations and initiatives that emerged during the conference:

Forest Management

Bullock presented his National Forest and Rangeland Management Initiative during a discussion that featured U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell, who said catastrophic wildfires have consumed millions of acres of forest, as well as his agency’s budget.

Tidwell also said collaborative working groups that help inform timber projects by bringing multiple stakeholders to the table can be fruitful, but litigation can still derail those efforts.

“It’s going to take all of us,” he said. “It’s going to take the federal entities working together … to actually be able to move forward.”

Bullock’s initiative creates a mechanism for states and land managers to share best practices and policy options to improve forest management and collaboration across the West.

“Responsibly managing our Western forests and rangelands is a vexing concern for anyone who loves the West, and it is so important that we get this right,” Bullock said.

Tidwell commended the initiative’s focus on shared stewardship and collaboration with diverse stakeholders, but called for the need to “accelerate the pace and scale” of timber harvests on federal land.

“There is no question that when we work together, it is a force multiplier: We not only get more work done, but we do it in a better way,” Tidwell said. “It is through this work that we can continue to make sure that our forests are productive, that they are healthy, and that we sustain communities, and we earn the public’s trust.”

“We’re way behind the eight ball on this,” he added.

Endangered Species

The Republican-dominated Western Governors’ Association endorsed the thrust of the Endangered Species Act, but formally requested a policy overhaul from Congress, including proposed changes that allow states to play a more prominent role in carrying out recovery goals.

Republican Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead announced that the Western Governors’ Association had passed a resolution calling for states to play a more pivotal role in helping shape wildlife management for species protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, raising the hackles of conservation and outdoor groups who called it a “gutting” of the landmark legislation, which passed Congress in 1973.

Mead said the aim of the resolution is to strike a balance that protects endangered species while furnishing more certainty on private companies and individuals who make a living off the land. He said only 1.5 percent of the species determined to be endangered have actually recovered enough to be removed from the federal list.

“We need to do a better job in this country on the Endangered Species Act, not only so we can provide predictability for businesses, but frankly so we can do a much better job for species,” Mead said.

But groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council say amending the law to put states in charge of protecting species would undermine the Endangered Species Act.

“We know that amending the law in the current political climate would incur significant harm on imperiled species and, likely, lead many to disappear forever,” said Elly Pepper, a wildlife advocate for the group.

Child Hunger

Academy Award-winning actor Jeff Bridges, a part-time Montana resident and an anti-hunger activist, took center stage during a conversation about ending child hunger.

The star of “The Big Lebowski” has been a vocal advocate for hungry kids for decades, founding the nonprofit End Hunger Network and, in 2010, becoming a national ambassador for the No Kid Hungry campaign.

“It’s a bipartisan issue,” he said. “How can we have a strong country if we have hungry kids? It doesn’t matter what party you belong to.”

He joined Bullock and his wife, Lisa, for the roundtable panel discussion, commending the Bullocks for making strides to end childhood hunger in Montana by providing breakfast for students in 145 schools statewide through the “Breakfast After the Bell” program.

“It’s not an economic issue,” Bullock said. “It’s a moral issue.”

In an interview with the Associated Press, Bridges acknowledged concerns with President Donald Trump’s administration and its proposed cuts to federal food assistance programs, but said he’s “rooting for” Trump to “do the cool thing.”

“The health of our children is a wonderful compass that can tell if our country is going in the right direction,” he said. “That means we’re off course, so I’m rooting for the president to get on course.”

Aquatic Invasive Species

Raising concerns about the economic and ecologic impacts caused by aquatic invasive species on Western landscapes, the governors identified it as one of the nation’s “biggest environmental problems.”

In a letter from the Western Governors’ Association to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, the state leaders urged a deeper level of collaboration with the department, whose agencies are charged with managing numerous lakes and rivers.

“Of special concern to Western Governors are the risks posed by quagga and zebra mussels, which have already infested waterbodies across the West,” the letter states. “Western Governors believe that it is of paramount concern to prevent the spread of these mussels to other major western waterbodies.”

Matt Morrison, executive director of the Pacific Northwest Economic Region, hand-delivered a separate letter to Zinke imploring closer collaboration with his department.

“We’re facing an imminent threat,” Morrison said. “As a region, we must step up actions preventing boats from entering Western states and Canada without critical inspection.

Recent detections of quagga and zebra mussels in Canyon Ferry and Tiber reservoirs in Montana represent the first time invasive mussels have been discovered here.