Page 17 - Flathead Beacon // 4.8.15

FLATHEADBEACON.COM NEWS APRIL 8, 2015 | 17 CSKT Accused of Unethical Lobbying
By TRISTAN SCOTT of the Beacon
A formal complaint filed with the
state Commissioner of Political Practic- es accuses the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of unfair and unethi- cal lobbying practices by using so-called “dark money” to promote passage of a controversial water rights compact.
The complaint, filed by Jayson Pe- ters, chairman of the Flathead County Republican Central Committee, names CSKT, public affairs firm Mercury LLC, registered lobbyists Mark Baker and Shelby DeMars, and the pro-compact group Farmers and Ranchers for Mon- tana (FARM), which the complaint iden- tifies as a “grassroots lobbying group working on the tribes’ behalf.
Montana Commissioner of Politi- cal Practices Jonathan Motl said he re- ceived the complaint April 3 and will re- spond to it within five days.
According to Motl, the alleged rules violation falls in a “gray area” surround- ing the regulation of grassroots lobbying efforts, which he said deserves further clarification through a rules change.
“We don’t have very much clarity in our lobbying rules or definition of what constitutes lobbying in our statute,” Motl said. “It’s a serious issue, and it’s a lot bigger than one principle and one group. It’s an issue a substantial number of groups are dealing with and it is one that may need further clarification.”
The complaint argues that FARM has “chosen to use dark money and skirt Montana lobbying laws to hide the full amount of funds to lobby the Montana Legislature and other elected officials.”
“This is a breach of the public trust and open government,” the complaint states.
According to rules governing lobby- ing in Montana, lobbyists must register with the state if they engage in face-to- face discussion with legislators and dis- close the in-kind value, or cash-value, of their contributions.
The same rules don’t apply to so- called “grassroots” groups who make contributions that are less quantifiable – for example, by urging constituents in a lawmakers’ legislative district to con- tact the lawmaker and urge him or her to vote a certain way.
“It’s still a campaign contribution, but it has been construed as a gray area and in general it is not being reported,” Motl said. “So Mr. Peters justifiably be- lieves there is a lot of influence going on with this particular bill that is not hap- pening at the Capitol in Helena but that is clearly influencing whether the bill is going to become law. And his assertion is that it constitutes lobbying.”
Motl drew comparisons to recent local efforts by the conservative group Americans for Prosperity-Montana to target Rep. Frank Garner, R-Kalispell, because the freshman lawmaker re-
fused to sign a blanket pledge opposing Medicaid expansion in Montana.
AFP-Montana is a branch of the con- servative organization founded by the billionaire Koch brothers, David and Charles, who own Koch Industries, of Wichita, Kansas, a prominent opponent of Medicaid expansion.
Last summer, the group ramped up its presence in Montana, expanding from two to 11 paid staffers, according to the group.
AFP’s efforts could also be construed as lobbying, yet they have not disclosed it or registered, Motl said.
“There is more money in politics these days than ever before, and it is cer- tainly an area of legitimate concern to Montanans,” Motl said. “So we will have to deal with it. Whether that happens entirely through Mr. Peters’ complaint or whether we have to take a look at new rule making I don’t yet know.”
The compact gives the tribes “in- stream flow” rights to several streams and rivers off the reservation, linked to 1855 treaty rights that say the tribes can fish on traditional areas.
Sen. Chas Vincent, R-Libby, the sponsor of the bill, said people may dis- agree with the tribes’ rights to water off the reservation, but that past court rul- ings have upheld these rights for other tribes under similar treaties.
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FWP: Montana Wolf Population Declines But Still Above Recovery Standards
By DILLON TABISH of the Beacon
The number of gray wolves in Mon-
tana continues to decline under the state’s management efforts but remains above federal recovery goals, according to the Fish, Wildlife and Parks depart- ment.
State officials released an annual re- port detailing the status of the contro- versial animal, which remains the sub- ject of scrutiny and debate throughout the West.
The verified population at the end of 2014 was 554 wolves, a decrease of 73 over the previous year, according to the annual wolf conservation and manage- ment report released this week by FWP.
Northwest Montana had the largest collection of wolves among the state’s three designated regions. There were a minimum of 338 wolves in 91 verified packs with 17 breeding pairs in this cor- ner of the state. In 2013, there were 412 wolves in 104 packs with 16 breeding pairs.
The Montana portion of the Great- er Yellowstone area had a minimum of 122 wolves in 23 packs with 11 breeding pairs.
The state’s portion of the area en- compassing Central Idaho had 94 wolves
in 20 packs with six breeding pairs. Throughout the entire state, there were a minimum of 134 wolf packs com- pared to 152 the previous year. The num- ber of breeding pairs increased from 28 to 33, according to wildlife biologists that surveyed the state. The federal re- covery goal for Montana, which says the state must maintain a viable, self-sus-
taining population, is 10 breeding pairs. Agency officials estimate the actual number of wolves in Montana to be 27- 37 percent above the minimum count. There were an estimated 653 wolves in
Montana in 2011.
Hunters killed 206 wolves during the
state’s 2014-15 hunting season, which was expanded to six months and was the fourth consecutive general hunting season and third that allowed trapping since wolves were delisted in 2011.
The general rifle and archery season began in September with activists seek- ing to disrupthunters’ chances by fol- lowing them in the field. The season con- cluded March 15 with 129 wolves killed. The trapping season ended Feb. 28 with 77 wolves taken.
In 2014, 213 wolves were killed by hunters and trappers during the calen- dar-year portion of the season compared to 231 taken in the 2013 calendar year.
Last year wolves killed 35 cattle, six sheep and one horse in 2014, a 46 per- cent drop in livestock depredations. The number of lost cattle was the lowest to- tal in eight years.
“Among the best news is that con- firmed wolf depredations on livestock again took a significant drop in 2014,” FWP Director Jeff Hagener said in a news release.
There were 308 reported wolf mor- talities last year, down from 335 in 2013. Among those, 301 were human-related, including 213 legal harvests, 57 control actions to further reduce livestock dep- redations — down from 75 in 2013 — as well as 11 vehicle strikes, 10 illegal kill- ings, six killed under the newly-enacted Montana State Senate Bill 200, two cap- ture related mortalities, one euthanized due to poor health and one legal tribal harvest. One known wolf died of natu- ral causes and six others of unknown causes, according to FWP.
“Montana’s wolf management pro- gram seeks to manage wolves just like we do other wildlife—in balance with their habitat, with other wildlife spe- cies and with the people who live here,” Hagener said.
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