Too often, news articles miss the real story: Casper Star Tribune reporter Jeremy Fugelberg’s July 3 effort covered “The Department of the Interior’s Economic Contributions” report on the agency’s role in our nation’s economy – 146 pages of “Fund Us Lavishly, We’re Really Important.” In Wyoming, which is 30 percent Bureau of Land Management (plus […]

You might have noticed in May when a “Petition for Original Jurisdiction,” Barhaugh et al. v. State, was placed before our Montana Supreme Court. Because global warming will kill us all, and Montana has been “prevented by the Legislature from taking any action,” and because there is “not enough time […] unless immediate action is […]

Well, sporties, are you ready for 4,200 to 7,300 wolves in the Northern Rockies? Back in April, you’ll remember that Congress stuffed a “bipartisan” rider (Section 1713) into the 2011 Appropriations omnibus (Public Law 112-10). This rider supposedly de-listed Rocky Mountain gray wolves outside Wyoming, by reinstating the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) so […]

Every so often, my writing work requires a road trip. My latest sent me (and my pal Murphy) to the Olympics in Washington. Because freelance writers are so massively overpaid, we took my 1965 Ford van, which I bought in 1985 or so with the idea of carrying my Kawasaki rice rocket in the back. […]

By now, everyone is getting pretty sick and tired of the megaloads of hypocrisy spilled in the battle over the so-called “megaloads” that the oil folks are trying to haul from the Port of Lewiston in Idaho to the Kearl oil sands patch in Alberta. Because National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is leading the lawsuit to […]

So we got Osama … but did you notice that Canada got a new government? Canada is a democratic constitutional monarchy, a commonwealth currently under Queen Elizabeth II. Canada has a 308-seat House of Commons that must stand for election at least once every four years, but elections can be triggered any time by a […]

All this “spring,” I’ve watched the fight over HB 198, the power-line eminent domain bill passed from the Legislature to Governor Brian Schweitzer by a polyglot coalition of Democrats and Republicans. Property rights aside, I first felt HB 198 was a technicality. Now I’m worried that HB 198 might really short-circuit Montana’s energy future if […]

Since I last wrote about the wolf soap opera and U.S. District of Montana Judge Donald W. Molloy’s pending ruling – which is STILL pending – circumstances in the high-stakes Endangered Species Act (ESA) political mix have gotten even nuttier. In early March, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) withdrew its appeals-court challenge to […]

I planned to discuss the wolf circus, but with so many moving parts, and Judge Donald W. Molloy holding a hearing the day after my deadline, I’ll just tease you with a quote from pro-hunting lawyer Jim Brown: Brown feels the “settlement” Judge Molloy is being asked to accept is a “trick designed to deceive, […]

The “Save the North Fork” crowd must be overjoyed. The road-pavers were sent packing, the loggers sued and burnt off, the Canuck coal miners bribed to go away, and now the gas lessees are, according to a timeline proudly posted by Sen. Max Baucus’s office, “voluntarily” giving up. A great victory, right? Um, maybe not. […]

I’ve written before about going to Helena to testify before the Legislature, or simply to see how our state government works. It’s a pain, but can be worthwhile. When “worth-a-trip” legislation comes up for a hearing, either good or bad, I always check the other bills scheduled that day, in case a “bonus” can be […]

In January, U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy issued an “Order to Show Cause” to parties in a lawsuit (CV-08-14-M-DWM, filed January 2008) by Defenders of Wildlife. Defenders sued, claiming that wolf-management regulations the government issued under Endangered Species Act Section 10(j) authority allow too many wolves to be killed via management actions. Case 14 […]

On Jan. 10, state District Judge Joe J. Hegel told environmentalists they could proceed with litigation against the preliminary leasing of the so-called Otter Creek tracts to Arch Coal. That the Greens are pursuing this case strikes me as otter stupidity. But first, some history and numbers: Otter Creek came into Montana’s trust portfolio in […]

The outrageous mass murder in Arizona has the political crisis cockroaches (and their media enablers) crawling out of the woodwork. But as Robert Barnes, staff writer for the Washington Post wrote, “There is, at this point, no evidence that the suspect in Saturday’s shootings that left six dead and [Congresswoman Gabrielle] Giffords and 12 others […]

So Governor Schweitzer thinks our Legislature boozes it up too much? Well, on the 28th of December, the Legislative Fiscal Division (LFD) released its Legislative Services Division 2013 Biennium Budget Overview. Our state legislators will rely on this document as they fight out Montana’s budget for the next two years – if you had to […]