Regarding the feasibility study being undertaking by the Montana Department of Transportation, it should be noted that the state was notified back in February 2009 that it had yet to comply with the mandated Federal US-EPA guidelines for implementing and maintaining a Haze and Visibility Program set into policy back in 1977. If one reads […]

According to the April issue of Rural Montana, the leadership of our national and state electric cooperatives is using its political clout to limit the role of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in regulating carbon dioxide emissions. For this purpose they will be including stamped post cards in the May issue of Rural Montana and […]

I know what you’re thinking. It goes something like this: Why do I need this thing? It’s just like a dinky little laptop with no keyboard. I can’t even plug my USB thumb drive into it. Even if I do buy one, why would I drop the extra coin for the 3G version? It won’t […]

By now, you’ve probably heard of the flap over Governor Schweitzer’s release of infrastructure grant monies … about $5 million authorized by the Legislature and scattered around the state, including the Mennonite Road improvement in the Flathead. The funds first became available because federal “stimulus” funds (opposed by conservatives) could be dumped into the general […]

Three states join Montana in suing the feds over gun laws. Meanwhile, Montana Sen. Jon Tester faces a combative crowd in Missoula. HIGH JOHN PAUL STEVENS – This U.S. Supreme Court Justice, one of its liberal members, announced his retirement just shy of his 90th birthday and is receiving accolades for his service. Let his […]

On my recent annual spring outing I encountered some very large paw prints of a canine creature. They could have been tracks of a mighty big dog, but in the remote location where I found them, I think they were the tracks of a wolf. To begin my hike, I had driven as far as […]

In a move that can be described by a number of adjectives (bizarre? vengeful? shrewd?) Gov. Brian Schweitzer asked western Montana officials to show support for the state Land Board’s decision to lease Otter Creek coal tracts before receiving state grants funded by stimulus money. The ultimatum infuriated liberals and came just weeks after the […]

Since Spencer Mountain near Whitefish represents both a high-value recreation area and a potential revenue generator, I’m hoping that Department of Natural Resources foresters will be unusually creative when developing any final timber harvesting plans. Although the agency often employs traditional thinning grids such as uniform 20-by-20 foot leave-tree spacing, such basic tree farming is […]

The recent news that state lands will generate an unexpected $127 million ($86 million in one-time-only bonus payments from the lease of state lands in the Otter Creek area in eastern Montana, coupled with the Montana Supreme Court’s recent ruling that Pennsylvania Power and Light (PPL) owes the state of Montana $41 million for rent […]

Like people, businesses have many different stages of life. Some are newborn babies. Some are venerable old cowboys that at 86 can still take a strong 22 year old and pound the tar out of them. Lots of people are rolling down the runway of a new business right now, almost ready to take off. […]

Jonathan Jenkins repeats at the Colgate Country Showdown. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court says PPL owes the state $40 million. HIGH APPLE – The clamor, publicity and demand for new products, in this case the iPad, never ceases to amaze. EMPLOYMENT – The nation posted its largest job gain in three years in March, though unemployment […]

West of Whitefish, state public lands of Spencer Mountain offer world-class outdoor recreation. But better get ready for a tussle to save the existing recreation on Spencer. The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation was gracious to host an open house on the proposed timber cut for Spencer. It was good to see outdoors […]

The deadline for legislative candidates to file for office has now passed and the first campaign issue, at least for Republicans running for state office, has emerged: whether to repeal health care reform. A GOP lawmaker told me weeks ago that, if health care reform was made federal law, her party planned on introducing legislation […]

On Thursday, March 25, I listened to a portion of your speech in the Senate in support of ObamaCare. I listened to the speech again on YouTube to confirm what you said was accurately reported. It was. I then retrieved a portion your comments from a Hugh Hewitt’s blog, which is quoted below: Max Baucus […]

Recently, the General Accounting Office (GAO), the non-partisan, investigative arm of Congress, issued a report looking at lawsuits involving all Forest Service fuel reduction projects from 2006 through 2008. The report is available at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d10337.pdf. According to the report, fuel reduction projects in the Forest Service’s Northern Region – which includes all the national forests […]