Legislative Alert- Week of 2/27/17

Posted on February 27, 2017

The Senate has wrapped up its business for the first half of the legislative session, but the House will be holding floor sessions on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week with some key votes scheduled. Please consider making ONE CALL to your Representative and tell them to:

Vote YES on HB 491 (creation of Montana Public Lands Day)
Vote YES on HB 295 (increase fines for blocking public access)
Vote NO on HJ 9 (undermining protection of Montana’s wilderness study areas)

With one call to your Representative, you can help Montana Audubon and our conservation partners on a few of our priority bills remaining for the first half of the legislative session! So please make a call TODAY!

House Bill 491: Establishing Montana Public Lands Day – SUPPORT

This bill, sponsored by Rep. Virginia Court (D-Billings), would establish a Montana Public Lands Day observed on March 1st of each year – the date that Yellowstone National Park was created. This will be a day to celebrate our public lands and remind Montanans of the importance these lands have on our economy, native wildlife, and quality of life. Tell your Representative that public lands are important to Montanans and to support the creation of this special day.

HB 295: Protecting Public Access – SUPPORT

House Bill 295, sponsored by Rep. Tom Jacobsen (D-Great Falls) would help protect your access to public lands and waters by increasing the fine for illegally blocking a public road. Currently the maximum fine is $10 per day, which fails to deter some private landowners from allowing access to public lands by using established public right-of-ways. This bill would increase the maximum fine to $500 per day. Tell your Representative to vote yes on House Bill 295 to ensure continued access to our public lands and waters.

HJ 9: Removes Protections for Wilderness Study Areas – OPPOSE

House Joint Resolution 9 is an anti-wilderness bill sponsored by Rep. Kerry White (R-Bozeman.. This resolution calls for the end of wilderness protections for some of Montana’s most prized wilderness study areas (WSAs). These include Hyalite-Porcupine-Buffalo Horn, West Pioneer, Blue Joint, Sapphire, Ten Lakes, Middle Fork Judith, and Big Snowies Wilderness Study Areas. This bill would undermine years of collaborative work by Montanans and would potentially open the areas up to increased logging, mining, and oil and gas development. Many of the groups supporting this bill in committee were representatives of extractive industries seeking access to these wild places. Please make a call to your Representative and tell them to vote NO on House Resolution 9 because Montana’s wilderness study areas deserve better than this!

You can read more in this article from the Great Falls Tribune.

If you have any questions about what’s going on in Helena, please get in touch with Amy ([email protected]) or Dan ([email protected]) or call our office @ 406.443.3949. We’d love to hear from you.

Go, Fly, Win!