Author: Reilly Lowery

Following decades of political wrangling, federal leaders are finally able to wrap up permanent financing of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, with President Trump signing legislation on Tuesday morning. It was 35 years ago this month President Regan asked a special commission to look into a permanent way to fund conservation and public lands programs. But the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) — which is paid for through revenues from oil and gas leasing — has continued to be a political football. Now, in a few short months, Congress was able to pull together bipartisan support for the

The Great American Outdoors Act is now the law of the land. The act has been touted by conservation and access groups as one of the largest pieces of conservation legislation to pass in decades. The bipartisan bill fully funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund at $900 million annually and makes the allocation permanent in the budget. The bill also generates roughly $9.5 billion to finance backlogged maintenance on federal lands, including national parks, wildlife refuges, national forest and some tribal lands. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed the legislation into law. “There hasn’t been anything like this since

At a White House ceremony on Tuesday, President Donald Trump signed the Great American Outdoors Act into law. Montana Senator Steve Daines, who along with fellow Senator Jon Tester and Congressman Greg Gianforte helped shepherd the bipartisan conservation bill through Congress and to the President’s desk. Daines addressed the President from the podium at the White House. “Thank you, Mr. President,” said Daines. “This really is a great day for Montana. This is a great day for America. This is a great day for conservation and all of us who love the great outdoors.” Daines looked back at the long

President Trump signed a bipartisan bill on Tuesday that will pay for repairs at national parks, permanently finance the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and create thousands of jobs. The investment under the Great American Outdoors Act, heralded as the most significant conservation bill in a generation, is the biggest for parks since President Theodore Roosevelt’s administration in the early 1900s, he said. “We are proving that we can protect [our] treasured environment without bludgeoning our workers and crushing our businesses,” Trump said. “This is record-setting stuff.” WHAT IS THE GREAT AMERICAN OUTDOORS ACT? The National Park Service accounts

President Donald Trump signed a bipartisan bill Tuesday that will spend nearly $3 billion on conservation projects, outdoor recreation and maintenance of national parks and other public land. The Great American Outdoors Act was hailed as the most significant conservation legislation enacted in nearly half a century. “For more than 50 years Congress has struggled to fund land and water conservation, leading to a never ending backlog of maintenance and other critical needs in our parks and public lands that I’ve been hearing about for years,” Trump said at the bill signing in the East Room of the White House.

With the stroke of President Donald Trump’s pen, the biggest land conservation legislation in a generation became law Tuesday morning, prompting widespread praise on a measure that sets a new standard of stewardship for public lands. The bill, called the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), authorizes billions in funding for two major conservation needs — the National Park Service deferred maintenance backlog and the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The House approved the bill 310-107 on July 22, weeks after it won overwhelming approval in the Senate, and as it headed to the White House President Trump was expected to

A groundbreaking ceremony was recently held to celebrate the upcoming launch of high-speed broadband in Cascade. The launch, planned for later this year, will include Spectrum Internet, with starting internet speeds of 100 Mbps in addition to Spectrum Internet Gig for residential customers and Spectrum Business Internet Gig for small and medium-sized business clients in Cascade, company officials said. Montana has among the slowest broadband access speeds in the country.A Spectrum spokeswoman said the company would do behind-the-scenes network upgrades to its existing infrastructure which will let them bring internet, phone and mobile service, as well as a better video

U.S. Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Steve Daines (R-MT) on July 30 led the introduction of a Republican bill that would provide supplementary 2020 recovery rebates to eligible individuals. “Much of the burden of the pandemic has fallen on parents and children,” Sen. Cassidy said. “This legislation prioritizes their needs by providing resources for school supplies, childcare and other unexpected expenses.” Sen. Cassidy sponsored the Coronavirus Assistance for American Families Act, S. 4381, with lead original cosponsor Sen. Daines and two other Republican cosponsors. If enacted, S. 4381 would equally disburse Economic Impact Payments (EIPs) of $1,000 for both adults

With the U.S. Senate deadlocked as the additional $600 in weekly federal unemployment benefits meant to supplement state benefits expires at midnight Friday, both of Montana’s senators called for action while placing blame on the other party. In Montana, the enhanced federal pandemic unemployment compensation to eligible Montanans totaled $549 million, according to the state Department of Labor and Industry. Total unemployment payments made in Montana were $769.6 million from April 13 to July 24, meaning the $600 federal payments made up 71% of everything paid out. On Friday, a spokesperson for Sen. Steve Daines, a Republican, said the senator