Category: News Article

GOP senators are trying to stop the Obama administration from regulating lawfully owned ivory found in antique firearms, musical instruments and other family heirlooms. The African Elephant Conservation and Legal Ivory Possession Act of 2015, which Sens. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) introduced this week, would lift the ban the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) placed on the importation, exportation and sale of lawfully possessed ivory in February 2014. Ivory is a hard white material found in tusks of Elephants.“The Obama Administration’s plan to limit the trade of legal ivory — such as that found in legally

BILLINGS — The Library of Congress receives 25,000 new books every day, and when there are duplicate copies, the extras go to the House and Senate lawmakers — for free. It’s a “who knew?” kind of arrangement that surprised U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and his staff when they recently asked about connecting Montana’s libraries with the nation’s library of record. Daines figured he could take his share of the free publications and ship 150 books to Montana schools and public libraries every month. The first boxes of books went out this month. If there are more books available, the

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A Helena native is sworn in as the Deputy Administrator of NASA. The United States Senate unanimously confirmed Dr. Dava Newman to the position back in April. On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Steve Daines spoke at her ceremonial swearing in. He calls Dr. Newman an inspiration for countless of young Montanans who are excited about not only space exploration, but also science, technology, engineering and math. Newman is a graduate of C.R. Anderson Middle School and Capital High School in Helena.

BOZEMAN – Sunday was an emotional day for a Vietnam war veteran who was officially recognized nearly five decades after serving.  U.S. Senator Steve Daines presented Tom Creasey with six medals, 46 years after serving in the Vietnam War. Creasey served in the U.S. Navy on active duty from 1966 until 1969. He received the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal with Four Bronze Stars and the Vietnam Campaign Medal, among others. Daines said too often veterans returned from Vietnam without the recognition they deserved but that this was better late than never.  “It gets lost in the shuffle and that’s

Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines has thrown his support behind a bill to make a popular conservation fund permanent. Daines announced late last week that he has signed on as a co-sponsor on a bill to make the Land and Water Conservation Fund permanent, joining Montana’s Democratic Sen. Jon Tester and a cadre of bipartisan sponsors from around the country. The bill, S. 338, was introduced by Sen. Richard Burr, R-North Carolina, in February. It would permanently reauthorize the fund, which Daines said is the main goal. “I think we stand better chances of permanent reauthorization by getting behind the

HELENA – Speakers at the Capitol on Friday celebrated the newest addition to the Lewis and Clark National Forest by rallying behind the uncertain future of the fund that made the acquisition a reality. Gov. Steve Bullock, U.S. Sens. Steve Daines and Jon Tester, and USDA Undersecretary Robert Bonnie were among those who supported reauthorizing the Land and Water Conservation Fund at a celebration for completion of the Tenderfoot Legacy Project. The project was an eight-year, $10.7 million effort between the Bair Ranch Foundation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Tenderfoot Trust and the U.S. Forest Service to place more than 8,200 acres

Despite a number of congressional hearings and classified briefings, lawmakers are frustrated by the lack of information relating to the recent Office of Personnel Management data breaches, and it is now clear  some lawmakers’ records may have been affected. At least two current senators who were not federal employees were notified their information may have been compromised, signaling that retirement records for former House members may have been compromised in the first security breach, which the OPM announced on June 4. Sens. John Boozman, R-Ark., and Steve Daines, R-Mont., received letters from the OPM saying their personal identifiable information such as

BILLINGS — Montana is bracing for its worst wildfire season in years, officials told U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont. Speaking to Daines during a Thursday fire briefing in Billings, federal and state agencies said that extremely early snowmelt in western Montana and increasing thunderstorms in the east are setting the state up for a tough wildfire season. Western wildfire conditions are as bad as they’ve been in years. Eastern Montana, still green from spring rains, is now beginning to dry out with thunderstorms expected to deliver more lightning than soaking rain in coming weeks. “We’re now in July. June, May,

Why isn’t a wildfire classified as a natural disaster? That’s one question Senator Steve Daines asked the crowd at Thursday’s Eastern Montana Fire Briefing. The conference was held with the Department of Natural Resources and Fire Conservation (DNRC) outside of the Southern Lands Office in Billings to address current and future wildfire activity. There, Daines expressed his support for a bill that would classify wildfires as natural disasters, and respond to them accordingly. “Like a tornado, or a hurricane. The reason that’s important is then the Forest Service can receive funding through a different avenue than having to take dollars

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines toured timber projects in the Ten Mile drainage Tuesday, saying he wanted to see firsthand the combined efforts of state and federal agencies to provide jobs while managing the forest and reducing the risk of wildfire to the watershed. Daines toured the active Red Mountain Flume-Chessman Reservoir project and the proposed Tenmile-South Helena project with officials from the U.S. Forest Service, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and the city of Helena. The trip was a chance to see the Forest Service and DNRC working together under a joint stewardship agreement to actively manage the