Category: News Article

At a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing, several western senators advocated for grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem to be removed from the list of endangered species and for states to manage the species. The hearing focused on S.614, the Grizzly Bear State Management Act, which U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo. introduced in February 2019. The bill would direct the Department of the Interior to re-issue its 2017 decision to delist the grizzly bear in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and prohibit further judicial review of this decision.   “Wildlife experts and federal officials agree that the grizzly

The fight over lifting federal protections for Yellowstone grizzly bears moved to a U.S. Senate committee room on Wednesday.   The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing on S. 614, the Grizzly Bear State Management Act. The bill, introduced by Wyoming Republican Sen. Mike Enzi, would direct federal officials to reissue the 2017 rule that removed Endangered Species Act protections from bears in the Yellowstone region. It would also bar any litigation over the move.   The Department of the Interior delisted the bears in 2017, but the decision was overturned by a lawsuit from conservation groups

BILLINGS – Billings will receive an $11 million federal grant for a major infrastructure project, officials announced Thursday. The funding will go towards completing the Northwest Billings Connector and Marathon Loop. Funds will create nearly 25 miles of continuous parkways and improve access to residential and employment areas near Billings International Airport, according to a press release issued by U.S. Sen. Stave Daines. “This BUILD grant funding will help modernize infrastructure in Billings, and is a big win for the community and jobs,” Daines said. “I’m glad to have secured these funds and I look forward to seeing these projects

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines has co-sponsored a bill to remove Endangered Species Act protection from grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and prevent any court challenge. The bill gets its first hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Wednesday morning. Fellow Republican Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming authored the 80-word Grizzly Bear Management Act of 2019, which would reissue the Department of Interior’s 2017 delisting rule for Greater Yellowstone grizzlies “without regard to any other provision of statute or regulation that applies to the issuance of such rule. Such reissuance (including this section) shall not be

A contingent of U.S. Senators are standing up against a push to significantly increase the minimum insurance requirement for motor carriers. U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and six of his colleagues sent a letter to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation in response to a provision added to House Democrats’ version of a highway bill that would increase the liability insurance coverage requirement from $750,000 to $2 million per truck. “We ask that you refrain from including any increase in the existing minimum liability coverage for motor carriers,” the letter stated. “An increase in insurance requirements is both

A fire that blew up over the weekend and burned 7,100 acres in the Bridgers continued growing slowly to the north on Sunday, and fire officials said there’s a lot of unburned fuel there. The Bridger Foothills fire laid down Saturday night as cooler temperatures moved into Bozeman. But Sunday was another day with weather favorable for fire growth, and officials said helicopters were attacking a fire that picked up in the northwest corner of the burned area. Corey Lewellen, Bozeman district ranger with Custer Gallatin Gallatin National Forest, said at a virtual public meeting Sunday afternoon that fire officials

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines cosponsored legislation encouraging the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to work with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to recruit medical personnel and professionals currently employed across military medical departments to work for the VA, providing jobs for Montana veterans. The VA reportedly has over 45,000 open positions. “Veterans serving veterans makes sense. My bill will help ensure Montanans making the transition from warrior to veteran have a job available where they can support their fellow veterans,” said Daines. U.S. Sen. Daines announced that President Trump signed his bipartisan legislation that would guarantee benefits for

MISSOULA, Mont. — Increasing costs of firefighting are depleting the U.S. Forest Service’s budget. A bill by Senator Steve Daines aims to reduce the risk of wildfires before they begin.   “This is about some common sense reforms that protect us against catastrophic wildfires,” said Daines.   The Cinnabar fire has been burning in western Montana for 16 days, and it’s still zero percent contained.   That’s why Senator Daines toured the Fire Incident Command Post in Missoula. He received a briefing on the fire and discussed his legislation aimed at what he calls “common sense” forest management reform. “Ninety-five

(KPAX) Sen. Steve Daines was in Missoula on Friday to test and demonstrate how a new mobile sanitizing unit might be used in schools. Hellgate middle school played host to the event and students from the school put their backpacks and contents through the Kart Kleen UV disinfecting machines to show how it works. Kart Kleen is based in Missoula. Daines praised the efforts of a Montana company to come up with a Montana solution to the safe school’s dilemma. He also said this is a great tool and loves how non invasive the process is. “What I like about

A high-tech company in Bozeman is expanding into a new 62,000-square-foot facility off East Valley Center Road, where it will develop equipment that will be used in hundreds of military and civilian applications. FLIR Systems has three smaller facilities in the Bozeman area and is planning to consolidate them into a single building that is now under construction on Jamboree Way near Taco Bell and Comfort Suites. The new building, which will be finished next year, will let the company grow, said Randy Equall, the company’s vice president of laser operations. “We’re bursting at the seams in our current plant,