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A federal task force to investigate cold cases involving missing and murdered Indigenous people opened an office Thursday in Billings. This was the third of seven offices of Operation Lady Justice Task Force, Tara Katuk Sweeney, assistant secretary of Indian Affairs, said. President Donald Trump established the Operation Lady Justice Task Force on Nov. 26, a multi-agency effort co-chaired by U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt and U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr. It will focus on missing and murdered American Indian and Alaska Natives in tribal communities and staffed with law enforcement and newly appointed special agents from

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers from both parties are calling on the U.S. Postal Service to immediately reverse operational changes that are causing delays in deliveries across the country just as big volume increases are expected for mail-in election voting. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday that changes imposed by the new, Republican postmaster general “threaten the timely delivery of mail — including medicines for seniors, paychecks for workers and absentee ballots for voters — that is essential to millions of Americans.” In separate letters, two Montana Republicans, Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Greg Gianforte,

Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines and California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced a bipartisan bill Tuesday aimed at protecting communities by increasing forest management and reducing environmental litigation. The Emergency Wildfire and Public Safety Act of 2020 would grant broad authority to federal agencies to push fuels reduction projects, create a new center providing training on prescribed fire and allow projects to proceed while agencies consult over species listed under the Endangered Species Act. The senators first announced their intention to introduce the bill last year following a record 2017 wildfire season in Montana and fires near Paradise, California, that

Fresh off his success in passing the Great American Outdoors Act which was signed by President Trump on Tuesday, Senator Steve Daines resumed work on yet another Forest Management bill along with California Democrat Dianne Feinstein. The bill is called the Emergency Wildfire and Public Safety Act of 2020, and with the fatal fires that have occurred in California and that have destroyed millions of acres of Montana forests, Daines explained the bill. “It’s about addressing the four ‘W’s’, wildfires, wildlife, watersheds and workers,” said Daines. “That’s an easy way to remember it with the four W’s. And I also

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