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The 68th Montana Legislature is halfway through its 90-day session and while the budget is the biggest focus of the Legislature in the second half, other topics, including education, will not be far behind. Republicans and Democrats have found some common ground on education with bills like Senate Bill 8, from Sen. Shannon O’Brien, D-Missoula, which would update personalized learning programs across the state. However, the two parties are still far apart when it comes to other issues. Republicans want to give parents more r...
The Montana open burning season begins March 1. While burning is allowed year-round, there are different restrictions and requirements throughout the seasons. The Department of Environmental Quality reminds Montanans to comply with air quality rules and use good judgment to prevent wildfires. To burn March 1 through Aug, 31, please follow the below steps: • Obtain a permit from your local fire control authority. • Check with your local air quality program for restrictions in Missoula, Cascade, Yellowstone, Lincoln and Fla...
It’s time for landowners with land enrolled in the federal Conservation Reserve Program to send in applications for enrollment in the state-sponsored Open Fields for Game Bird Hunters. Open Fields is a voluntary incentive program designed to benefit landowners while also providing habitat for upland game birds and giving bird hunters more places to hunt. Open Fields is offered through Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks’ Upland Game Bird Enhancement Program and is available to private landowners with existing CRP with at lea...
A new planning tool was announced Wednesday by the Montana Wildlife and Transportation Partnership (MWTP or Partnership), aimed to help local groups identify areas of greatest need for decreasing wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVCs) and improving wildlife movement across our state highways. The Montana Wildlife and Transportation Partnership is a collaborative group of representatives from the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT), Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP), and Montanans for Safe Wildlife Passage (MSWP)....
A bill introduced to the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday would raise the penalties for fentanyl distribution in Montana to anywhere from two to 40 years in prison, and a $50,000 fine or both. Rep. Courtenay Sprunger, R-Kalispell, is the sponsor of the House Bill 791 and said it is designed to punish those distributing fentanyl across the state, not those struggling with substance abuse issues. “I think it's pretty safe to say that we have an issue and it's not just affecting those who choose to use fentanyl. The m...
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently announced that agricultural producers and private landowners can begin applying for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) General signup starting February 27 through April 7, 2023. CRP is a cornerstone voluntary conservation program offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and a key tool in the Biden-Harris administration’s effort to address climate change and help agricultural communities invest in the long-term well-being of their land and natural resources. “The Con...
by Keely Larson | KHN-UM Legislative News Service Bella Nyman has struggled with her mental health since age 7, when she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and anxiety. Nyman said she was afraid to tell her parents she had thoughts of suicide. Looking back, a mental health screening might have helped her to stop hiding her struggles from adults and peers, she said. "Hard things don't get better if we don't talk about them," Nyman said. Today, Nyman works with the Rural...
Montana Department of Justice (DOJ) Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) agents made two arrests following a fire in Fallon last month, Attorney General Austin Knudsen announced today. Sterling Brown, arrested Wednesday in Camp Crook, South Dakota, was charged with deliberate homicide for causing the death of Isaac Carrier in Fallon, Montana on January 23. Brown was also charged with arson for causing the structure fire where Carrier was residing. Jake Burghduff, arrested...
The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Montana is accepting applications for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), and the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP). The funding for this current cycle comes through the Inflation Reduction Act and supports agricultural and forest landowners participating in voluntary conservation programs implementing climate-smart practices. To be considered for funding in the current cycle, producers and...
The new license year opens March 1, which means that is the day you can buy your 2023 hunting and fishing licenses and begin applying for permits and special licenses. The deadline to apply for deer and elk permits is April 1. Applications for most species – deer, elk, antelope, deer B licenses, elk B licenses, antelope B licenses, moose, sheep, goat, bison, bear, turkey – can be made beginning March 1. Hunters and anglers can also take advantage of the MyFWP mobile app, if they haven’t already. The app holds and displ...
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is forming a committee to develop recommendations to enhance the hunter and bowhunter education programs, with a particular focus on field days and bolstering the ranks of instructors. “With the increase in online education, and the resulting need to offer additional in-person field days, our education programs need to adapt,” FWP Director Hank Worsech said. “We’re interested in working with people who are as passionate as we are for making sure graduates of our courses know how and where to hun...
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has developed a simplified direct loan application to provide improved customer experience for producers applying for loans from the Farm Service Agency (FSA). The simplified direct loan application enables producers to complete a more streamlined application, reduced from 29 to 13 pages. Producers will also have the option to complete an electronic fillable form or prepare a traditional, paper application for submission to their local FSA farm loan office. The paper and electronic...
Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte’s Healing and Ending Addiction Through Recovery and Treatment fund has spent $5.2 million since 2021. With a proposed increase, providers and lawmakers alike want to tap into the money. A fund championed by Gov. Greg Gianforte to fill gaps in Montana’s substance use and behavioral health treatment programs has spent $5.2 million since last year as the state waits for an additional $19 million in federal funding. Now, the Republican governor wants to put more state money into the Healing and End...
In the last 11 years, the city of Havre has had 255 water main breaks. The city's public works director, Dave Pederson, says 46 of those breaks happened in the last two years alone. "During main breaks, large sections of the city are without water for a long period of time," Pederson said. Restoring Havre's water system is at the top of a long list of water, sewer and other infrastructure projects across the state that lawmakers are considering in the 2023 Montana...
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks recently wrapped up a case involving multiple wildlife violations in Garfield County committed by a Jordan man, a South Carolina man and two of his sons, and four other non-residents. The last of their court cases concluded in Montana in November of 2022. FWP launched the multiple-state investigation in 2015, after Cole "Sonny" Lawson III of Walterboro, S.C., was questioned at a Missouri gas station by a conservation officer about seven game...
HELENA, Mont. – Following a year of records for low unemployment, labor force growth, and total employment, on Tuesday Governor Greg Gianforte announced Montana's unemployment rate fell to 2.8% in December as the state's total employment and labor force reached an all-time high. "Thanks to the hard work of Montanans and our pro-business, pro-growth, pro-jobs policies, 2022 was a year of record-setting economic growth for Montana," Governor Gianforte said. "In the year a...
One week before Gov. Greg Gianforte was scheduled to give his State of the State address to the Montana Legislature, a panel of lawmakers tabled and then revived one of the flagship bills in his tax package, which would spend a quarter of the state’s nearly $2 billion surplus on property tax relief for homeowners. In the Legislature’s third week in Helena, two key property tax bills got hearings in the House Taxation Committee – House Bills 222 and 189. Rep. Tom Welch, R-Dillon, is sponsoring House Bill 222, which would...
When the Montana Legislature gaveled in two years ago, COVID-19 served as a major disruptor that added a layer of stickiness to an already complex — and occasionally opaque — process. But the pandemic also facilitated technological adaptations that let Montanans say their piece to the legislators shaping state law on their behalf without making the winter drive to Helena. Members of the public with telephone service or a stable internet connection will again be able to testify before House and Senate committees remotely in...
Senator Steve Hinebauch, R-Wibaux, is sponsoring a bill to help maintain and increase hunters’ access to private land through Montana’s Block Management Program. Senate Bill 58 would double the limit on the money that landowners can receive for participating in the Block Management Program from the current $25,000 per year to $50,000 per year. The increase would help compensate landowners for voluntarily allowing public hunters onto their properties. “Block Management is one of the best and most popular conservation tools...
This is a Public Notice of requirement to obtain an aerial hunting permit to hunt predatory animals from aircraft. Pursuant to MCA 81-7-501, a person, except an employee of the state, its subdivisions, or the federal government who is acting within the scope of the person's employment, may not engage in the aerial hunting of predatory animals, as defined in 81-7-101, without first obtaining a permit from the department of livestock. Resident landowners are authorized to...
Effective January 1, 2023, the Montana minimum wage increased 75 cents to $9.95 per hour. It’s the largest inflationary increase since voters passed a ballot initiative to increase the minimum wage by $1.00 an hour to $6.12 in January 2017 and then make inflationary changes each year. An estimated 23,500 Montana workers, or five percent of the workforce, received hourly wages less than $9.95 in 2022 and are likely to receive higher wages due to the 2023 minimum wage increase, state labor officials said....
A panel of four state legislators last week reached an impasse over who should become Montana’s next commissioner of political practices. Now, the task of narrowing the field to a single candidate falls squarely on Gov. Greg Gianforte, whose office has yet to provide a glimpse of any frontrunner. The goal of the Legislature’s COPP nomination committee on Dec. 28 was to screen the pool of applicants vying to replace Jeff Mangan and agree on at least two names to forward to Gianforte for his consideration. In all, five can...
The Montana Alfalfa Seed Committee is seeking proposals for demonstration projects, applied research, and market development projects designed to address needs and opportunities for Montana’s alfalfa seed industry. Proposals are due February 8, 2023. The committee will review proposals at the first regular meeting of the year. It will review all applications and make recommendations to the department for funding. Generally, to qualify for consideration, proposals must have practical, near-term application involving p...
Southeast Montana's first late-season hunt, previously known as a shoulder season, will run from Nov. 28 - Feb. 15. In FWP Region 7, the late season allows antlerless elk hunting with either an unused over-the-counter general elk license or a limited-draw elk B license on private lands in Hunting Districts 702, 704, 705. A late-season hunt is a firearms season that occurs outside the general season and is focused on antlerless elk harvest. Late-season hunts are not intended...
Preliminary enrollment figures released by the Office of Public Instruction Thursday show a slight increase in Montana's K-12 student population this fall - the second consecutive year of gains following a significant dip during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the latest headcount, conducted in public schools across the state on Oct. 3, Montana's statewide enrollment has reached 149,879 students. That's a 681-student increase from OPI's official enrollment...
