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News you can use
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Havre and Hill County officials were meeting with National Weather Service representatives in Havre this morning to talk about the flooding in the region, as Blaine County also issued a disaster declaration. Hill County said it is pursuing a state and federal disaster declaration due to the flooding. In a message sent at 3:28 this morning, Hill County Commission Chair Mark Peterson said he flew over western Hill County to inspect damage and flooding, and saw water everywhere...
The Bureau of Land Management is asking for the public’s help in determining what it should analyze as it considers proposed changes to several grazing leases. American Prairie Reserve, or APR, controls private properties tied to 18 BLM grazing allotments in Fergus, Petroleum, Phillips and Valley counties. They have submitted a proposal asking the BLM to modify their grazing permits. Note that Page 2 of their proposal lists “other terms and conditions of APR proposed action.” Item 2 of this says, “Split BLM East Dry Fork al...
Over the years we inhaled plenty of Montana wilderness trail dust. We’re a couple of long-in-the-tooth recreational horse and mule packers who enjoy wandering in our Montana public lands. We have a few bones to pick with Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Greg Gianforte. Mainly, we don’t approve of their land grab of the people’s Wilderness Study Areas, or WSAs. Sen. Daines’ bill S2206 is titled, “The Protect Public Use of Public Lands Act.” Sounds benign right? It ain’t. It’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing. This bill was introduced to...
Press release Landowners will now have until May 1 to submit applications to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks for enrollment in the Unlocking Public Lands Program. Through this program, landowners who agree to allow access, for a majority of the year — at least six months and one day — are entitled to receive a $750 annual tax credit per contract. Landowners may have a maximum of four contracts per year or up to $3,000 in tax credits. Public recreational access across private land to reach a parcel of otherwise ina...
Press release Five Montana Farm Bureau members traveled to Washington, D.C., in early March not only to attend the American Farm Bureau Issues Advisory Committee meetings but to meet Montana’s congressional delegation and visit two agencies that have a strong effect on ag policy — the U.S. Trade Representative’s office and the Department of the Interio. Members included MFBF Director of National Affairs Nicole Rolf; Tonya Liles, a cattle rancher from Terry; Megan Mattson Hedges, a grain farmer from Chester; Chuck Rein, a ran...
Rep. Greg Gianforte, R-Mont., has introduced two bills in the U.S. House of Representatives that would release more than 690,000 acres in Wilderness Study Areas, including 74,650 acres within the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, and has drawn the ire of some conservationists. A press release from Gianforte’s office said Thursday that the Protect Use of Public Lands Act and the Unlocking Public Lands Act will open access to lands found not to meet the criteria for federal wilderness protection. “Nearly 700...
By DAN ELLIOTT Associated Press DENVER — U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s plan for a major realignment to put more of his department’s decision-makers in the field has a fundamental flaw in the eyes of some who spent their careers making those decisions: They’re already out there. Eleven former Interior Department officials with decades of experience in both Washington and in local offices told The Associated Press the agency already has a well-established system for decentralized decision-making. “Ninety percent-plus of...
Press release Landowners have until March 15 to submit applications to Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks for enrollment in the Unlocking Public Lands Program. Through this program, landowners who agree to allow access for all general recreational use, including hunting, fishing, trapping, hiking, bird-watching, and other uses compatible with the use of public lands, for a majority of the year, at least 6 months and 1 day, are entitled to receive a $750 annual tax credit per contract. Landowners may have a maximum of four...
U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte, R-Mont., met today with Todd Hanson, Madison Food Park director of development whose office is in Havre, to learn about the proposed food processing facility. Hanson told Gianforte that the intent of the company is to market the Montana brand nationally and internationally, bringing economic opportunity to Montana agriculture producers and communities across the state as the various increases in production create more jobs. “We’re not building a man...
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke long has long claimed to be a “Roosevelt Republican.” He has said time and again that he will stand with the West and not allow the overreaching arm of Washington, D.C., to hold us within its grasp. But his recent actions have indicated a different approach. In 2015, a diverse group of stakeholders including governors, resource managers, ranchers, farmers, sportsmen and women, business owners, scientists, and energy developers came together as a community to openly and honestly discuss how bes...
Cliven Bundy came to Paradise, Montana, to speak about his problems with the federal government. Bundy said he is being persecuted for not paying for use of public lands. A brief list of his “problems” is enlightening to say the least. He does not recognize powers of the federal government, stating that he has no contract with the federal government. “My 15-second defense is I only graze my cattle on Clark County, Nevada, land and I have no contract with the federal government,” he said. “I haven’t had a contract with the fe...
In the final hours of 2017, when most of us were with our families enjoying the holiday season, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke and the Trump administration announced that they were making major changes to the sage-grouse land management plans. Before the New Year’s ball dropped, the Bureau of Land Management released six instructional memorandums to state and field offices outlining how to implement significant changes to state-based sage-grouse management plans. These radical changes, made by Zinke and the BLM, gut s...
A Havre man who fought the Centennial Mountain Fire in the Bear Paw Mountains in 1984 says there are many similarities between this summer's East Fork Fire and the blaze he battled long ago. Jim Tautges of Havre had been on the Bear Paw Volunteer Fire Department about three of his 13 total years, he said, when lightning struck Aug. 19, 1984, and started the Centennial Mountain Fire on Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation. "As a volunteer, you just dropped whatever you were doing...
Over the weekend, cooler and wetter weather helped ease the effects of this year’s fire season, but most of the counties within the Lewistown Fire Restriction Area have decided to stay in fire restrictions, with the exception of Chouteau and Phillips Counties. These two counties along with Montana Department of Natural Resource & Conservation rescinded Stage 1 fire restrictions effective immediately. Blaine, Golden Valley, Hill, Roosevelt, Sheridan and Valley Counties are currently in Stage 1 fire restrictions, including a...
From U.S. Bureau of Land Management LEWISTOWN — Americans across the country will visit their favorite public lands Sept. 30, to help care for the treasured places where they play, learn and relax. In the Lewistown area, volunteers will make improvements to the Limekiln Picnic Area in celebration of the 24th annual National Public Lands Day, the nation’s largest, single-day volunteer effort for public lands. The Bureau of Land Management Lewistown Field Office will host the National Public Lands Day Picnic Area mai...
Landowners whose property burned in the East Fork Fire talked about the damages Wednesday afternoon after a meeting hosted by the Type I Incident Management Team concluded. The federal fire management team held the last of three meetings Wednesday afternoon, updating people on the fire and what can be expected in the coming months, at Bear Paw Elementary School on Clear Creek in Blaine County. Team leaders told people the fire had been 90 percent contained, and by the time...
While people are asking about how the dry conditions and fire danger will affect hunting seasons, FWP is not recommending that the Fish and Wildlife Commission close hunting seasons. “Because of widely variable conditions and different types of hunting scenarios across the state, that is a decision rightly left to an individual landowner, a block management cooperator, or a land manager. If a private landowner or a land management agency such as the Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management makes the decision to restrict o...
The Emergency Operations Center for the East Fork Fire that now has burned more than 20,000 acres in the Bear Paw Mountains said in a release this morning that the fire has, once again, shifted directions and now is pushing east into Blaine County. The release said the fire has burned west of Clear Creek Road and south as far as the Hungry Hollow-Clear Creek Road intersection. The release said standing evacuation orders and pre-evacuation warnings still are in effect....
From Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks As hunters and other recreationists enjoy late summer in Montana, fire safety will be a critical part of a safe trip. Montana is parched. Some parts of the state have seen little rain all summer long. More than 40 active wildfires are currently listed on federal incident management website for the state of Montana. Many other, smaller fires, are being managed on a local level. And still the dry weather, heat and smoke persist. Being knowledgeable about current restrictions and fire safe...
The Havre Daily News is giving both a laurel and a dart to the Montanan in the highest government position in the country, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke. Kudos to Zinke for saying he will recommend several monuments, including the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, not be changed. A dart for recommending one, Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, be downsized and for participating in a review that is a waste of time and money. President Donald Trump ordered Zinke review 27 monuments of 100,000 acres or...
Havre Daily News staff The price of a lifetime Senior Pass to the nation’s national parks is going to go up eight timesnext week, with the price, $10 since 1994, hitting $80 as of Monday. National Park Service says the increase, included in legislation passed by Congress in December, will be used to enhance the visitor experience in the parks. The Senior Pass is a one-time lifetime fee, giving entrance to the 118 of the 417 national parks that charge a fee — which include Glacier and Yellowstone national parks — to peopl...
For two consecutive Saturdays in early spring groups of volunteers, guided by Friends of the Missouri River Breaks Monument and Bureau or Land Management staff, headed out to the upper end of the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument to plant cottonwood trees at campsites along the river. This effort was part of an ongoing improvement program in the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument and a sort of symbol of the cooperative effort put forth in the daily...
Havre Daily News staff The team in command of the crews fighting a wildfire in the Little Rocky Mountains reported this morning that the fire near Zortman, Landusky, Hays and Lodge Pole is 80 percent contained. Wednesday’s cooler temperatures and higher humidity reduced fire intensity, “allowing crews to make great progress on the fire line, the interagency command team said in the release. “Supported by optimal weather conditions, aircraft and crews on the ground continued burnout operations in the northern area to remove un...
With the people of Landusky having been allowed back in town Sunday, the 10,000 acre-Little Rockies fire that started July 3 may threaten the towns of Hays and Lodge Pole with evacuation next. Type-2 Incident Management Team Fire Information Officer Hailey Graf said today's forecast thunderstorms may bring lightning and unpredictable erratic winds that may mean trouble for Hays and Lodge Pole. Residents have already been prepared, she added, in case evacuation is necessary....
After spreading 6,000 acres in two days and prompting the evacuation of Landusky, firefighters have begun to contain the fire in the Little Rocky Mountains that was started July 3, a fire information officer said this morning. Type-2 Incident Management Team Fire Information Officer Kathy Russell said firefighters - comprising federal and local personnel - had a good day Thursday, "in spite of the conditions," and the 8,381-acre fire is 10 percent contained. "We have good...
