Daines swings through Hi-Line in fact-finding tour

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., met with tribal leaders from two area reservations and the Hill County Commissioners during a visit to the area Wednesday.

The first-term senator began his day on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation where he spoke with the tribal council. He later toured Montana State University’s Northern Agricultural Research Center and then met with the Chippewa Cree Business Committee in what Daines aides said was his first visit to Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation since he was elected to the U.S Senate in 2014.

He wrapped up his time on the Hi-Line with a brief visit with the Hill County Commissioners.

Daines presented members of the Chippewa Cree committee with a copy of the proclamation from the congressional record from 1916 that established the reservation. This year Rocky Boy marks its 100th anniversary as a reservation.

Economic development in Indian Country

The Business Committee spoke with Daines about economic development on the reservation. When Daines asked the committee what the unemployment rates was on the reservation, Chair Ken St. Marks estimated that it was about 65 percent.

In a later conversation, Daines said that number is similar to those he has heard for the state’s six other reservations.

“The best path forward is a good, high-paying job, and there is opportunity in Indian Country,” Daines said.

He said because of broadband connectivity and internet-based economic activity, the prospects for creating high-wage jobs on reservations and in other remote areas of Montana are much greater than they once were.

Daines said the allure of Montana’s wilderness which regularly draws outdoor enthusiasts and tourists, when combined with e-commerce could help boost Montana’s population.

“We love to fish, we love to camp and now we can have that to do on the weekends and we have to have a job during the week, and broadband connectivity is one way we can do that,” Daines said.

Wildfires

Daines’ visit to Havre later in the day was somewhat rushed.

He left his hometown of Bozeman Wednesday morning and hoped to end the day in Billings. However, a last-minute schedule change took him to Hamilton, where he was set to receive a briefing on the Roaring Lion Wildfire that began Sunday five miles southwest of Hamilton.

Reports as of this morning said the wildfire has torched 11 square miles of the Bitterroot National Forest, expanding by as much as four miles between Tuesday and early Wednesday.

So far, residents of 630 homes have been evacuated and 14 houses along with other structures have been destroyed. Other people in the vicinity have been warned to prepare to evacuate.

Daines said Congress is looking at funding the fighting of wildfires the same way other natural disaster relief efforts involving hurricanes, tornados and flooding are funded through state and federal emergency programs.

Now, the U.S Forest Service must dip into its budget to pay for efforts to extinguish and contain wildfires.

Daines said that most fires are started by lightning and are not man-made. He said the inability to predict the ferocity of the wildfire season often prevents the forest service of knowing how much it will spend on firefighting, or how much it will have left for forest management.

He said establishing a separate fund to cover those expenses is common sense.

Land management

Daines said better forest management practices are also needed to clear out dead and dying timber which fuel wildfires.

“What is going on is the forests are producing more growth and that is just more fuels for fire,” he said. “A healthy forest is a managed forest.”

He said such forest management and timber projects help reduce the chance of wildfires, create jobs and generate revenue for communities.

Daines said he wants to streamline the process and make it harder for what he calls “fringe environmentalists” to file lawsuits to prevent timber projects and disrupt collaborative efforts between various stakeholders in local government, the logging industry, conservation groups and outdoor recreation organizations.

GMO labeling

The issue of labeling genetically modified crops has been a prevalent one in the agriculture community.

Congress recently passed and President Barack Obama recently signed a bill that would pre-empt a Vermont law that requires food products with genetically modified ingredients have a label on their packages.

The new law would pre-empt separate laws pushed by states that would mandate such labeling. Instead, under the new law, food companies would place a barcode on a food package. Consumers could then access that list of ingredients either by scanning the barcode with a smartphone, or calling a toll-free number on the product.

Proponents of GMO labeling said those without a smartphone or who are in areas with poor cellphone reception would be unable to access that list of ingredients. They said many who are shopping do not have the time to examine those ingredients and want a label that indicates if a food product contains genetically modified material.

Daines said he backs the bill that passed. He said more explicit labeling could discourage research and perpetuate the idea that genetically modified foods are not safe.

He said research that uses some genetically modified ingredients can be beneficial in improving crop yields as well as making them less susceptible to disease and insects.