montana legislature
Challenging 2007 Montana Legislature Comes to a Close
The Montana Legislature has been in the news—from the special session focused on the state's budget to the political wrangling caused by party politics. Missing from this discussion has been a summary of what wildlife and environmental legislation passed and died.
This article summarizes the conservation successes and failures of the 2007 Montana Legislature—from Audubon’s point of view—for both the regular session ending in April and the special session held in May. Once again Audubon had a strong presence, working hard to protect conservation programs and laws. Janet Ellis led our lobbying effort, a position she has held since 1983. She was ably assisted by intern Molly Immen, who kept Janet organized, conducted much needed background research, sent out alerts to our members, and helped with testimony.
So how did Montana Audubon do at the 2007 Montana Legislature? The numbers make this session look successful: Montana Audubon opposed 18 bills—and all 18 were defeated. We supported 42 pieces of legislation, with 22 of these bills passing and 20 defeated. However, a closer look at the details reveal that the efforts of Audubon and other conservation groups could be characterized as a lot of hard work just to keep existing environmental laws and programs intact—with little success passing significant conservation legislation. The Bill Summary page has a more complete list of the bills we worked on.
Bill signing ceremony for SB 363, which prevents governments from taking your property and then allowing it to be used to build a Wal-Mart or other business. Montana Audubon led efforts to pass this bill. Individuals in the picture include: (back row) Tim Davis, MT Smart Growth Coalition; Mark Aagenes, MT Trout Unlimited; Janet Ellis, Montana Audubon; Senator Dave Lewis, R-Helena; (front row): Governor Brian Schweitzer, and bill sponsor Senator Christine Kaufmann, D-Helena.
Wildlife and Wildlife Habitat
Several pieces of legislation were introduced to increase protection of Montana’s wildlife. The main wildlife bills that passed with Audubon’s support included legislation: (1) funding wildlife programs focused on rare fish and wildlife (specifically, State Wildlife Grants and the Montana Natural Heritage Program); (2) establishing a state program that will compensate livestock owners for known wolf kills, which should help make landowners more tolerant of these predators (HB 364, Sponsor: Representative Malclom, R-Emigrant); and (3) ending the termination date of both the future fisheries program, focused on stream restoration (SB 126, Sponsor: Senator Gallus, D-Butte), and the instream flow program, which allows Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks to lease water rights so streams are not de-watered (SB 128, Sponsor: Senator Laslovich, D-Anaconda).
The most significant anti-wildlife bill that Audubon played a leadership role in defeating sought to have the state pay for an anti-wolf groups’ lawsuit against the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (HB 343, Sponsor: Rep. Rice, R-Harrison). This bill stayed alive until the bitter end of the session. Additionally, another bill would have eliminated the license requirement for certain fish ponds (HB 439, Sponsor: Rep. Koopman, R-Bozeman). Audubon opposed this measure because exotic wildlife introduced into fish ponds can significantly impact native aquatic species—and the only way to educate landowners about this threat is through the licensing program. Although HB 439 passed the legislature (on a very close vote), it was thankfully vetoed by the Governor.
An important pro-wildlife bill that was defeated involved Audubon-initiated legislation that would have allowed conservation easements on school trust land (SB 391, Sponsor: Senator Weinberg, D-Whitefish). The purpose of school trust land is to provide income for Montana’s schools, which is generally done by charging fees for grazing, timber, oil and gas, and recreational use. However, in recent years, the state has been interested in developing parcels to increase revenue for schools. As an example, a Lowe’s Home Improvement store was built on school trust land near Kalispell. By allowing conservation easements to be purchased, the state could raise significant revenue for schools, but protect traditional revenue-making uses (grazing, timber harvest, etc.)—which is better wildlife habitat than buildings and parking lots. Although this bill passed the Senate, it was killed in the House on a close (49 - 51) vote. Consequently, the legislature committed to conducting an interim study to determine if a consensus could be reached on this issue.
Land Use Planning
Audubon considers uncontrolled development one of the most serious threats to Montana and its wildlife, because it damages and destroys areas important for wildlife, fisheries, and water quality; and spreads noxious weeds. The most positive land use planning bill that passed sets up incentives for cities and counties to work together to encourage development closer to cities—thus discouraging urban sprawl (SB 201, Sponsor: Senator Rick Laible, R-Darby). Land use bills that we helped defeat included HB 557, which will make it impossible for local governments to regulate gravel pits (Sponsor: Rep. Heinert, R-Libby). This bill would have specifically impacted Missoula County, which recently turned down a gravel pit that would have been located within the floodplain of the Clark Fork River and Audubon’s Clark Fork River/Grass Valley Important Bird Area.
Clean Water
Our biggest disappointment of the legislature came with the defeat of Audubon-initiated legislation that would have protected wildlife habitat, water quality, and property by establishing a new building setback of 250 feet from the high-water mark of major rivers (SB 345, Sponsor: Senator Bob Hawks, D-Bozeman). The coalition to pass this legislation grew substantially this session, with numerous Realtors, Floodplain Administrators, the Governor, and 3 county governments joining conservation groups in supporting the bill’s passage. Passing landmark legislation takes lots of work, political will, and a strong coalition of supporters. Although we made progress this session on several of these fronts, the 2007 Montana Legislature ultimately killed our bill.
Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA)
MEPA is the law that requires government agencies to examine the environmental impacts of permits—prior to issuing a permit. In its simplest terms, MEPA institutes a “look before you leap” policy by requiring state agencies to consider the environmental, social, cultural, and economic impacts of proposals like mines, power plants, subdivisions, and timber sales before the project is approved. Audubon was instrumental in defeating two very damaging MEPA bills: (1) HB 405 (Sponsor: Rep. Lange, R-Billings) would have exempted all energy projects from review under MEPA—everything from large power plants to pipelines; and (2) HB 610 (Sponsor: Keane, D-Butte) which would have prohibited lawsuits under MEPA, removing all accountability for agencies when they review projects for environmental impacts. Both of these bills had 9 lives, and it took lots of work to ultimately defeat them.
Recreation & the Environment
Audubon is an advocate for conservation of our resources by all recreational users. In spite of the lobbying efforts spearheaded by Montana Trout Unlimited, the biggest loss came with the defeat of SB 78. This bill would have provided certainty for recreationists, county government officials, and landowners by clarifying public access at bridges to streams and rivers, thereby reducing the potential for litigation.
Thanks to our Grassroots Activists
This year Audubon’s grassroots network was plugged into events at the Capitol through our email network. This system worked well—it was fast and easy to send out detailed, up-to-the-minute information. If you would like to sign up for our email alert network, you can do it by clicking here: Be an Armchair Activist.
At the end of every legislative session, Audubon compiles a report on significant votes on a variety of issues. If you would like to see how your legislators voted on conservation bills, we can mail you a copy of the voting record, or you can download a copy from our Montana Legislative Voting Record page.
For more information or questions about our legislative work, contact Janet Ellis at 406-443-3949 or jellis@mtaudubon.org.
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