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Doug Benevento’s nomination as EPA’s deputy administrator, imperiled by Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst’s anger with the agency over ethanol standards, is receiving a quiet boost from Montana’s Senate delegation. Both Republican Sen. Steve Daines and Democratic Sen. Jon Tester say they have lobbied their colleagues who sit on the Environment and Public Works Committee to support Benevento’s nomination. “Senator Tester supports Benevento’s confirmation and is hopeful his fellow senators will support him,” said Tester’s communications director, Sarah Feldman. “He believes Montana will continue to benefit” from Benevento’s “responsiveness on Superfund.” Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware, ranking Democrat on the EPW

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) on June 24 led a Republican bill that would remove the so-called Cottonwood decision, which the senator considers a roadblock to responsible forest management efforts on federal lands. “Even the Obama Administration agreed that the Cottonwood decision was flawed and crippled forest management,” Sen. Daines said last week. “This law has tied the hands of our land managers, prevented them from following the best available science in management decisions, and diverted resources for a paperwork exercise yielding no conservation benefit.” In 2015, the Ninth Circuit Court ruled in Cottonwood Environmental Law Center v. United States

Consistency is important especially when running a business but circumstances brought about by the pandemic have shifted the way people do business across our state. That holds true for the Sullivan family in Dixon. Right alongside the National Bison Range near Dixon sits the Sullivan family ranch. From the beginning, it’s been a family business. “When I met Chris, he had always wanted to do bison, and that sounded exciting to me. We started with just 20 young ones and built it into what we have today,” said Stacy Sullivan. Everything down to the logo was given careful thought and

U.S. Senator Steve Daines has announced that the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) will be directing $35,166,221 in Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) funds to Montana’s small and rural counties. Ravalli County will receive $2,671,717. “PILT payments provide critical support to Montana’s rural counties,” Daines said. “I’ve worked hard to support the PILT program which provides critical resources for essential services like emergency response efforts and transportation in Montana’s rural counties. Given the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, this funding is more important than ever.” The federal government directs PILT funds to local governments to offset the loss

Several employees stood among wooden dressers, dining room tables, couches and chairs to greet Sen. Steve Daines as he visited the showroom for Black Timber Furniture in Four Corners on Friday morning. Black Timber Furniture received $65,000 from the federal paycheck protection program, a $349 billion initiative that provides loans to small businesses. The program was part of the $2.2 trillion congressional coronavirus relief package. When Gov. Steve Bullock issued a stay-at-home order in late March, Black Timber owner Todd Fullerton had to close his Four Corners showroom. He was able to keep operating his Belgrade manufacturing facility because, as

A $1.9 billion measure to help settle a long-disputed water rights deal between the state and federal governments and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes received its first congressional hearing on June 24, with both of Montana’s U.S. senators and a senior Interior Department official praising the legislation as the best course of action to avoid costly litigation, modernize outmoded irrigation systems in the Flathead Valley and mitigate historic damage to natural resources. Introduced last December by U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana, and co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, the Montana Water Rights Protection Act is the product of