Missoulian: Tenderfoot Creek drainage land acquired by Forest Service
HELENA – Speakers at the Capitol on Friday celebrated the newest addition to the Lewis and Clark National Forest by rallying behind the uncertain future of the fund that made the acquisition a reality. Gov. Steve Bullock, U.S. Sens. Steve Daines and Jon Tester, and USDA Undersecretary Robert Bonnie were among those who supported reauthorizing the Land and Water Conservation Fund at a celebration for completion of the Tenderfoot Legacy Project. The project was an eight-year, $10.7 million effort between the Bair Ranch Foundation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Tenderfoot Trust and the U.S. Forest Service to place more than 8,200 acres
Roll Call: OPM Hack Snares Senators
Despite a number of congressional hearings and classified briefings, lawmakers are frustrated by the lack of information relating to the recent Office of Personnel Management data breaches, and it is now clear some lawmakers’ records may have been affected. At least two current senators who were not federal employees were notified their information may have been compromised, signaling that retirement records for former House members may have been compromised in the first security breach, which the OPM announced on June 4. Sens. John Boozman, R-Ark., and Steve Daines, R-Mont., received letters from the OPM saying their personal identifiable information such as
Daines Statement on Resignation of OPM Director
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Steve Daines today released the following statement in response to the resignation of Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Katherine Archuleta. “Director Archuleta’s resignation is an important first step in restoring accountability at OPM—however, OPM’s consistent failure to properly address and react to these cyber attacks results from a much larger, systemic lack of accountability within the Obama administration,” Daines stated. “It’s time for President Obama to place a higher premium on our nation’s security and the privacy of our federal employees and put qualified, competent leaders in place, including a new Chief Information Officer, instead of
Daines Honors Montanan of the Week: Ben Steele of Billings
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Steve Daines today honored Ben Steele, a World War II veteran of Billings, for his exceptional service to the nation and the Billings community. During the war, Steele served in the Philippines and survived the Bataan Death March. After World War II Steele studied art at the University of Denver and later taught at Montana State University – Billings. Through his “Montanan of the Week” initiative, Daines each week will highlight a Montanan by submitting a statement of recognition in the official Congressional Record, the document that reflects the official proceedings of Congress. Daines’ recognition in
Daines: Latest OPM Report Affirms Need for New Leadership
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Steve Daines today reiterated his calls for new leadership at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in light of new reports that more than 21.5 Americans were victims of a mass breach of the OPM’s personnel database. This reported hack is in addition to the more than 4.2 million breached records originally announced by OPM last month. “The systemic failures and lack of accountability at OPM is staggering and completely unacceptable. The breach reported today is five times larger than OPM’s initial reports and not only affects federal employees, but employees’ family and friends, government contractors and countless
Daines Fights to Increase State, Local Role in Schools and Education
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Steve Daines is working to increase local control in Montana students’ education by giving states greater flexibility in allocating federal funds to schools. Earlier today, Daines took to the Senate floor to introduce an amendment to the Every Child Achieves Act of 2015. Daines’ Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success (A-PLUS) amendment increases states’ ability to allocate federal education funding in a way that best fits students’ unique needs, frees states from burdensome federal regulations, and better ensures academic achievement in schools. Video of Daines’ remarks are available to download here and viewed here. “Increasing educational
Helena Independent Record: Fire experts warn Daines of worst wildfire season in years
BILLINGS — Montana is bracing for its worst wildfire season in years, officials told U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont. Speaking to Daines during a Thursday fire briefing in Billings, federal and state agencies said that extremely early snowmelt in western Montana and increasing thunderstorms in the east are setting the state up for a tough wildfire season. Western wildfire conditions are as bad as they’ve been in years. Eastern Montana, still green from spring rains, is now beginning to dry out with thunderstorms expected to deliver more lightning than soaking rain in coming weeks. “We’re now in July. June, May,
KULR8: Senator Daines: It’s Time To Start Classifying Wildfires As Natural Disasters
Why isn’t a wildfire classified as a natural disaster? That’s one question Senator Steve Daines asked the crowd at Thursday’s Eastern Montana Fire Briefing. The conference was held with the Department of Natural Resources and Fire Conservation (DNRC) outside of the Southern Lands Office in Billings to address current and future wildfire activity. There, Daines expressed his support for a bill that would classify wildfires as natural disasters, and respond to them accordingly. “Like a tornado, or a hurricane. The reason that’s important is then the Forest Service can receive funding through a different avenue than having to take dollars
Helena Independent Record: Daines lauds Ten Mile efforts, calls for forest management reforms
U.S. Sen. Steve Daines toured timber projects in the Ten Mile drainage Tuesday, saying he wanted to see firsthand the combined efforts of state and federal agencies to provide jobs while managing the forest and reducing the risk of wildfire to the watershed. Daines toured the active Red Mountain Flume-Chessman Reservoir project and the proposed Tenmile-South Helena project with officials from the U.S. Forest Service, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and the city of Helena. The trip was a chance to see the Forest Service and DNRC working together under a joint stewardship agreement to actively manage the