In The News

A proposed Puget Sound shipping terminal for Montana coal is dead after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied it a permit Monday. Citing the fishing rights of the nearby Lummi Nation, Corps Col. John Buck determined that as currently proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal could not be permitted. Valued at $700 million, the port was to be located near Ferndale, Wash. The Lummi Nation had cited treaty rights in January 2015 when it asked the Army Corps to reject the project. “Today was a good day for the Constitution and treaties in general,” said Tim Ballew, of the Lummi Indian

A decision Monday from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers could spell the end to a controversial coal export terminal proposed near Ferndale, Washington. Colonel John Buck, commander of the Army Corp’s Seattle District, announced the decision at a meeting with Lummi Tribal leaders, saying the Gateway Pacific project would impact “treaty protected fishing rights” of Washington’s Lummi Nation,. The $700 million dollar Gateway Pacific Terminal was a proposed deep-water port to be located just north of Seattle. The project was backed by shipping company SSA Marine, along with its partners Cloud Peak Energy and Montana’s Crow Indian Tribe, who touted the terminal as a new port providing access to

Montana’s two U.S. Senators have joined a bipartisan coalition pushing to reauthorize the Secure Rural Schools program, which aids counties where most of the land is owned by the federal government and therefore does not create any tax revenue. The program, which in 2014 doled out more than $300 million, expired in late 2015 and the last authorized payments were sent to rural counties earlier this spring. The program is especially critical in places like Lincoln County, where the U.S. Forest Service holds a vast majority of the land. On April 29, Sens. Jon Tester and Steve Daines wrote a

(HELENA) Montana struck a deal with the feds allowing Montana’s five firefighting helicopters to respond to fires on federal land. Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation says that this agreement allows the helicopters to be used when lives are at risk or when the Governor declares a wildfire emergency. In 2015, state owned helicopters were not allowed to help due to policy issues. The state modified helicopters to comply with U.S. Forest Service regulations, but were still now allowed to respond. This deal has the support of Republican U.S. Senator Steve Daines, who says “It is great to see

Sen. Steve Daines and members of his staff toured the Montana Department of Veterans Affairs Equine Therapy Center near Helena on Thursday and learned about how the program helps veterans statewide. “We’re here to look at therapy that helps out veterans and experience it myself,” he said. The Montana VA Equine Therapy Center is the only center of its kind in the country and operated by the Montana VA. The facility specializes in Equine Assisted Psychotherapy, which uses horses for mental, physical and behavioral health therapy and personal development and is used to help treat post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse,

While the Air Force is making a decision about replacing UH-1N Huey helicopters at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Sen. Steve Daines has requested that the Air Force consider using National Guard helicopters in the meantime. The Montana Army National Guard has eight UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters based at Fort Harrison in Helena, and Daines, R-Mont., has asked the Air Force to consider using those to augment the existing Hueys at Malmstrom. The helicopters are used by the 40th Helicopter Squadron, which provides security in the missile field and can move quick reaction teams into the field if necessary. They also

Lawmakers are pressing the Air Force to use National Guard helicopters as soon as possible to protect nuclear missile facilities that are potentially vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Defense Department officials acknowledge that an aging fleet of nearly three dozen UH-1N Huey helicopters — a 911 force in the northern Great Plains —lacks the speed, range and payload capabilities to respond effectively if U.S. missile launchers were attacked. The Air Force conceded this week that the Pentagon still does not know how or when it will come up with a strategy for procuring more than $1 billion worth of helicopters to

Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) has requested a meeting with Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James to discuss the milestone A review for the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent System, congressional sources told Inside the Air Force this week. Daines previously questioned why the Air Force had not reached its milestone A decision for the Minuteman III’s replacement during an April 20 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing with Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall. Kendall assured Daines that GBSD’s timeline remains on track, but that his office was waiting on an independent cost estimate, a legal prerequisite to declaring milestone A. “So I have to

With the news of Conrad Burns’ passing late last week, Montanans lost a member of the family. From across the state, prayers were offered for Phyllis and the Burns family and fond memories were shared. Conrad was a dedicated husband to Phyllis and father to Garrett and Keely. He was an auctioneer, a high school referee, an agriculture broadcaster and founder of Northern Ag Network, a county commissioner, a U.S. senator and always a U.S. Marine. He loved his family, he loved Montana and he loved his country. And last Thursday, Burns passed away with his boots on — active