Press Releases

BOZEMAN, Mont. – U.S. Senator Steve Daines today announced that Montana will receive $1,500,000 from the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Bureau of Reclamation for local projects in Bozeman, Huntley and the Missouri River headwaters basin in southwestern Montana to improve water and energy efficiency and drought mitigation.  The Bureau of Reclamation funding will support three Montana projects through U.S. Department of Interior’s (DOI) WaterSMART Water and Energy Efficiency Grants. “WaterSMART grants have been successful in conserving water and will help Montana’s ag community get the resources that they need to stay in business,” Daines stated.  More information about grants awarded

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines moved forward forest management reforms to improve the health of Montana’s National Forests, create good-paying jobs and provide Montanans with the economic certainty they deserve. On Thursday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held a legislative hearing on draft legislation aimed at improving forest management and wildfire budgeting. Additionally, this draft legislation requires federal agencies to work with states to certify firefighting aircraft, personnel and support equipment in advance of the fire season so that resources are available when and where they are most needed. This furthers Senator Daines efforts from last summer. 

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines today released the following statement on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling to affirm a lower court’s order forbidding President Obama’s executive action on immigration. “Once again, President Obama’s regulatory overreach and abuse of power has been blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court.” In April, Daines joined 42 Senators in filing an amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court in support of a challenge by a majority of the nation’s governors and attorneys general of the states, including Montana, to the Obama Administration’s November 2014 executive actions on immigration.  ###

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines’ bill to improve the health of both Indian and federal forest land recently passed the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.   This action follows a June 8, 2016 legislative hearing in the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. “The status quo on federal lands is unacceptable and costing Montanans good paying jobs,” Daines stated. “We must pursue every tool available to make our forested lands healthier and get more Montana logs to our mills.” Click here to watch Daines’ remarks. Click here to download Daines’ remarks.  Daines’ bill, the Tribal Forestry Participation and Protection Act keeps both Indian forest land and

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines today stood up for Montanans’ civil liberties and voted against an amendment that gave the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) increased authority to examine electronic records through a secretive surveillance order without a warrant. “It’s important that we protect the homeland without trampling all over our constitutional rights and blatantly disregarding our civil liberties,” Daines stated. Daines voted against U.S. Senator John McCain’s (R-AZ) amendment that was offered to the FY2017 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.  Daines has long worked to protect Americans’ civil liberties and Fourth Amendment rights. Daines is an original co-sponsor

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines today released the following statement after Weyerhaeuser announced it is closing two mills in Columbia Falls:  “This is devastating news to the Columbia Falls community and the hardworking families who relied upon these good-paying jobs. This underscores the importance to urgently pass forest reform legislation to get Montana’s abundance of logs to our mills and keep good-paying jobs in our state. I will not sit idly by and watch Montana jobs disappear and families suffer as a result of frivolous lawsuits by fringe environmentalists and excessive regulations.”   Earlier today, Daines’ bill to improve the health of both

 U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines today stressed the importance of severe weather preparedness in a newly created Public Service Announcement (PSA). The locally targeted PSA, recorded in partnership with The Weather Channel television network, is airing on the network throughout the summer.  “Severe weather affects us all,” Daines stated.  “Our first line of defense against severe weather is preparedness. I encourage members of the community to create an emergency plan, practice that plan and always stay alert and weather-ready.” Dave Shull, CEO of The Weather Channel television network, said that “being prepared saves lives when severe weather is approaching. We are grateful

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines today announced that the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) has allocated $30,285,246 million in Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) funds to Montana’s rural counties. “These payments are essential for the health and safety of Montana’s rural counties,” Daines stated.  “The PILT program provides critical support for Montana’s rural and forested counties, but long-term certainty and permanent solutions are still needed. That’s why I’ve been pushing multiple efforts forward to reform our forest management policies and maintain a balanced natural resources portfolio to create good-paying jobs.”  Complete information on DOI’s PILT payments, including a county-by-county

U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines today hailed Judge Scott Skavdahl of the District Court of Wyoming’s ruling to strike down the Obama administration’s regulation on hydraulic fracturing on federal lands. “This is great news for Montana made energy and Montana made jobs,” Daines stated. “It’s important that the Obama administration’s over-regulation tyranny comes to an end. Yet another court decision confirms: President Obama can’t make laws with his phone and pen.”   On March 20, 2016, Daines blasted he Department of Interior’s new regulations on hydraulic fracturing on federally owned lands as a direct attack on American jobs and American