In our Montana Legislature, Senate Bill 260 is atrocious. If passed, this bill could cost Montana hundreds of millions of dollars. Similar bills have been enacted in other states, only to be repealed a few years later because they are so very costly to the states. Similar bills have also been introduced in past Montana […]

Are you kidding me? According to the “Rural Montana Foundation,” astroturf not grassroots, ranches are overrun with elk. I’m sure everyday Montana hunters would love access to same, but something tells me they can’t get it. These elk are basically locusts, yet these poor ranchers somehow can’t entice hunters to reduce their numbers. Not even […]

I was pleased to read in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle that Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) re-introduced the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (NREPA) to the U.S. House of Representatives last Wednesday. NREPA leaves no Roadless Areas as “sacrifice zones.” All inventoried roadless areas in the Northern Rockies bioregion would be designated as wilderness under the […]

Daines should recognize importance of public lands Montana’s public lands are priceless. They generate annual revenues that sustain Montana’s tourism economy. A Bozeman-Yellowstone alliance was established 150 years ago this summer. The 1871 Hayden Survey explored the territory that would become Yellowstone National Park. The expedition, based at Fort Ellis, was comprised of thirty four […]

A Newspaper Column from Evan Barrett March 16, 2021 Passage of SB 215, with a shadow title of “Establish the Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” opens the door for advancing discrimination in Montana, changing us from an open and tolerant state to one of bigotry and intolerance. Let’s look at history.  Twenty-nine years ago, Billings set […]

It is bad enough that Sen. Steve Daines opposes the historic nomination of Rep. Deb Haaland to be Secretary of Interior. The irony of his statement that, “Her confirmation will hurt Montana & the Western way of life as we know it,” is beyond belief given that, unlike Daines, her ancestors have lived in the […]

Montana’s Legislature is considering a bill, House Bill 505, which would provide private landowners with ten non-resident, either-sex elk tags for commercial distribution, so long as they own 640 acres or more and happen to live in a unit at elk management objective. All resident Montana hunters should oppose this legislation that would unfairly carve […]

In the hearing to consider the nomination of Deb Haaland as Interior Secretary, Sen. Bernie Sanders characterized the US government’s treatment of Native Americans as, “Nothing less than shameful,” which is an apt description of Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines’ attitude toward Haaland. While several GOP senators displayed passive aggression, Daines displayed little restraint when […]

Mr. Van Dyke, thank you for so clearly exemplifying the hypocrisy of the GOP in your letter to the editor printed on March 7 in the BDC. You wrote, “People- please, think for yourselves and respect others’ rights to do the same.” Well, unless you are a woman who wants to access her right to […]

“January 6th, a very dark day for our country … I categorically condemn all violence…” Sheer nonsense, of course; we knew that all Republican Senators knew that Trump personally assembled those “domestic terrorists” breaking into our Capitol. All Republicans knew it days before voting. We and those Republicans saw many videos showing Trump telling them “Fight!” […]