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<title>Montana Policy Institute -  Roundup</title>
<description>Because Liberty Makes all the Difference</description>
<link>http://www.montanapolicy.org/</link>
<language>en-us</language>

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<title>BREAKING: Analysis of MPI v MT Decision</title><description><![CDATA[
	This week Judge McCarter&nbsp;ruled&nbsp;in favor of the&nbsp;Montana Policy Institute&nbsp;to issue a&nbsp;writ of mandamus&nbsp;against the state, forcing the state to provide the think tank with employee compensation information stored in electronic databases.

	Read full analysis here
]]></description><pubDate>January 31, 2012, 1:06 pm</pubDate><link>http://www.montanapolicy.org/main/news.php?news_id=1036</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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<title>State issues MT mine with 27 citations</title><description><![CDATA[
	&nbsp;

	&nbsp;A Montana precious metals mine received 27 citations in recent safety inspections triggered by the death of a worker.

	The Mine Safety and Health Administration says 11 of the citations issued to Stillwater Mining Co. were for significant violations of mine safety regulations.

	Forty-two-year-old Dale Madson was killed at Stillwater&#39;s platinum and palladium mine near Nye in October. Madson crashed while driving a piece of equipment 1,200 feet underground.

	Subsequent problems found by inspectors range from spilled fuel that could pose a fire hazard and loose rocks that could fall on miners, to a secondary escape route that was padlocked shut.

	For more of this Helena Independent Record Story, Click Here
]]></description><pubDate>January 27, 2012, 12:41 pm</pubDate><link>http://www.montanapolicy.org/main/news.php?news_id=1035</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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<title>MT Watchdog: Montana GOP Race Up for Grabs</title><description><![CDATA[
	&nbsp;By all accounts the Republicans will likely have already chosen a presidential candidate by the time Montana voters go to the polls in June.
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &ldquo;Historically speaking, the nomination is usually decided long before Montanans cast a vote,&rdquo; state Republican Party Chairman&nbsp;Bowen Greenwood&nbsp;said.
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; That doesn&rsquo;t mean Republicans in the state aren&rsquo;t watching closely ahead of what could be a pivotal primary in Florida next Tuesday.
	&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Touching base with party officials and political experts around the state,&nbsp;Montana Watchdog&nbsp;found most political insiders uncertain about which candidate has the most support in Montana at this point.

	For More of this Montana Watchdog story, Click Here

	&nbsp;
]]></description><pubDate>January 26, 2012, 10:12 am</pubDate><link>http://www.montanapolicy.org/main/news.php?news_id=1034</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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<title>Canadian and U.S. Gov'ts Take Turns Meddling in Timber Industry</title><description><![CDATA[
	&nbsp;

	A renewed deal restricting Canadian lumber imports should be good for Montana sawmills, wood products dealers agreed on Wednesday.

	The United States and Canada signed a two-year extension of their softwood lumber agreement on Monday.

	&quot;It&#39;s pretty important they went ahead and renewed it,&quot; said Sherm Anderson, owner of Sun Mountain Lumber in Deer Lodge. &quot;Once the housing market rebounds, it will be an issue for everyone.&quot;

	The treaty grew out of disputes in the 2000s where American lumber firms accused Canadians of unfairly subsidizing timber sales on provincial public land. Before the original deal was signed in 2006, the U.S. government had levied almost $5 billion in tariffs and fines on Canadian lumber exporters.

	The agreement sets limits on how much lumber Canada can export before facing increased border tariffs. It also provides a mediation forum to settle disputes over pricing and supply.

	In the past five years of the treaty, U.S. firms have had to repeatedly use that dispute forum to settle cases, according to Zoltan van Heyningen of the U.S. Lumber Coalition. Independent judges have ruled against Canada several times for misgrading or mispricing lumber exports.

	According to reports in the Winnipeg Free Press, Canadian exports to the U.S. have fallen from $19 billion in 2004 to $6 billion in 2010. The first 11 months of 2011 recorded just $2.6 billion in U.S. exports, with British Columbia providing 58 percent of that supply.

	Much of Canada&#39;s lumber has been redirected to China in the past two years. That&#39;s opened some welcome headroom in the domestic lumber market, according to Sun Mountain mill manager Tony Colter. The 150-worker mill is running two shifts making 2-by-4 and 2-by-6 studs for the construction market.

	&quot;The Canadian (timber) industry and government are basically partners,&quot; Colter said. &quot;The way they subsidize stumpage gives them an economic advantage in the cost of raw material.&quot;

	But the collapse of the U.S. housing market and the growing parity of the U.S. and Canadian dollars has also discouraged imports from north of the border. Forest Business Network President Craig Rawlings said that provided a period of relative calm to extend the treaty.

	&quot;Having no new modifications was the key,&quot; Rawlings said. &quot;If there had been any, there could have been a big war over the changes.&quot;

	Montana U.S. Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester, both Democrats, and Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg all hailed the agreement extension this week.

	&quot;While I join Montana&#39;s struggling timber industry in celebrating the extension of this agreement with Canada, I&#39;m also hopeful that everyone will start living up to their end of the bargain in good faith,&quot; Rehberg said in an email. &quot;Our timber work force faces a perfect storm of economic challenges. From inside our borders, well-funded obstructionists abuse the courts to block Montana jobs while unfair competitive practices undercut them from north of the border. The agreement is a good one, as it is currently written. We just need to do a better job with enforcement.&quot;

	&quot;This agreement offers more certainty, supply and fair competition for Montana&#39;s mills and the men and women whose jobs depend on them,&quot; Tester said in an email. &quot;But we have more work to do to make sure Montana&#39;s timber industry always remains a strong part of Montana&#39;s economy, which is why I&#39;ll continue finding common ground to create more opportunities in Montana forests.&quot;

	Tester said his pending Forest Jobs and Recreation Act would help bring more timber to Montana mills by requiring the U.S. Forest Service to release at least 10,000 acres a year of public land for logging and forest treatment. Rehberg, who is challenging Tester for his Senate seat this November, claims the timber jobs aren&#39;t guaranteed in the bill.

	Regardless how that works out, mill owners were happy to know the threat of Canadian competition was still restrained.



	Read more:&nbsp;http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/montana-sawmills-should-benefit-from-continued-restrictions-on-canadian-imports/article_ebb7d5a4-47cb-11e1-bc46-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz1kaGZX3iy
]]></description><pubDate>January 26, 2012, 9:51 am</pubDate><link>http://www.montanapolicy.org/main/news.php?news_id=1033</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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<title>MT Unemployment Drops, Many Rural Counties Remain in Double Digits</title><description><![CDATA[
	&nbsp;

	The state Labor Department says Montana&#39;s unemployment rate has dropped for a fifth straight month.

	Montana&#39;s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for December fell 0.3 percentage points to 6.8 percent in December. The national unemployment rate was 8.5 percent in December.

	Labor Commissioner Keith Kelly said Tuesday the state&#39;s employment growth gained momentum in the second half of 2011, in part due to a strong agricultural economy and the oil activity in the eastern part of the state.

	December&#39;s job counts show over 7,000 jobs added last year, including 1,660 jobs in December.



	Read more:&nbsp;http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/montana-unemployment-rate-falls-to-percent/article_84ed763a-46b3-11e1-9904-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz1kQAz7lfV
]]></description><pubDate>January 24, 2012, 4:26 pm</pubDate><link>http://www.montanapolicy.org/main/news.php?news_id=1032</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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<title>Millions in Federal Dollars Spent on MT Conservation Easements</title><description><![CDATA[
	&nbsp;

	For the first time ever, a well-established federal program is&nbsp;helping to fund new conservation easements in the Bitterroot Valley.

	The Federal Farm and Ranchlands Protection Program invested $6.5 million in conservation easements across Montana last year.

	Three of those were in the Bitterroot Valley.

	The Severson and Sunset Bench ranches in the Burnt Fork area east of Stevensville and the Downey family property up Willow Creek each qualified for funding under the federal program.

	&quot;We&#39;re excited to see this program as a viable source for voluntary agricultural land conservation in the Bitterroot,&quot; said Gavin Ricklefs, executive director of the Bitter Root Land Trust. &quot;It fits really well in the Bitterroot. It&#39;s nice to see those dollars coming here.&quot;

	The program focuses on conserving high-quality agricultural lands through conservation easements. The federal money is used to match other funding sources to pay for the easements.

	The program was established in the 2002 federal Farm Bill.

	Dennis Dellwo is a program specialist with the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, which administers the program in the state.

	Initially, Dellwo said the program focused its efforts on larger urban valleys in Missoula, Bozeman and Kalispell. Over the past few years, more areas of the state, including Ravalli County,&nbsp;are tapping into the money.

	&quot;They have the open space initiative to provide matching funds and land trusts for us to work with,&quot; Dellwo said. &quot;It works well. They sell the program, and we vet the project to ensure taxpayers are getting what they are supposed to be getting.&quot;

	Since its inception, Dellwo said, the federal program has helped fund 47 projects in Montana.

	This year, Dellwo expects the program to inject about $4 million into the state.

	&quot;It&#39;s really come alive,&quot; he said. &quot;Montana has a lot of good land trusts, and, with all those folks out there, it&#39;s not hard to put together good projects for land with a little effort.&quot;



	Read more:&nbsp;http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/federal-dollars-funding-conservation-easements-in-montana/article_ea53e4b6-9a90-5da3-97d9-088f5d143587.html#ixzz1kQATGrd1
]]></description><pubDate>January 24, 2012, 4:24 pm</pubDate><link>http://www.montanapolicy.org/main/news.php?news_id=1031</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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<title>MT House Seat Democrat Candidate Count: 7</title><description><![CDATA[
	&nbsp;

	The crowded Democratic field for Montana&rsquo;s open U.S. House race grew by another candidate Monday, as Melinda Gopher of Missoula said she is running again for Congress.

	Gopher&rsquo;s announcement raises to seven the number of Democrats running for the seat, while just one Republican is running.

	&ldquo;I think the fact that ordinary people are coming forward to run is a good thing,&rdquo; Gopher said Monday.&nbsp; &ldquo;We come into this certainly being the most identifiable candidate.&rdquo;

	Her message connected with voters in 2010, she said, despite raising &ldquo;a very scant amount of resources.&rdquo;&nbsp; Gopher said she had name identification in 2010 because of her family&rsquo;s past work in Montana.

	Another 2010 House candidate, Sam Rankin of Billings, said he is testing the waters before deciding whether to jump into the race as a Democrat.

	&ldquo;I think that number (of candidates) indicates just the frustration the American public has with Congress and politics in general,&rdquo; Rankin said. &ldquo;The extremism brought on by the way we finance our political campaigns, I believe, is ruining our country.&rdquo;

	Both Gopher, a writer, and Rankin, a real estate salesman, lost to the Democratic nominee, Dennis McDonald, in the four-way House primary in June 2010.&nbsp; Gopher placed third in the primary with 21 percent of the vote, while Rankin was last with 16 percent.

	McDonald was easily defeated in the general election by Republican U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, who is running this year for the U.S. Senate, challenging Democratic incumbent Sen. Jon Tester.

	Gopher said on her blog she considered running against Tester, who she believes has done &ldquo;a lackluster job.&rdquo;&nbsp; But she said she ultimately decided against challenging Tester because it would be &ldquo;too damaging and ultimately would position Rep. Rehberg to overtake him.&rdquo;

	While she has received much encouragement to run in either race, Gopher said the strongest support came for her to run for the open House seat being vacated by Rehberg.

	&ldquo;In the peace tradition of the Anishinabe (Ojibwe) , I am the best candidate to represent Montana in the U.S. House,&rdquo; the Native American candidate said. &ldquo;I believe American politics has become a sleaze-fest for the rich and powerful.&rdquo;

	For more of this Helena Independent Record Story, Click Here
]]></description><pubDate>January 24, 2012, 4:22 pm</pubDate><link>http://www.montanapolicy.org/main/news.php?news_id=1030</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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<title>Ravalli commish consider no quota and longer seasons for wolf hunting</title><description><![CDATA[
	&nbsp;

	Ravalli County commissioners released the first draft of their predator control policy on Tuesday, one that calls for no quota, longer hunting seasons and trapping for wolves in the Bitterroot Valley.

	Commission Chairman Matt Kanenwisher emphasized that the purpose of the policy is to bring a proposal on predator management policies to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. It is to &quot;give people of Ravalli County a voice,&quot; he said.

	&quot;Ravalli County has never asserted that the county has the ability to manage wolves,&quot; Kanenwisher said. &quot;We don&#39;t have the authority to do that.&quot;

	Commissioner Greg Chilcott said the policy is often mischaracterized.



	Read more:&nbsp;http://missoulian.com/news/local/ravalli-county-commissioners-release-draft-wolf-control-policy/article_f6c12d80-4251-11e1-8178-001871e3ce6c.html#ixzz1jvEIzH6q
]]></description><pubDate>January 19, 2012, 9:24 am</pubDate><link>http://www.montanapolicy.org/main/news.php?news_id=1029</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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<title>Hardin man enters race for Montana's House seat</title><description><![CDATA[
	&nbsp;

	Jason Ward, road construction manager for the Crow Tribe and a farmer, has filed as a Democrat for Montana&rsquo;s lone seat in the U.S. House.

	Ward&rsquo;s candidacy brings to six the number of Democrats running for the open House seat, along with one Republican. The Hardin man filed for office Friday.

	A Crow tribal member, Ward, 34, is the lone American Indian candidate in the U.S. House race and said he hopes that will help his chances, but added:

	&ldquo;I really hope that it&rsquo;s my ideas that resonate with the people, rather than because I&rsquo;m Native American or any of that other superficial stuff. Maybe I&rsquo;m na&iuml;ve, but I really hope people think the same way I do.&rdquo;

	Ward, who hasn&rsquo;t sought office previously, said he stands out as the only House candidate who is not a politician.

	&ldquo;I think people are looking for a person that actually knows what it&rsquo;s like to make a living these days,&rdquo; Ward said. &ldquo;So I thought I&rsquo;ll see if that&rsquo;s the case.&rdquo;

	Ward said he&rsquo;s hasn&rsquo;t been involved in politics at the local level. He said he read both parties&rsquo; platforms and listened to what candidates have said on television and found the Democratic Party a better fit.

	For more of this Helena Independent Record story, click here
]]></description><pubDate>January 19, 2012, 9:21 am</pubDate><link>http://www.montanapolicy.org/main/news.php?news_id=1028</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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<title>Search on for new Political Practices Commissioner following Gallik resignation</title><description><![CDATA[
	&nbsp;

	Political Practices Commissioner Dave Gallik officially resigned Wednesday, in the wake of allegations that he was spending state time on his private law practice &mdash; and the search for his successor immediately touched off a partisan dispute.

	Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat, asked state legislative leaders to give him a list of nominees by next Wednesday for the next commissioner, which he appoints. The governor isn&rsquo;t obliged to choose a commissioner from the list recommended by legislators and can select anyone he wants.

	Yet Senate President Jim Peterson, R-Buffalo, said Republican leaders wanted more time, because a week isn&rsquo;t sufficient to come up the right person for the politically sensitive and important post of commissioner.

	&ldquo;Given the last two misfires, we need to take a little more time here and describe a little bit more what we&rsquo;re looking for, and allow some time for applications,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We need to find someone who is as nonpolitical as possible.&rdquo;



	Read more:&nbsp;http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/schweitzer-seeks-commissioner-nominations-in-wake-of-gallik-resignation/article_6098eea0-5cc6-5118-8c02-b69299339a75.html#ixzz1jvCRQPIh
]]></description><pubDate>January 19, 2012, 9:18 am</pubDate><link>http://www.montanapolicy.org/main/news.php?news_id=1027</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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<title>Governor Candidate Names Sonju As Runningmate</title><description><![CDATA[
	&nbsp;

	Rick Hill, Republican candidate for governor, announced his runningmate today.

	Sen. Jon Sonju, 36, is a Kalispell native and a Flathead High School graduate who received a bachelor&#39;s degree in sociology and a minor in political science from Montana State University-Billings. He is sales director of Sonju Industries, a family business involved in aerospace manufacturing.

	He served in House from 2005 to 2011 and was elected to the Senate in 2010.

	He and his wife, Tania,, have two children.

	For more of this Helena Independent Record Story, Click Here
]]></description><pubDate>January 18, 2012, 2:01 pm</pubDate><link>http://www.montanapolicy.org/main/news.php?news_id=1026</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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<title>Environmental Special Interests Win Out As Obama Puts Brakes on Pipeline Plan</title><description><![CDATA[
	&nbsp;

	&nbsp;President Barack Obama says he&#39;s denying an application for a Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline because a GOP-mandated deadline didn&#39;t allow time for a full review.

	Obama says his decision isn&#39;t a judgment on the merits of the proposed $7 billion pipeline. Rather, he&#39;s citing the &quot;arbitrary nature&quot; of the Feb. 21 deadline that was set by a GOP-written provision in a recent tax bill that Obama signed.

	The president says in a statement that he&#39;s disappointed that Republicans in Congress forced the decision. Obama had until late next month to decide whether the pipeline was in the national interest.

	Administration officials says the looming deadline cut short the time needed to conduct environmental reviews after the State Department ordered the project developer to find an alternate route to avoid environmentally sensitive areas of Nebraska.

	The 1,700-mile pipeline would carry oil from tar sands in western Canada to refineries in Texas. It would pass through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma.



	Read more:&nbsp;http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/obama-no-on-oil-pipeline-more-review-needed/article_fba89120-fcb1-535f-b253-750bacd64831.html#ixzz1jqUa15B2
]]></description><pubDate>January 18, 2012, 1:58 pm</pubDate><link>http://www.montanapolicy.org/main/news.php?news_id=1025</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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<title>Former Montana Judge Pleads Guilty to Bribery Charges</title><description><![CDATA[
	&nbsp;

	At a hearing in U.S. District Court on Friday morning, a city judge from Butte pleaded guilty to a single charge of bribery, telling Judge Dana L. Christensen, &quot;What&#39;s written there, sir, is what I did.&quot;

	Steven J. Kambich, a city judge for Butte/Silverbow County since 2004, was accused by federal prosecutors of accepting cash and check payments totaling more than $13,000 in exchange for leniency in at least 10 cases that came before him in 2008 and 2009.

	In pleading guilty, Kambich acknowledged that he was aware he faces up to 10 years imprisonment, up to $250,000 in fines, mandatory restitution, and supervised release of up to three years. Christensen set a sentencing hearing in the case for April 13 at 10 a.m., releasing Kambich on his own recognizance until that hearing.

	Wearing a black suit coat and dress shirt, tan khakis and a yellow-and-black striped tie, Kambich responded to questions from Christensen with little emotion and few words. When asked how he wished to plead in the case, Kambich simply responded, &quot;Guilty, sir.&quot;

	For more of this Helena Independent Record story, click here.&nbsp;
]]></description><pubDate>January 16, 2012, 12:06 pm</pubDate><link>http://www.montanapolicy.org/main/news.php?news_id=1024</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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<title>Montana Considers Expanding Bison Hunting</title><description><![CDATA[
	&nbsp;

	Bison that wander beyond designated tolerance areas in Montana could be shot by hunters outside regular hunting seasons under a proposal from wildlife officials.

	The proposal will be considered by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks commissioners on Jan. 19.

	The move to expand bison hunting comes after state officials ran into stiff resistance on recent proposals to give bison more room to roam outside Yellowstone National Park. That includes allowing bison into the Hebgen Basin north of the park and relocating some of the animals to new areas.

	A lawsuit filed in state District Court Wednesday by property rights groups and landowners would block a planned relocation of 68 bison to the Fort Peck and Fort Belknap reservations. Two more suits are pending over bison in the Hebgen Basin.



	Read more:&nbsp;http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/state-proposes-expansion-of-bison-hunting/article_1808e558-406a-11e1-b44b-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz1jeJlJXe6
]]></description><pubDate>January 16, 2012, 12:00 pm</pubDate><link>http://www.montanapolicy.org/main/news.php?news_id=1023</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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<title>PMW Special: Rick Santorum- Lucky, legit, or a threat to the family?</title><description><![CDATA[
	Rick Santorum has shot into the spotlight following his recent Iowa victories, fortunate enough to peak so late into the race he didn&#39;t have the opportunity to receive the scrutiny of a frontrunner. However, he now has the disadvantage of being both&nbsp;far behind in the polls in every other state&nbsp;as well as receiving the maximum scrutiny. Doesn&#39;t seem good.

	Click here for the full scoop - disclaimer: silliness, humor, and hard politics to follow.
]]></description><pubDate>January 5, 2012, 10:37 am</pubDate><link>http://www.montanapolicy.org/main/news.php?news_id=1022</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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