David Hayes, Deputy Interior Secretary, told members of the House Natural Resources Committee yesterday that it wants to close the book, and look ahead, after a settlement announced in December that the Federal Government had reached a resolution with Blackfeet Tribal member Eloise Cobell, from Montana, ending a decades' long lawsuit alleging mismanagement of tribal trust funds drew criticism of exhorbitant lawyers' fees, meager payouts to victims and a lack of overall transparency.

A U.S. Governement Accountability Office report shows that in Region 1 of the U.S. Forest Service, which includes Montana and the Idaho Panhandle, as far as projects to reduce wildfire risk is concerned, environmental groups sue at the highest rate in the nation, and that Montana environmental groups file more lawsuits than any other in the country.

David Cole, after a 37 year career in state government, says the Schweitzer Administrastion forced him to quit last Friday, from his postion as Administrator of the Commerce Department's Community Devlopment Division, because he responded to Senator Dave Lewis's inquiry about $3.5 million in local government grants were being stalled. Governor Schweitzer's spokesperson, Sarah Elliott, says they didn't know anything about it til after it happened.

The Montana Environmental Information Center has won an open records battle with the city of Great Falls over documents concerning the proposed Highwood Generating Station Power Plant east of the Electric City. State District Judge E. Wayne Phillips cited "the clear constitutional right of Montana citizens to view documents of their Governmental entities." The ruling came nearly three years after the lawsuit was filed.

The Montana Trail Gallery has joined most of the business and property owners affected last year by a natural gas explosion in historic downtown Bozeman, in filing a lawsuit against Northwestern Energy, saying the company knew, or should have known, that its threaded connector, in the service line behind the Gallery, was substandard, and had the potential to fail.

Yesterday morning, an envelope, with a return address of Butte, armed with a triggering device, after being opened, dispersed a small amount of white powder in a room at the Department of Labor nad Industry, promoting officials to close the building's third floor and isolate three employees, as a precaution. It was a false alarm.

A national wind power lobby, American Wind Energy Association, says a proposal requiring recipients of federal clean-energy grants to use "made-in-America' parts will slow project development, and end up costing an estimated 1,000 jobs in Montana, while Sen. Jon Tester stands by the proposal, which says project developers qualifying for the grant must manufacture their project components in the United States.

Denbury Resources, one of the nation's top independent oil companies, based in Plano, Texas, could become Montana's largest oil producer. Shareholders are voting today on the $4.5 billion purchase of Encore Acquisition, currently the state's largest oil producer, with assets in the Williston, Big Horn and Powder River Basins, of Montana and North Dakota.

With one week remaining for candidates to file for office in Montana, nearly two thirds of the 126 contested legislative seats are without a candidate from one of the major two parties. Democrats haven't fielded a candidate yet in 46 legislative races, while Republicans have yet to sign someone up in 32 races. Republicans control the Senate by a 27-23 margin, and the house is tied 50-50.