U.S. District Court Judge Alan Johnson has ordered federal wildlife officials to decide by January 20th whether Yellowstone-area grizzly bears should be delisted from the Endangered Species Act. That could speed up a potential handover of authority to Montana Wyoming and Idaho opening the door for grizzly bear hunting.
Eight Montana media organizations have petitioned to join a lawsuit concerning back-channel communications between Montana legislators lobbyists and stakeholders during drafting of bills. The lawsuit comes after legislative staff started redacting details about who state lawmakers are consulting with while drafting bills. The media petitioners argue by redacting the information legislators are violating the right to know provisions of the state Constitution.
A Federal Court in Texas has issued a nationwide injunction against enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act ruling it is likely unconstitutional. The new reporting requirement says millions of small businesses including in Montana must file a Beneficial Ownership Information Report with the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network by the end of the year. Non-compliance could mean fines ranging from $500 to $10,000 for each violation and up to two years of imprisonment.
Since shortly the COVID-19 pandemic began Montana has been the only state in the country not to provide federal health officials with aggregated data about the childhood immunizations required of public school students and the exemptions granted to families in certain circumstances. Montana’s contribution ended as the result of a 2021 law broadening the ability of individuals to secure exemptions to vaccine requirements.
Federal officials have discovered Huawei equipment on cell towers capable of capturing and disrupting highly restricted Defense Department communications including those used by the U.S. Strategic Command. A cell tower in rural Montana just 1,500 feet from a missile silo has the Chinese made equipment on it. The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote this week to authorize its removal through an annual defense bill that includes just over $3 billion for U.S. telecom companies.
Neptune Aviation Services in Missoula will partner with Aerotec and Concept to transition its airtanker fleet to Airbus A319 aircraft for wildland firefighting. The new fleet will carry at least 4,500 gallons of fire retardant surpassing the capacity of the current fleet. The gradual transition will see Neptune Aviation Services operate a mix of 10 to 15 aircraft with airbus providing support. The first converted aircraft is expected to be operation for the 2027 wildfire season.
Flathead Electric Cooperative has received nearly $3 million to mitigate wildfire risks in northwest Montana’s Essex area. The grant money from the federal Department of Energy will be used to trim back trees adjacent to power lines from West Glacier to Essex. Earlier this year Flathead Electric was awarded $10 million in federal grants to support similar wildfire mitigation efforts from Columbia Falls to West Glacier.
According to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis the economy in the Great Falls trade area grew by 7.45% from 2022 to 2023 topping $10 billion. This beat the statewide growth of 6.63%. Cascade County grew by 6.31% or $317,516 million to reach a total GDP of $5.35 billion.
A federal appeals court has upheld a law that could ban the social media app TikTok across the country. Separate litigation over Montana’s statewide TikTok ban has been on hold since May awaiting a conclusion in the federal case and TikTok signaled it would take the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court leaving Montana’s ban in limbo.
Laramie Wyoming based company Airloom Energy is proposing to build a new type of wind turbine in Carbon County. It plans to construct a large oval track with multiple 30 foot tall blades tied together. As the wind blows the blades travel along a track 100 feet in the air similar to a roller coaster to generate electricity.
