Rocky Mtn. Front Heritage Act May Finally See a Vote
Thursday, December 4, 2014
CHOTEAU, Mont. - The Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act is expected to be voted on in Congress this week. Montana's Congressional delegation bundled the act into a package of eight bills attached to the National Defense Authorization Act. The Heritage Act was introduced three years ago, crafted seven years ago and it's the largest piece of legislation in the package. Choteau rancher and outfitter Dusty Crary was involved in the original planning.
"From the very get-go, it is just an insurance policy," says Crary. "There's nothing wrong with the Front. It is great just the way it is. Keep it the way it is."
The Heritage Act looks a little different than its last appearance, because of a compromise to release two wilderness study areas for other uses. Even so, the bill has detractors who say it's too limiting on development and motorized recreation and others who think it doesn't go far enough to protect lands and resources.
Senator-elect Steve Daines says Montanans want to see these bills move.
"As I traveled around Montana, Montanans were very clear in voicing their concerns about the partisan gridlock. They do not elect us to have an 'R' or a 'D' behind our name, but to have 'Montana' behind our names," Daines says.
The seven other bills in the bundle are the North Fork Watershed Protection Act, Cabin Fee Act, East Bench Irrigation District Act, Bureau of Reclamation Conduit Hydropower Development Equity and Jobs Act, BLM Permit Processing Improvement Act, the Grazing Improvement Act, and the Northern Cheyenne Lands Act - which rights an error made in 1900 during a reservation expansion when mineral rights were not transferred to the tribe.
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