At the behest of oil and gas industry lobbyists, some members of Congress are trying to permanently eliminate the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Methane Waste Rule. The BLM Methane Waste Rule reduces the amount of natural gas that is wasted … Continued
On January 15, 2016, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell issued a Secretarial Order initiating a programmatic review of federal coal policies and management. As over 40% of the coal mined in the United States is publicly-owned, the review is … Continued
On March 14, the Powder River Basin Resource Council, WORC, and The Wilderness Society filed motions in Wyoming federal district court to intervene in litigation brought by Cloud Peak Energy against the Department of the Interior’s federal coal royalty valuation … Continued
NOTE: Alma Winberry of Great Falls participated in Northern Plains’ first Lobby Day of the 2017 session on Jan. 25. Here are her thoughts on learning to be a grassroots lobbyist. At the Northern Plains Resource Council’s Lobby Day at … Continued
It’s been a rocky ride for coal export proposals out of the Pacific Northwest. Back in 2012, there were six coal export projects in Oregon and Washington state. This month, for the first time in six years, there are zero … Continued
Use of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to rollback Obama Administration rules has been a subject of controversy since the start of the Trump Administration. The CRA is an obscure process used only one time prior to 2017. Organizations, pundits, … Continued
Mountain West voters weighed in on the Trump Administration’s priorities for managing the use and protection of national public lands in a new Colorado College State of the Rockies Project Conservation in the West Poll released today. The poll surveyed … Continued
A family farm and ranch organization filed a motion January 13 in U.S. District Court alongside conservation groups to defend a pause in the outdated federal coal leasing program against a legal challenge. The coal leasing pause was put in … Continued
A January 11 report on the review of the federal coal program received praise from members of WORC. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced the review a year ago in response to calls from citizens across the nation, including … Continued
Get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts by Western Native Voice helped to increase Native American turnout on Montana’s seven Native reservations. Phone calls, rides to the polls, and door knocking bumped turnout in Native communities from 57 percent in 2012 to 59 percent … Continued