Watch Montana’s Entire Congressional Delegation Demand Action To Stop Continued Wildfires
Montana's entire congressional delegation, Senators Jon Tester and Steve Daines, and Representative Greg Gianforte, have all addressed their various houses and demanded Congressional action on Montana's seemingly unending summer wildfires.
All three of Montana's delegation showed charts, graphs and dramatic photos to their fellow politicians to highlight the need for reforming the nation's forest management policies to allow greater access in federal lands, so that billions of dead and dying trees could be cut and removed, thus lessening the amount of fuel that feeds Montana's wildfires.
Congressman Gianforte went so far as to compare the effect of Montana's wildfires to the destruction that a a hurricane such as Harvey or now Irma, inflicts on a state or region.
Daines asked his fellow Senators to rework the Endangered Species Act, and the Equal Access to Justice Act so that meaningful forest restoration can occur without undue opposition from environmental groups who tie up timber sales in federal courts for years on end.
Tester went so far as to say that ranchers in eastern Montana have removed metal shoes on their horses, so that sparks from the horseshoes might not ignite a grass fire, and that children in Seeley Lake had their first day of school cancelled due to fire danger.
Whether the pleas of our Congressional delegation are heeded by the House and the Senate will have to be seen..