Lawsuit says State isn’t Managing Rivers for the Benefit of All

[For more information, please read source documents]

Graham Coppes entered the spring hopeful. Despite a slow start to winter, most western Montana river basins were reporting a near-average snowpack by April. But when warm May temperatures brought an underwhelming runoff, Coppes knew it would be a long, difficult summer for aquatic ecosystems and the $1.3 billion recreational economy they support. 

Slow-motion alarm set in as Coppes, a Missoula-based attorney, watched one blue-ribbon river after another dip to record lows. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks [FWP], which forecasted the difficult summer ahead in June, responded by partially or fully closing more than a dozen rivers to fishing after they reached low streamflow thresholds and high temperatures that can endanger trout.

In a lawsuit filed on Aug. 8, Coppes argued that FWP should have done more for iconic rivers such as the Blackfoot, Clark Fork and Big Hole to benefit the fish that live in them and the broader Montana public. Since then, rivers have remained at record lows, and Coppes told Montana Free Press in a recent conversation that the future is going to be “pretty bleak” for Montana’s aquatic ecosystems unless the state starts using and enforcing its water rights and reservations to bolster instream flows more assertively and proactively. ...

Guy Alsentzer with Upper Missouri Waterkeeper, one of the lawsuit’s plaintiffs, says FWP is choosing politics over science, even as rivers are “diminished and degraded” by extreme drought and unchecked pollution.

Coppes first contemplated the lawsuit 15 years ago, when he was a University of Montana student learning a new policy language — water law — to protect the wild headwaters he’d come to love during the decade he’d spent working as a fly-fishing and raft guide in northwest Montana.

In the lawsuit, Coppes is asking a state district court judge in Helena to evaluate whether Montana’s government is fulfilling its constitutional obligation to prevent the “unreasonable depletion and degradation of natural resources” in its administration of water, which the state Constitution says is “the property of the state for the use of the people.” 

Complaint: Public Service Commissioner Using State Resources for Private Business

Keila Szpaller, Friday October 31, 2025, 

Montana Public Service Commission (via PSC Twitter account).  Public Service Commissioner Annie Bukacek, also a doctor in private practice, is using state equipment to copy medical records unrelated to agency work, a complaint filed this week with the state ethics watchdog alleges.

Bukacek, elected in 2022, declined Friday to address the question and directed the Daily Montanan to the Public Service Commission director.

Public Service Commissioner Brad Molnar filed the complaint, dated Wednesday, with the Commissioner of Political Practices, which monitors and enforces ethical standards for public officers.

In the complaint, Molnar, recently ousted as president, asks the Commissioner of Political Practices to estimate the money Bukacek owes ratepayers for her alleged abuse of state resources and levy penalties accordingly.  Bukacek is a licensed physician based in Kalispell, according to the Montana Board of Medical Examiners. She is on the Logan Health Medical Center receptionist directory. 

The State has Money for a Parenting Program at the Prison, But it’s not operating Yet

 After losing federal funding, the Department of Corrections hasn’t restarted a parenting program that state lawmakers put $120,000 toward earlier this year. The program had served roughly 160 fathers and 400 children during the program’s four-year tenure. By Zeke Lloyd

Frederick Maw VI was 14 months old when his father, Freddie J, received a 20-year sentence to Montana State Prison in 2018. Caterina Maw, Little Freddie’s grandmother, remembers driving alongside a “trembling and scared” child on a bus to a small red cabin in 2022 during her grandson’s first trip to meet his father. 

“He saw the swing set and he saw all the dads standing there with smiles on their faces — then he just got this huge smile and ran to his dad to give him a hug,” Caterina Maw said in a recent interview.

The pair reunited through a Montana Department of Corrections initiative called Connecting Adults and Minors through Positive Parenting, a multi-part program that included a three-month parenting course for incarcerated parents. Parents also were able to see their children in person and have dedicated video calls.

Montana Public Service Commission Declined to Make Declaratory Ruling

The Montana Public Service Commission declined to make a declaratory ruling incorporating climate change into its regulatory oversight of the energy sector.

A coalition of 41 businesses and nonprofits submitted a petition to the PSC in March of 2024 in the wake of a state district court finding in Held v. Montana that the state’s right to a “clean and healthful environment” incorporates a right to a “stable climate system.” 

The petition before the PSC had two parts. One asked the agency to adopt rulings “affirming its obligation to consider the adverse climate impacts of greenhouse gas emissions under the Montana Constitution and the statutory and regulatory framework governing its decision making.” The other included a specific rule giving the commission a framework for weighing the social, economic and environmental costs of different energy sources. That framework, developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is called the Social Costs of Greenhouse Gases.

In his presentation before commissioners on Tuesday, PSC Chief Legal Staff Lucas Hamilton argued that the authority for declaratory rulemaking rests with the judicial and legislative branches, not with an executive-branch agency such as the Public Service Commission. He urged the commission to reject the declaratory ruling part of the petition. The commission has not yet acted on the other part of the petition regarding the implementation of the Social Costs of Greenhouse Gases analysis.

Montana GOP in Court Over Blocking some Republican Senators from Electing Party Leadership

The Montana Republican Party in court Wednesday refuted allegations that it wrongly disenfranchised Republican state senators at its June convention.

Responding to allegations publicly for the first time, Montana GOP leadership told a Lewis and Clark County district court judge that it had the right under the First Amendment to manage its affairs as it sees fit, including censuring and expelling members.

At issue is the party’s decision to deny nine Republican members of the Montana Senate a chance to elect new party leadership during the convention. Members of the hard-right Montana Freedom Caucus called on MTGOP delegates to not recognize the nine senators and prevailed on a 136-to-97 vote.

The nine Republican lawmakers are entangled in a months-long feud tied to their votes that broke with the rest of the GOP caucus on several key issues during the 2025 Legislature, including passage of the state budget and a version of property tax relief generally opposed by a majority of Republican senators. Sens. Jason Ellsworth, of Hamilton; Denley Loge, of St. Regis; and Shelley Vance, of Belgrade sued over their disenfranchisement. Vance took the witness stand Wednesday, receiving pointed questions from GOP attorney Emily Jones.

Felony Warrants Issued for Father and Son

MILES CITY — Felony warrants have been issued for a Michigan father and son accused of killing a trophy bull elk in Treasure County and leaving most of the meat to waste in the field.

Ronald Schubert and his son Chad Schubert, both of Belleville, Michigan, each face felony charges for unlawful possession of a trophy bull elk. Chad Schubert faces an additional felony charge for tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.

The investigation began when the Rosebud County Sheriff’s Office provided information to Montana game wardens. Warden Kyle Queer determined that Chad Schubert allegedly killed the trophy bull elk in Hunting District 702 without a valid permit.

“The elk also was taken on private land without permission, killed with a rifle during the archery-only season, and most of the meat was abandoned and left to waste in the field,” according to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.

The investigation revealed that Ronald Schubert was present during the incident and allegedly assisted with removing and transporting the head and antlers while leaving the carcass behind.

Chad Schubert also faces four misdemeanor charges: hunting during a closed season, failure to obtain landowner permission, waste of a game animal, and violation of commission rules for failing to return to the kill site. Ronald Schubert was charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass.

Montana to recognize Indigenous Peoples Day

Bill establishing Indigenous Peoples Day in Montana becomes law

After a decade-long fight between Republican state lawmakers and members of Montana’s American Indian Caucus, the state of Montana — home to 12 tribes and seven reservations — will now recognize Indigenous Peoples Day.  

Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte on May 9 signed Senate Bill 224 into law, making Indigenous Peoples Day an official state holiday, alongside Columbus Day, on the second Monday in October. 

Sen. Shane Morigeau, D-Missoula, the bill’s sponsor, said the bill’s passage is “good for Montana.”

“This is about learning from one another and bringing each other together,” he told Montana Free Press. “It’s something we can take pride in. … We’re going to have a day where we can empower our youth and future generations in a positive way.”

Montana Lawmakers Weigh Assisted Suicide Bills

https://www.choiceillusionmontana.org/2025/03/montana-lawmakers-weigh-assisted.html

Opponents and advocates say the issue isn't red or blue--it's emotional and personal. 

On Friday, a Montana bill that would have codified assisted suicide into state law died in a state House committee after gaining bipartisan support.

Two days before, the committee heard more than an hour of emotional testimony on the bill from members of the public. Rep. Tracy Sharp, a Republican, acknowledged that the bill raises questions about the sanctity of life.

“I’m anti-abortion,” he said ahead of a vote on the bill. “But I just can’t vote to deny all the people that we heard … something that I would want for myself.” Sharp said that voting no on the measure “would be too hypocritical. I would like to die with dignity.”

Assisted suicide in Montana has taken place in a legal gray area since 2009, when the state Supreme Court ruled that doctors can cite the consent of a patient as a defense to a charge of murder. Despite a longstanding Republican majority in the House and Senate, the topic has divided the state legislature for years. Montana has neither officially legalized the practice nor closed the court-created loophole. As legislators consider the issue again this year, lawmakers and lobbyists attribute the bipartisan support and opposition to assisted suicide to the personal nature and emotional complexity of the debate.

Bill bolstering Montana Missing Indigenous Persons Task Force becomes Law

While Montana is one of only a few states to have a dedicated Missing Indigenous Persons Task Force, the inability of that organization to accept funding has hamstrung its efforts. [Pictured members listed below] *

That will soon change thanks to a new state law. 

Brought by Rep. Tyson Running Wolf, D-Browning, House Bill 83 establishes a state special revenue account, allowing the task force to receive donations, grants, gifts and other money for training, equipment and operational expenses. The bill also appropriates $1 in state funding to get the new account started. 

HB 83 sailed through the House and Senate and was signed into law Thursday by the governor. It takes effect July 1.

Montana Senate Votes Down Bill to Require Ten Commandments in Public School Classrooms

The Montana Senate voted down a bill Saturday to require public schools to post the Ten Commandments in every classroom, albeit with an emotional debate about the need for moral standards in the country and the atrocities inflicted in the name of religion.

Sen. Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, said he’s a Christian who morally supports the Ten Commandments, but he prayed about the bill, and he couldn’t support it.

Ellsworth said senators swear an oath to defend the Constitution, which prohibits the establishment of a religion.

“So if we put the Ten Commandments up, which are Christian commandments, then we’re actually violating the plain language of our Constitution in our First Amendment,” Ellsworth said.

The Senate voted 24-26 against the bill after a lengthy debate, which followed an earlier floor debate and a committee hearing that brought supporters with national profiles to testify in its favor.

Sen. Bob Phalen, R-Lindsay, sponsored Senate Bill 114, modeled after a similar bill in Louisiana that’s being litigated, and proposed with the idea the U.S. Supreme Court may be evolving to be more friendly to government accommodation of religion.

In an earlier debate, Sen. Susan Webber, D-Browning, [pictured above] proposed an unsuccessful amendment to exempt school districts on or near Native American reservations with more than one Indian student enrolled.

Webber said the federal government and Catholic church subjected Native children to mental and physical abuse, and they should not experience more abuse in the name of Christianity.

“Not on my watch will I allow the Indian children of Montana to suffer more indignities,” said Webber, member of the Blackfeet Nation.

Bathroom Bill Clears GOP-Led Legislature

by Mara Silvers, Montana Free Press

Original publication 02/12/25

A bill that would require public and some private facilities to enforce sex-segregated spaces for multiuser bathrooms, dormitories and locker rooms cleared its final vote hurdle in the Montana Legislature on Tuesday.

The measure, which received party-line Republican support and vocal opposition from Democrats and transgender Montanans throughout its lightning-fast path through the Legislature, is next expected to be transmitted to Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte’s desk. It would take effect immediately upon being signed into law.

Proponents touted the bill, House Bill 121, as a way to enforce the separation of men and women in public places and curb threats of harassment or assault from people of the opposite sex. 

“This bill isn’t about exclusion — it’s about common-sense boundaries that ensure fairness and respect in vulnerable spaces like restrooms, locker rooms and correctional facilities,” said bill sponsor Rep. Kerri Seekins-Crowe, R-Billings, in a Tuesday comment to Montana Free Press. “Montanans deserve the peace of mind that their families are safe, and I look forward to Governor Gianforte signing HB 121 into law.”

A spokesperson for Gianforte said Tuesday that the governor welcomes legislation that “provides privacy and security to women and girls in private spaces” and that he will “carefully consider” any bill that comes to his desk. Lt. Gov. Kristin Juras consistently testified in favor of the bill during its committee hearings.

Bathroom Bill Clears GOP-led Legislature, Poised to Become Law

A bill that would require public and some private facilities to enforce sex-segregated spaces for multiuser bathrooms, dormitories and locker rooms cleared its final vote hurdle in the Montana Legislature on Tuesday. 

The measure, which received party-line Republican support and vocal opposition from Democrats and transgender Montanans throughout its lightning-fast path through the Legislature, is next expected to be transmitted to Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte’s desk. It would take effect immediately upon being signed into law.

Proponents touted the bill, House Bill 121, as a way to enforce the separation of men and women in public places and curb threats of harassment or assault from people of the opposite sex.