On July 18, 2016, Lake County District Court Judge James Manley ruled that SB262 (water compact) was unconstitutional and in violation of Art II Section 18 of the Montana Constitution that requires a 2/3 vote of each house of the legislature. AG Fox had the duty to uphold state law but did not. Governor Bullock, knowing SB262 was unconstitutional, still signed SB262 into law. Now we find that Senator Jon Tester and Senator Steve Daines have quietly submitted bills in the U.S. Senate.
Jon Tester: S.3013 A Bill To Authorize And Implement The CSKT Water Compact including: a settlement of $2.3 billion to the tribe; ownership and administration of the water in Western Montana; legal title and management of the Flathead irrigation project water; any amendment to the compact IAW S.3013 is automatically authorized, ratified and confirmed; gives the tribe the exclusive right to develop and market hydro power within the reservation; eliminates any NEPA study on the compact.
Steve Daines: S.3014 A Bill To Improve The Management Of Indian Forest Land, And For Other Purposes including: pilot authority for restoration of Federal Forest Land by Indian Tribes (all Indian Tribes in the United States). The bill defines Forest Land 1) ceded to the United States by treaty or other agreement with the Indian Tribe (all of Western Montana including all of Ravalli County), 2) within the boundaries of a current or former reservation of that tribe, 3) adjudicated by the Indian Claims Commission or a Federal court to be the tribal homeland of that Indian Tribe.
AG Fox, Governor Bullock, Senator Tester and Senator Daines, what is the motivation to ignore: historical documents (The Hellgate Treaty, 1904 & 1908 Acts creating Land Allotments and Flathead Irrigation Project); due process; Articles III, V, VII, IX of the Montana Constitution; Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution?
Montanans, irrigators, anglers, hunters, boaters, hikers, snowmobilers and skiers, do you still feel good about the GRAND BARGAIN? I still don’t.
Richard Coleman
Hamilton