Greetings,
I had my last interim EQC meeting last week. We discussed issues like delisting grizzlies, wilderness study areas, TENORMS in waste disposal sites, a new license for trappers, aquatic invasive species, chronic wasting disease, and many other topics. We heard from many speakers and went on several educational tours. There was a lot of discussion about these issues. We again see the philosophy differences between committee members when talking about issues like delisting the grizzlies. The National Wildlife Federation CEO stated in testimony that we need to learn to co-exist with grizzlies. Where my philosophy, along with the majority of the committee, is to hunt them before they kill some child playing in his backyard someplace. To this area we talked about the waste disposal sites and decided to make our regulations equal to that of North Dakota. We didn’t think we should have to deal with all the waste if we didn’t have the whole industry.
The other thing we dealt with in this process was the pandemic. Some of the meetings were held by ZOOM. It proved to be a very frustrating situation. The loss of interaction with people and the problems with technology created communication gaps. It was a very inefficient way to do the people’s work.
We are getting close to another election in this great country. As great as it is there are still a lot of problems to be solved. We have people burning public buildings, private businesses, shooting law enforcement and ordinary citizens. We have elected officials who are encouraging these violent protesters and saying they are going to defund law enforcement. On the other hand, there is another choice to vote for. Please be an informed voter.
There has been some talk about my votes on a human trafficking bill and some bills related. My wife and I have 17 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild and human trafficking is a big concern to us. All most bills do is tweak Montana code. Human trafficking was already illegal in Montana code before SB 147 was introduced. Montana code was not perfect before, and it still is not perfect after SB 147. The difference now is we are going to spend more money with very little change in the result. Montana Family Foundation is strongly against human trafficking and they have put a lot of effort and resources into fighting it. They trust my judgment and have endorsed me in my senate race.
As always, I welcome questions on any issues. You can contact me at 406-365-7967, my cell 989-1372, my email [email protected], or regular mail 610 Road 118, Wibaux, MT 59353.
- Steve Hinebauch
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