Montana News

It’s been just over a day since news broke that Montana’s sole Congressional Representative Ryan Zinke may ascend to President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet . But Montana Republican and Democratic Party officials are already thinking about what comes next if Zinke accepts Trump’s nomination.

Progress is being reported this week on a long-delayed effort to remove a 50-foot-deep pile of smelter waste in the middle of Butte. The State of Montana has signed an agreement with Montana Resources that will allow for the removal of the Parrot tailings behind the Butte Civic Center:

President-elect Donald Trump has officially chosen Montana Representative Ryan Zinke to serve as his interior secretary. Zinke was an early supporter of Trump's and publicly sought a Cabinet post when Trump visited in May.

This morning, Congressman Ryan Zinke confirmed reports that he was nominated to serve as the next Secretary of the Interior. Montana’s senior senator, Democrat Jon Tester , was in Helena today, and spoke with MTPR's Capitol Reporter Corin Cates-Carney, about Zinke’s nomination.

The news that Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke is apparently President-elect Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Interior is still reverberating across the country and in Montana. For perspective, we’re now joined by Rob Saldin, a political science professor at the University of Montana, and analyst for MTPR. I asked him for his initial impression of the news:

The grizzly bears in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE) have spoken, and they are telling us that everything we’re doing to recover their population has worked. That was the message from state and federal bear experts at the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee Winter Meeting today in Missoula.

Media outlets, including the Washington Post , are reporting that Montana’s Congressman Ryan Zinke is president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Interior. The Post and other outlets are citing anonymous sources, and Congressman Zinke’s office has not issued any statements at this time.

A Whitefish-based National Park conservation advocate says an Interior Department headed by Congressman Ryan Zinke could be good for Montana and the West. Michael Jamison heads the National Parks Conservation Association ’s Crown of the Continent initiative. He says Zinke is a champion of America’s public lands, but also understands the balance between conservation and development:

An avalanche in southwestern Montana killed a skier over the weekend. Park County Sheriff Scott Hamilton says 55-year-old Christopher Peterson of Ketchum, Idaho died Sunday while skiing with six other people on Henderson Mountain outside Cooke City.

Leaders of the state and federal agencies involved in managing grizzly bears are meeting in Missoula Tuesday and Wednesday. Members of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee (IGBC) convene twice a year to coordinate policy, planning, management and research in the states where grizzlies live. Their goal is to recover local populations so that eventually the bears can be moved off of the endangered species list.