Charles Robison is the State Director for the Montana State office  for USDA Rural Development. We will be taking your calls and discussing  the connection between home-ownership and rural prosperity, the opportunities that are made possible after home-ownership is achieved.  We also highlighted the 70th Anniversary of the Rural Housing Program.

Montana Agri-Women (MAW) will host Mindy Patterson of the Cavalry Group in a public forum to promote understanding and truth about topics that affect each one of us. The realization that agriculture plays a vital role the economic, social and environmental progress of Montana is important to the future of our state and nation.

Mindy Patterson is President and Co-Founder of The Cavalry Group, LLC, regularly advocating for and defending the constitutional and private property rights of law-abiding animal owners and animal-related businesses. Mindy specializes in working with animal related businesses, national animal associations, animal agriculture interests, and outdoor sportsmen, leading the charge in defending against the onslaught of anti-animal ownership ideology while challenging the infiltration of animal rights activism in government at the local, state and federal levels. To learn more about the Cavalry Group, https://www.thecavalrygroup.com

Montana is facing a growing need to increase dedicated funding to better protect our way of life and help local communities respond.  The Montana Outdoor Heritage Project has launched a public outreach effort to gather Montanans’ ideas on whether and how to enhance funding for private and public lands conservation, wildlife management, and outdoor access and recreation. Montanans are invited to participate this summer by attending community conversations happening across the state and by taking a short survey found at www.montanaheritageproject.com.  The Montana Outdoor Heritage Project plans to release results and recommendations later this fall based on this public input.

Property Owners should have recently received their notice of new appraised values.  Owners of residential, commercial, and agricultural properties receive a revaluation of their properties from the State of Montana every two years. The notice you receive shows those new values as well as the value of the property from the previous appraisal.

Did you know that if you feel the new appraised value is incorrect, you have 30 days from the date on the notice to file an appeal? But, do you know the process for doing so? We answered listener questions as we discussed the process with Bob Story, Executive Director of Montana Taxpayers Association.

We talked with Alan Olson, Executive Director of the Montana Petroleum Association about what the recent 9th Circuit Ruling means and where the project goes from here.

There has been quite a bit happening in DC this week. We got an update from Congressman Greg Gianforte on the Affordable Clean Energy Rule as well as took your calls.

Join us as we talk with Medicare Specialist Bobbi Roberts. She answered your questions regarding Medicare and covered what you need to do to be prepared for the moment your are Medicare eligible.

Photo Credit: Roger L. Daniels Insurance

The Problem: Industry (Oil & Manufacturing) has too much By-Product Water

Encore Green Environmental works with Landowners, Oil Companies, Manufacturing Plants, Government Regulators, Policy Makers, Environmentalists, and Concerned Citizens, we will be talking with them about their patent-pending methodology and it’s benefit to the Oil and Manufacturing Industries as well as the Agriculture Community and the Environment.

There is a lot of work that goes into maintaining our great State Parks. We took your calls and talked with Coby Gierke, Executive Director about the Montana State Parks Foundation and how they support our State Parks, what projects they are currently working on, and how you can have an amazing “stay-cation” right here in Montana.

Photo Credit: Montana State Parks Foundation

For more than 50 years, The Land and Water Conservation Fund has been America’s most important conservation program, responsible for protecting parks, trails, wildlife refuges and recreation areas at the federal, state and local level. LWCF does not use any taxpayer dollars – it is funded using a small portion of revenues from offshore oil and gas royalty payments.

In the past, Montana has received over $400 million in funding from LWCF. These funds have protected important lands in the Blackfoot Valley, on the Rocky Mountain Front, in the Greater Yellowstone region, and all over the state. LWCF funds have also been used to acquire key parcels that open up large areas of “land-locked” public land for hunting and fishing.