We’ve been anxiously awaiting Mark Aagenes’ responses to questions we threw at him last week. It was worth the wait.
Mark is the Conservation Director for Montana Trout Unlimited and has the dubious honor of being TU’s ‘man on the ground’ in Helena this year. We asked him to share a bit about himself in one of the questions below.
Mark – thanks again for being willing to visit with us about your work in Helena and for working on the legislative front lines for fly fisher folk in Montana and everywhere.
HB 309 is scheduled for hearing the afternoon of Thursday, March 3rd; any word from committee members on the bill’s status now?
They changed the hearing date on us… So now it is Tue March 8th.
The committee hearing will be really the first formal chance for the Senators to look at the bill. I have talked to a number of them and I am sure others have too, however, the reality of how the session works is that there is a deadline to get most of the bills “transmitted” or sent to the other house by this Thursday Feb 24 so folks have been far more focused on bills making the deadline.
Starting tomorrow though I will start talking to them and trying to get a feel for where they are. In general though, it seems the R’s on the committee I have checked with are really not sure how they are going to vote. The D’s on the other hand seem to all be super solid and will vote to protect Montana’s right to access our rivers.
Fly fishermen have been encouraged by comments from Billings’ Kendall Van Dyk regarding potentially stopping HB 309 in the Senate; what’s your read on this possibility as of today?
KVD certainly has a good feel for where his fellow Senators are at and I do think there is a CHANCE we can stop it BUT I have already been utterly dismayed at how many Legislators have voted to erode our right to access our rivers.
I simply do not want to take any chances, the Hearing on Tuesday, March 8th is the absolutely the public’s last chance to weigh in and let these folks know how we as Montanans feel on this issue. Please come and tell them NO on HB 309 and NO on eroding our stream access. I also think it is important to send a message to the folks in Helena that we Montanans are willing to go to the mat to protect our right to access our rivers.
Clearly HB 309 isn’t the only legislation that could have a negative impact on Montana’s fisheries? What other bills should fly fishermen be aware of?
The list of bad bills in this session are dizzying… but just to name a few others:
This is not a R thing nor is it a D thing it is a wildlife thing! There is only one place in Montana law where before a new project comes on line we look at and recognize what that projects impacts to fish and wildlife may be. Now I understand that “MEPA” seems to be a bad word BUT really all it does anymore is notify neighbors and communities what is going on AND shows the potential impacts to fish and wildlife. There are two bills SB 317 and SB 233 that both try to erode MEPA thus eroding our ability to recognize potential impacts.
The only other bill I will specifically mention is SB 306, which seeks to expand cyanide heap leach processing in Montana, encouraging development of many new open-pit mines. The reason this is so concerning is there is very low grade ore on Upper Rock Creek and the Upper Blackfoot where we could see massive new mines go in. The track records of these mines have been abysmal and Montana voters have already voted TWICE against more cyanide mining.
There are a slew of bills that aim to gut FWP funding. As Montanans, we hire and also pay through our license dollars, FWP to take care of our fish and their habitat.
Just to make it easier… I added a list down below of a little write up we did! (Per CW Mark: we’ve posted this document in another post.)
What bill (still alive) concerns you the most right now?
The short list would include (in no particular order):
HB 309 the anti-access bill you all know about.
SB 317 + SB 233 These are both bills that eviscerate Montana’s bedrock environmental review, or “MEPA”. MEPA is the ONLY place in Montana law where projects need to identify what impacts they will have to Montana’s fish and wildlife. As a angler and hunter… I think this is a pretty important program!
SB 306 (look below or above for description).
And finally and one that doesn’t get much play but is super important… The legislature has full discretion to move funds around. There is a program called Future Fisheries Improvement Program this is the only program where funds go to on the ground improvements in habitat for the fish we love to catch. This program has been funded at $1.5 million every biennium… this session they cut $1 million out. In a session that is supposed to be all about jobs this represented jobs for contractors, jobs for heavy machinery operators, jobs for consultants AND it has the huge added benefit of creating incredible habitat… this cut was unnecessary as the funding source was not general fund money where most of MT budget is.
What can fly fishers do today and over the next few weeks to help?
This is absolutely the most important question!!!
First and foremost the lesson of this session is we are getting what we voted for.
Every election I get so excited because, almost every candidate talks about their outdoor credentials and how they will talk about how they hunt about how they fish and how about how they will make sure that us hunters and anglers will come first. The unfortunate reality is that once they get to Helena oh so many of them seem to forget this pledge and it is dramatically disappointing! So BE CAREFUL WHOM YOU VOTE FOR!
Also, write letters to the editors about the bills below you feel strongly about; contact your legislators about any of the bills you think are interesting.
Become a MTU member and we will keep fighting for you and we will send you action alerts!
MTU’s website will have weekly (at least) updates to keep people up to date on issues that are important.
Will you be at the Rally being put together by Montana TU on the 8th?
ABSOLUTELY!!!! SEE YOU ALL THERE!
Think Governor Schweitzer will veto HB 309 if it comes out of the Senate?
The Gov has been an absolute CHAMP on access issues and we all should be thanking him for his leadership! That said it is just flat impossible to predict what will get his veto stamp and what will not. I think we need to fight this bill every step of the way and if in the end it ends up on his desk we will do what we can to support him in vetoing it.
How did you get involved with Montana TU?
I am a pretty simple Montana boy, I love to hunt, fish hike and play all over this state… I was working for Lewis and Clark Expeditions on the Smith River and we took a group of MTU donors down the river. I ended up being pretty enthralled listening to the stories of the stuff MTU worked on and was getting accomplished. It became obvious on just that one trip MTU was an organization I wanted to be a part of! We aren’t a flashy (organization) nor we don’t spend much time crowing about our accomplishments but we consistently do great work for MT’s fisheries, work that I am very proud of!
What’s your (current) fav Montana water (of course not giving away critical details)?
Seriously? Where do you even start? That’s like asking a kid if he prefers cake, cookies or ice cream… it just ain’t a fair question!
That said there aren’t many things better than pulling a westslope cuttie out of the South Fork of the Flathead! It makes for a long day but on occasion I will bust in the 20ish miles fish for a bunch of hours and then jet back out!! Again it is a long day but it is always an extremely fulfilling/exhausting day!
What’s your secret to maintaining your sanity in Helena this year?
The answers are many but…
Promises of days I just described above.
I know that it sounds super cheesy but knowing that effectively conserving, protecting and restoring our rivers is a worthy and noble cause keeps me going! My love for Montana runs deep!
Oh and (if my boss is reading this) I am hoping for a big fat raise!!!
(Image to follow)
Tags: Access
