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MSGA unites opposition to Clean Water Act legislationMontana During a meeting May 6 in Butte, the Montana Stockgrowers Association brought together many of Montana's natural resource and recreation industries to discuss and to take action on the far-reaching negative implications of S. 1870 and H.R 2421 to Montana's natural resource economies. S. 1870 and H.R. 2421 are most notably titled: "The Clean Water Restoration Act of 2007." Representatives attending the conference took action and agreed that efforts need to be taken to broaden the opposition to these bills in Montana--especially, since representatives from the state of Montana, who were on hand in Butte expressed the state's support for these two bills. MSGA understands and supports the need for the Clean Water Act passed in 1972, but it is clear that Congress intended to use the term "navigable" to decipher which waters fell under federal jurisdiction. The term preserves a critical balance of power with the states. Deleting the term "navigable" from the statute, as proposed in these two bills, would call into question Montana's responsibility for land and water decisions. Montana has the most aggressive and comprehensive water quality laws in the country and ranchers don't need the federal government stepping in to supersede those statutes. "Passage of these bills would allow for every pond, stream, creek bed, drainage ditch, prairie pothole, drain tile or other wet lands in Montana that might contain water at any time of the year to fall under federal jurisdiction," said Errol Rice, MSGA executive vice president. "These bills would put ranchers in Montana squarely between the cross hairs of groups like Earthjustice, Greenpeace, Action for a Sustainable Earth, Center for Biological Diversity and the hundreds of other like-minded organizations that are endorsing these bills." "The people that recreate in Montana should be very concerned about the ramifications of these two bills," stated Kerry White, founder of Citizens for Balanced Use who co-hosted Monday's event. "I don't understand why our governor would support the federal government expanding their power over Montana, including control over all activities that could affect the waters as defined in these bills." The Environmental Protection Agency has recognized Montana as the most proactive state in the nation when it comes to water quality and legally there is no justification by the State of Montana nor by the proponents of this legislation as to why it is needed. MSGA agrees that we need to continue to protect the quality of our nation's surface and ground waters, but no expansion of federal jurisdiction is necessary to accomplish this goal. 6/2/08 Date: 5/28/08
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