Categories General Discussion

Letter from Taylor Brown: More good news for MSU Animal BioScience Complex

Dear Supporters of the MSU Animal BioScience Complex:

I have great news! Your work with our Montana Congressional Delegation, to help get the money appropriated for the federal USDA Ag Research Service building on the MSU campus is paying off.

Today we got word from Congressman Rehberg’s office that the final Ag Appropriations bill is now passed and on its way to President Obama for his signature. That Bill includes $3,654,000.00 to build the Research Building that will be built just a few yards from the Classroom Building that is presently under construction.

This is the fifth federal appropriation to this ARS federal research building over the past six years since Senator Conrad Burns started this ball rolling. The total cost is estimated at $24 million, so we still have a ways to go; but as you can see below, we have passed the half-way mark!

Appropriations to the USDA-ARS Animal BioScience Research Facility at MSU
FY 2005 $ 1,984,000
FY 2006 $ 3,960,000
FY 2007 $ 0 (Continuing Resolution)
FY 2008 $ 1,869,819
FY 2009 $ 2,192,000
FY 2010 $ 3,654,000
Total $ 13,659,819

From what I understand the USDA has spent about $603,975 so far for the 35% design of the building. It is being carefully created so that it will have a great fit in form and function to the nearby classroom building, to which so many Montana ranchers and ag businesses have contributed in the past couple of years.

Please voice your support to Senator Baucus, Senator Tester, and Congressman Rehberg when you have the opportunity. They have worked hard to keep this project on the priority list for funding. This new facility will make a huge difference in the Montana livestock industry for generations to come!

Don’t forget that the Search started just last week for a new Department Head for the MSU Animal and Range Sciences Department. Today’s news adds another level of excitement to that important step! Please help us pass the word to the top Range Animal Scientists in nation, and urge them to apply for this Department Head position!

Taylor

DOL now listing estrayed livestock on-line

DOL – Montana Department of Livestock has gone live with its new online estray notice system.

Senate Bill 104, which called for revisions to Montana Code Annotated 81-4-603 and was widely supported during the state’s most recent legislative session.

Notices for estrayed livestock can be found on the department’s web site at http://liv.mt.gov/liv/BE/estray/estrays.asp, and will also be published in the official county newspaper where the estray was found. All notices will contain the sale date and location for estray as well as a general description that includes sex, an illustration of the brand and brand location, and location where the estray was found.

Prior to passage of SB 104, estrays had to be held for 30-60 days rather than 10-30 days, and notices had to be published at least once a week for four consecutive weeks. With horse abandonment on the increase, the costs of boarding estrayed horses and publishing notices was quickly adding up for the department.

“It was becoming a costly endeavor,” said John Grainger, MDOL Brands Division administrator. “We’re estimating that the revisions to 81-4-603 will save the department about $6,000 a year.”

Brucellosis and tuberculosis concept papers published for public comment

Today USDA APHIS published concept papers on brucellosis and tuberculosis rule revisions. The public can provide comments until December 4, 2009.

Notice of Publication and BRUCELLOSIS Concept Paper
http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#docketDetail?R=APHIS-2009-0006

Notice of Publication and TUBERCULOSIS Concept Paper
http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#docketDetail?R=APHIS-2009-0073

MSU Opens Search for Animal and Range Sciences Department Head

As the brand-new Animal BioSciences Building nears completion on the campus of Montana State University, the MSU College of Agriculture has formally begun their nation-wide search for a new Department Head for their Animal and Range Sciences Department.

The nine-member search committee to fill the Animal and Range Sciences Department Head position will be chaired by Dr. Mark Quinn. To view the vacancy announcement for a Department Head and Professor that has been published, click here: http://www.montana.edu/cgi-bin/msuinfo/fpview/f/9893-2

The new Department Head/Professor will be responsible for: providing vision and leadership for the department; leading, coordinating, growing and administering the Department’s teaching, research and outreach programs; recruiting personnel, managing budgets, evaluating performance; and teaching in the classroom, and maintaining a research program

The Search for a Department Head comes a particularly exciting time for the Animal and Range Sciences Department at MSU. The new Department Head and his team will have a brand-new $16 million state-of-the-art facility to work in, and the new Head will have a rare opportunity to shape and expand the Department, including several new key faculty hires.

In addition, Montana’s Congressional Delegation is in the process of appropriating funding for a new USDA Ag Research Service facility at MSU which will focus on applied beef cattle genomics, and be located just a few yards from where the new classroom building is being completed.

Finally, MSU enjoys a tremendously strong level of support right now from Montana’s range livestock industry. Not only have hundreds of individual ranchers and businesses recently donated millions of dollars to construct the new classroom building that will become the new home for the Department in 2010, but other development programs are already underway to raise funds for Endowed Chairs, additional scholarships, and expansion of Animal and Range Science research and teaching opportunities.

Screening of applications will begin December 18, 2009 and continue until a suitable candidate is identified. The goal is to invite finalists to campus in March and April, and the start date for the new Department Head is expected to be July 2010.

Now it is your turn. Please spread the word. Think about who you’d like to see in this important position for Montana’s range livestock industry, and then urge them to apply!

Members of the Search Committee for MSU Animal and Range Science Department Head include:

Mark Quinn, Chair, VMB DH and Professor
Lisa Duffey, Staff Support, MSU College of Ag Staff
Diana Alkire, A&RS Advisory Committee, MFBF
Jan Bowman, A&RS Professor, Beef, Nutrition
Pat Hatfield, A&RS Professor, Sheep, Nutrition
Don Kress, A&RS Emeritus Professor, Beef, Genetics
Jason Swanz, MAES Advisory Council, MSGA
Lance Vermeire, Fort Keogh Scientist, Range Science
Myles Watts, Ag Econ Professor, Former DH

For more Information:
Dr. Mark Quinn, A&RS Department Head Search Chairc/o Ms. Lisa Duffey, Search Committee Staff Support
P.O. Box 172860
Montana State University
Bozeman, MT 59717-2860
406-994-3683
[email protected]

Source: Northern Ag Network

Governor Schweitzer Steps Back on Support For Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Bill

This from inside the EPA…

WHITEFISH, MT — Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D) is turning back on his support for legislation to clarify the scope of the Clean Water Act (CWA), saying he has major concerns that even a narrowed version of the bill pushed by home-state Sen. Max Baucus (D), one of the bill’s key sponsors, may extend the “long arm of the federal government” too far.
“I’m a big proponent of clean water . . . but we’ve had our belly full of Washington, D.C. coming to Montana and telling us they know better,” Schweitzer said in an interview, “we recognize that it is the locals in Montana that have been protecting these water resources over the course of the last 100 years.”
Environmentalists have cited Schweitzer’s past support of the legislation to bolster their efforts to pass the bill. But his shift on the legislation could indicate the changing political climate as Democrats lose support in rural areas. It could also undermine Baucus’ support for the bill if it ever reaches the Senate floor.
The legislation, S. 787, aims to clarify the scope of the CWA in the wake of two Supreme Court rulings that critics say have stymied EPA and the Corps’ ability to protect waters. In 2001 in Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County (SWANCC) v. Army Corps of Engineers the high court limited the basis for asserting jurisdiction over solely intrastate waters; in 2006 in Rapanos v. United States the court set two competing standards for determining jurisdiction.
But Democrats struggled to pass the bill as introduced. Baucus and other lawmakers from farm states scaled back the bill before passing it out of the environment committee in a party-line vote last June. GOP senators, however, say they will block the bill from being considered on the floor and other Democrats say it will have to be further narrowed.
Its prospects may also be limited as EPA says it is now considering seeking an NAS study to speed its jurisdictional determinations (see related story).
Schweitzer says he has major concerns about the compromise bill negotiated by Baucus, but praises Baucus for working to put some “common sense” into the bill. Schweitzer says he has lobbied Baucus to ensure the bill is narrowed further on the Senate floor.
The Montana governor’s views on the bill are a significant departure from his past support of the legislation. In 2007 Schweitzer testified before the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee in support of a bill that was significantly broader than the Baucus compromise he now says extends the reach of the CWA too far.
The 2007 version of the bill was “the best way to ensure that all of the water resources in Montana remain fully protected, reaffirm Congress’ intent to eliminate pollution at its source and restore clarity and certainty to the law we and most other states rely on to limit water pollution,” he said in his testimony.
Schweitzer says now “I testified in Washington, D.C. and I told them that we don’t need the long arm of the federal government to tell us how to keep our clean water in Montana. If you’d like to help us we’ll take your help. I recognize there were some problems with it, and we were making some proposals to make it better.”

For ranchers on the Hi-Line, ‘It’s the land that matters’

Linda Poole, executive director of the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance wrote a an op ed published today in the Great Falls Tribune to respond to some coverage the paper had given last week to a recent BLM meeting (“Ranchers criticize plans for bison herds at BLM meeting“). Her piece discusses the very important role ranchers play in conservation of the prairie grasslands of the area and the wildlife and plant species that call it home. Check her article out here.

Tester to host open houses on Forest Jobs and Recreation Act this weekend in Dillon and Bozeman

From Senator Tester’s Washington, D.C. Office – Senator Jon Tester will host two open houses this weekend to discuss the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act.

Tester’s first open house is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Beier Auditorium on the campus of University of Montana-Western in Dillon. The second event is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Monday in the third-floor community room of the Gallatin County Courthouse.

Both events are free and open to the public.

After presentations, Tester and his staff will be on hand to gather feedback and answer questions about the legislation.

EVENT: Forest Jobs and Recreation Act open house with Sen. Jon Tester

DATE/TIME: Saturday, September 26, from 9-10:30 a.m.
LOCATION: Beier Auditorium
University of Montana-Western, Dillon

DATE/TIME: Monday, September 28, from 9:30-11 a.m.
LOCATION: 3rd Floor Community Room of the Gallatin County Courthouse
311 West Main Street, Bozeman

Tester plans to hold additional open houses in other communities in the coming weeks.

Tester introduced the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act in July after seeking input from stakeholders across the state and hosting listening sessions in Libby, Missoula, Deer Lodge and Townsend.

The unique legislation is based on proposals by loggers, conservationists, motorized users, hunters and anglers. It will create jobs and protect communities from wildfire by requiring at least 100,000 acres of timber harvest over ten years in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge and Kootenai National Forests. The bill also creates new opportunities for recreation and safeguards prime hunting and fishing lands for future generations.

More than 1,000 Montanans have signed up as citizen cosponsors of the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act. More information about the legislation is available online at tester.senate.gov/forest.

FSA to Host Public Meetings on Conservation Reserve Program

Bozeman, MT – The USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) will be conducting a public meeting on the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) September 17, 2009 from 5-7 p.m. at the Hampton Inn in Great Falls.

Topics to be discussed at the meeting include provisions dealing with cropping history requirements, crop rotation practices, contract incentives, program enrollment terms and the CRP enrollment cap of 32 million acres established for the remainder of the 2008 Farm Bill.

“We are fortunate to be one of nine states to host a public comment meeting to receive feedback on how FSA can make the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) more effective for landowners and operators,” stated Bruce Nelson, FSA State Executive Director in Montana.

FSA will consider each comment received at the public meetings and during the comment period when preparing a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. This statement will help FSA at the national level and the public with an analysis of the environmental benefits and potential impacts associated with implementing various changes to CRP consistent with the 2008 Farm Bill.
Public comments are due by October 19, 2009, to be considered in the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. Comments may be submitted in the following ways: 1) online at: http://www.public.geo-marine.com; or Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov; 2) by e-mail to: [email protected]; 3) by mail or hand delivered to: CRP SEIS, c/o TEC Inc., 8 San Jose Dr., Suite 3-B, Newport News, VA 23606; or 4) by fax at 757/594-1469.

The additional meetings will be held in Washington, Minnesota, Kansas, Illinois, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Georgia and Pennsylvania.

CRP is a voluntary program that supports the implementation of long-term conservation measures designed to improve the quality of ground and surface waters, control soil erosion, and enhance wildlife habitat on environmentally sensitive agricultural land. In return, contract holders are provided annual rental payments and cost-share assistance under contracts extending from 10-15 years.

For further information on the Conservation Reserve Program, visit your local USDA Service Center or logon to the Montana Farm Service Agency website at http://www.fsa.usda.gov/mt.