I am a landowner in the Bull Mountains north of Billings. My property sits next to Montana’s only underground coal mine, operated by Signal Peak Energy. Like my neighbors, I live here because I love the open space, rugged sandstone cliffs, abundant wildlife, and easy access to public lands. Many of my neighbors raise cattle, and I appreciate the longtime ranching history that is part of our culture. 

When coal was first developed in this region, locals were promised that ranching and coal mining could co-exist. That promise has not been kept, harming landowners and leaving mine workers in a vulnerable spot. Most landowners know folks who earn an honest living at the mine. We respect their hard work, and we get along well. Unfortunately, Signal Peak’s wealthy executives and out-of-state owners have a history of criminal activity and irresponsible behavior that has harmed the clean water, wildlife, and working landscapes that ranchers and landowners rely on. Their recklessness also threatens the job security of mine workers who never know what damage could be done by their bosses’ next scandal. 

Signal Peak is currently on probation with the U.S. Department of Justice after criminal convictions for environmental and safety violations. The federal investigation into Signal Peak and its associates also led to convictions for bank fraud, cocaine trafficking, firearm violations, tax evasion, and money laundering. Despite these criminal violations, Signal Peak owners are still trying to sidestep federal law that requires a proper analysis of how mining activity will further impact the land and limited water resources that have already suffered damage and degradation from mining.

Sadly, Sen. Steve Daines, who has received well over a million dollars in campaign contributions from extractive industries, is bending over backwards to help Signal Peak owners evade these federal laws. Sen. Daines introduced a complicated bill, S.4444, that would transfer federally-owned Bull Mountain coal and almost 1,000 acres of our public lands to a wealthy family (the Hope Family Trust) in exchange for coal owned by the Hope Family Trust on the Crow Reservation. Daines purports that the Crow Tribe would share revenue from the Bull Mountain coal with the Hope Family when it’s mined, but folks from the Crow community have gone on record opposing the bill. They contend the revenue sharing claims are deeply misleading and say it would be a “grave injustice to allow this bill to pass.” 

The motivation is clear.

Daines’ wants to shift our publicly-owned coal into wealthy private hands so that his corporate cronies can evade federal oversight. If our publicly-owned coal is traded away, protections for local land and water are swept aside at the same time. This means landowners like me and my ranching neighbors who have already experienced property damage from mining activity are hung out to dry. And we’re not the only losers in this scheme. Montana taxpayers would also take a seven-figure hit annually. 

The Montana Department of Revenue estimates that “the State will lose approximately $1.2 million in revenue per year between 2024 and 2028” due to lost mineral royalties.  That means less money for our schools, emergency responders, and roads. 

And, the roughly 1,000 acres of public land Daines’ bill gives to a wealthy family includes some of the only access points in the Bulls where Musselshell and Yellowstone County residents hunt turkey, deer, and elk.

This bill is why people are so frustrated with politics. It’s more of the same. Corporations and wealthy private interests get richer while everyday Montanans fall further behind. In this case, we lose public lands, local revenue, and private property protections.

We only ask Signal Peak to follow the law and manage their mining responsibly. We all lose when politicians use backroom deals to shortcut the law. 

Tom Baratta is the chairman of the Bull Mountain Land Alliance, a grassroots conservation and family agricultural organization.

My name is Susan Cahill. I am a retired family practice physician assistant who provided first trimester abortions in Kalispell as part of family practice starting in 1976 until my office was destroyed in 2014.

I worked for and with Dr. James Armstrong for 25 years. Dr. Armstrong vowed to offer abortions as part of his family practice when and if it became legal, after witnessing women dying from illegal abortions daily while he was in medical training in New York City. 

I made the same commitment as a first-year physician assistant student in Queens General Hospital in New York City, when I cared for young inner city girls, 10 and 11 years old in labor and screaming for their mothers, after having been raped by their stepfathers, or brothers or a family friend, when abortion was still not legal.

I am proud of my work. I am also proud of having been a small part of the signature gathering for CI-128, the, citizen’s initiative that will provide a constitutionally protected right to reproductive choice into the Montana Constitution.

Because of this bill you will hear lots of lies about abortion from those claiming the moral high ground, including our governor. So here are the facts:

Abortion is one of the safest medical procedures in the United States. 81% of all abortions occur at nine weeks of pregnancy or earlier. Of these, 63% are medication abortions, which use medicines to induce bleeding. It is like having a miscarriage and it can be done in the privacy of a woman’s own home. 

94% of all abortions are done within the first 13 weeks of pregnancy. 3% of abortions are done at 16-20 weeks, and 0.9% are done 21 weeks or more. These late term abortions are done due to severe fetal anomaly or threats to the life of the mother. All of these procedures are done because of the expressed wishes of the woman, and her family if that is her situation. Every abortion decision is as individual as the woman.

I have known women who have picketed my office because I offer abortion services, then come to me for an abortion when they found themselves in a challenging situation in their life. I understand this. Life is hard, and liberty and the pursuit of happiness is essential and personal. In our hearts, we all know this to be true.

 Because of the radicalization of the Republican Party, not only is abortion under attack but also access to IVF and contraception. The ability to make decisions for ourselves and our life keep getting more difficult. 

Not a single Republican candidate in Montana and at the national level will stand up and vote to protect women’s choice. 

 Vice President Kamala Harris, Sen. Jon Tester and Monica Tranell have all committed to protecting a women’s right to reproductive choice. Please vote this fall for women and families to have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, for themselves and their families. Please vote for choice.

Susan Cahill is a retired family practice physician assistant. She lives in Kalispell.

JUDITH GAP — The Montana Angus Tour is being herded through central Montana.

“The State of Montana is far and away the leader in the United States. We register, more Angus cattle than any other state. And along with that, all the data points and performance programs that get submitted,” said Montana Agnus Association board member Darrell Stevenson. “So, we would be revered as the number one seed stock state in the United States.”

“The Montana Angus Tour is one of the oldest tours in the United States as far as cattle tours,” Montana Angus Association member Roger Jacobs said. “It started here in central Montana, 50 years ago. And, so we’re back here again and, having a great time. We travel around to different herds of cattle.”

Over 400 people from 25 states and six foreign countries braved the Montana weather to learn about breeding registered Angus.

“It’s one of the best opportunities for us here in the United States to get together with one of the largest crowds of Angus enthusiasts,” said Supply Development for Certified Angus Beef in Nebraska Paul Dykstra. “And, of course, Montana is the…number one state for Angus registrations to the American Angus Association. As far as the number of animals registered every year. So, it’s an important state, for the breed.”

“We’re trying to identify the next sire or sire group that we want to use on my cows. So that’s part of the reason why we come out here,” said Glen Brown a registered Angus breeder from Iowa.

“So, in that there’s obvious interest from breeders across the country and from across the world, that literally want to come in and appraise the cattle. One of the beautiful things about our breed is the diversity. There’s different types and kinds of cattle,” Stevenson said.

The Montana Angus Tour has been going on for 50 years, putting Montana ranchers at the top of the list for the best registered Angus in the world.