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Youth lawsuit challenging Montana’s pro-fossil fuel policies is heading to trial

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Youth lawsuit challenging Montana’s pro-fossil fuel policies is heading to trial


HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A Montana judge on Friday said a climate change lawsuit from young people challenging the state’s pro-fossil fuel policies will proceed to trial despite efforts by the state to derail the case.

The upcoming trial in Helena would be the first of its kind in the United States, according to experts in climate law who said the nation is lagging behind the rest of the world in terms of climate litigation.

However, because of prior rulings that limited the scope of the Montana case, a victory for the plaintiffs would not automatically alter the state’s regulation of fossil fuels.

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Attorneys for the 16 young plaintiffs, ranging in age from 5 to 22, alleged state officials were trying to avoid the upcoming trial when Republican lawmakers in March repealed the state’s energy policy — one of two laws that the case challenges. The plaintiffs and their backers are hoping to use the two-week trial that’s set to start on June 12 to highlight the dangers of fossil fuel emissions that scientists say are making climate change worse.

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Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, a Republican, had asked state Judge Kathy Seeley to dismiss any part of the case touching on the cancelled energy policy. Attorneys for the state also wanted more time to offer legal arguments over recent amendments to a law that allows officials to ignore greenhouse gas emissions when approving fossil-fuel projects.

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The judge was not swayed.

“I would suggest you continue to prepare for trial,” Seeley told attorneys at the end of a Friday court hearing. “I’m not intending to just stop everything so that we can spend months wrapped around that spoke.”

The case was brought in 2020 by attorneys for the environmental group Our Children’s Trust, which since 2010 has filed climate lawsuits in every state on behalf of youth plaintiffs. Many cases — including a previous one in Montana — have been dismissed.

The latest Montana lawsuit originally sought in part to repeal a state policy promoting coal, gas and oil development. Scientists say burning those fuels is largely driving climate change by releasing planet-warming carbon dioxide.

An attorney for the plaintiffs, Philip Gregory, told The Associated Press the policy was repealed by the Legislature “not because the state has committed to changing its fossil fuel policy and actions, but because the state seeks to avoid standing trial.”

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He said the state’s continued support for fossil fuels violates environmental protections in the Montana Constitution, which says the state “shall maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment in Montana for present and all future generations.”

The lawsuit documents how the consequences of climate change already are being felt by the young plaintiffs, with smoke from worsening wildfires choking the air they breathe and drought drying rivers that sustain agriculture, fish, wildlife and recreation.

The state argued that the plaintiffs were resorting to “emotional appeals” about the dangers of climate change, regardless of whether their legal claims have merit. They should have challenged specific laws that allow state agencies to issue permits for fossil fuel projects, said Assistant Attorney General Michael Russell.

When plaintiff’s attorney Roger Sullivan said that Montana had never denied a fossil fuel development permit, Russell said projects that meet state requirements cannot be denied.

Judge Seeley already narrowed the scope of the case, ruling in 2021 that it was outside her power to issue a requested order that would have forced the state to craft a greenhouse gas reduction plan. The judge also said she could not order the state to complete an inventory of emissions caused by fossil fuels.

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In both instances, Seeley said such work should be left to experts in the executive and legislative branches of government.

But Seeley said the court could declare that the state was in violation of the Constitution, without ordering that anything be done in response.

Sandra Nichols Thiam, an attorney with the Environmental Law Institute, said that could further the case of the failure of governments to address climate change.

“It’s highly significant that this case is going to trial at all,” Thiam said. “Getting all of this information on the record will be a major advancement in climate litigation.”

The sponsor of the measure that repealed the energy policy, Republican Rep. Steve Gunderson, did not return a call seeking comment. He said when it was under consideration before the Legislature that the policy was meaningless and outdated.

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Costley reported from Washington.

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Montana judge blocks rule that prevented transgender people from changing sex on docs

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Montana judge blocks rule that prevented transgender people from changing sex on docs


HELENA, Mont. — A state judge in Montana has temporarily blocked policies that prevented transgender people from changing the sex designation on their birth certificates and driver’s licenses.

District Judge Mike Menahan issued his order Monday, blocking the rule while the case moves through the courts.

Menahan said it was not necessary at this point in the litigation to determine whether transgender Montanans constitute a special class on the basis of their transgender status, but he disagreed with the state’s argument that discrimination on the basis of transgender status is not discrimination on the basis of sex.

“If the challenged state actions discriminate against transgender individuals on the basis of their transgender status, they also necessarily discriminate on the basis of sex,” he wrote.

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The case was filed in April by two transgender women on behalf of themselves and others who have been unable to obtain documents “that accurately reflect their sex,” the complaint said.

One rule in the state blocks transgender people born in Montana from changing the sex designation on their birth certificate. Another policy prevents transgender residents from changing the sex on their driver’s licenses without an amended birth certificate — which they can’t obtain if they were born in Montana.

Plaintiff Jessica Kalarchik, who was born in Montana, said in a statement Tuesday that she was frustrated that while “being able to live my life openly as the woman I know myself to be,” Montana “wants me to carry around a birth certificate that incorrectly lists my sex as male.”

Birth certificates and driver’s licenses are needed to apply for a marriage license, a passport, to vote or even to buy a hunting license, Alex Rate, legal counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana, argued last month. Each time a transgender person is required to produce a document that does not accurately reflect their sex, they are forced to “out” themselves as transgender.

The state had argued that sex is binary, either male or female, and that being transgender is not a protected class of people who could have their constitutional rights to privacy violated.

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“The right to privacy does not include a right to replace an objective fact of biological sex on a government document,” Assistant Attorney General Alwyn Lansing argued for the state.

The state attorney general’s office, which oversees the motor vehicle division, and state health department, which issues birth certificates, did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

The hearing was the latest volley in a series of laws, rules and legal challenges over efforts by Republicans in Montana and many other states to limit the rights of transgender residents. The state has used various justifications in banning changes to identifying documents, including needing accurate statistical records or saying someone’s biological sex cannot be changed even though someone’s gender identity can.

“The state cannot articulate any legitimate interest in restricting access to accurate identity documents, much less a compelling one,” Rate said during the hearing.

In late 2017, under Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock, the state health department implemented a rule allowing people to change the sex on their birth certificate by signing an affidavit.

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In 2021, Montana’s Republican-controlled Legislature and Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte implemented a law saying transgender people could not change the sex on their birth certificate without having undergone surgery. That law was declared unconstitutionally vague because it did not specify what surgery was required. The state was ordered to return to the 2017 rule.

However, in response, the health department — now under Republican leadership — passed a rule saying nobody can change the sex on their birth certificate unless it was to fix a clerical error.

Montana’s Legislature in 2023 passed a law defining the word “sex” in state law as being only male or female and based upon a person’s sex assigned at birth. That law defining “sex” was overturned as unconstitutional because its title did not accurately explain its purpose, but the ACLU argues the state is still using it to set policy with regard to driver’s licenses.

The ACLU asked Judge Menahan to temporarily block the rule and policy and order the state to restore the 2017 rule that allowed transgender people to change the sex designation on their birth certificate by filing an affidavit.

Menahan’s order blocked the 2022 health department rule on birth certificates and the motor vehicle division policy that prevented people from changing the sex on their driver’s license without an amended birth certificate. He also blocked the bill that defined sex as only male or female as it applied to birth certificates and driver’s licenses.

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Montana is one of seven states that did not allow people to change the sex on their birth certificate. Twenty-five states do allow it, including 15 that offer an option to list male, female or X. A dozen states allow birth certificate changes following gender-affirming surgical procedures, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an advocacy and information organization.

Thirty states allow people to change their sex on their driver’s license. Montana is among 16 states with what the Movement Advancement Project calls a “burdensome process.” Four states do not allow a person to change their sex on their driver’s license.



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Land Board approves 33,000-acre conservation easement in northwest Montana

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Land Board approves 33,000-acre conservation easement in northwest Montana


A proposal to put nearly 33,000 acres of working forestland in northwest Montana into a conservation easement has cleared its last major hurdle.

In a 3-1 vote on Monday, the Montana Land Board adopted language amending an agreement between timber company Green Diamond and Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks that closes the book on a conservation project that took four years and nearly $40 million to finalize.

The Montana Great Outdoors Conservation Easement is located between Kalispell and Libby and encompasses parts of the Salish and Cabinet mountains. The roughly 33,000 acres of land will be protected from development to support wildlife habitat and “key landscape connectivity,” according to FWP.

An FWP memo on the project says the easement also provides “permanent free public recreation access” to the enrolled lands while sustaining their use as a working forest.

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The U.S. Forest Service’s Montana Forest Legacy Program is putting $20 million toward the easement. Habitat Montana, a fund administered by FWP, is contributing $1.5 million, and the Trust for Public Lands coordinated another $4.2 million of financial support for the project. Finally, Green Diamond is donating about $14 million of the land’s value.

The easement is perpetual, meaning the terms of the agreement will remain in effect indefinitely, even if Green Diamond later sells the land.

In addition to supporting long-term timber harvest, the easement will confer tax benefits to Green Diamond, which owns and manages working forests in nine states throughout the southern and western U.S. According to a FAQ on the easement, Green Diamond will continue to pay local property taxes in Lincoln, Sanders and Flathead counties once the easement is recorded.

The easement faced a tumultuous path to adoption. When the Land Board first voted on it in October, WRH Nevada Properties, which owns the mineral estate beneath approximately half of the 33,000 acres, argued that the easement jeopardized its ability to develop the subsurface mineral estate.

The Montana Great Outdoors Conservation Easement is being developed as a two-phase project that will conserve nearly 83,000 acres of northwest Montana that span three counties. Credit: Courtesy Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks

Peter Scott, an attorney representing WRH and Citizens for Balanced Use, argued before the Land Board on Oct. 21 that the board would be ill-advised to authorize the easement while a lawsuit over it is pending, and given that ground-disturbing activities are “not compatible” with the Montana Forest Legacy Program’s purpose.

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“The folks that fund mineral exploration are not looking for conservation easements as part of their program,” Scott said. “In fact, they’re leaving and taking their mineral exploration money elsewhere. From their standpoint, Montana is not open for business in the context of mineral exploration.”

To help alleviate that concern, the board voted in October to draft language recognizing its intention to protect the mineral rights holders’ ability to access and develop their mineral rights within the easement’s bounds.

The board’s 3-1 vote effectively alters the easement to read that the mineral rights holders “shall not be infringed upon.” The mineral rights holder will retain the ability to “enter and use the [conserved land] for exploration, recovery and development of the minerals consistent with state law,” per the language adopted by the board.

State Superintendent and Land Board member Elsie Arntzen opposed a final vote on the easement, arguing that more discussion is needed and indicating that the state Legislature, which is set to gavel in for its biennial session next month, may be inclined to weigh in. She sought to postpone final action until at least the spring, a delay Gov. Greg Gianforte did not support for fear it would compromise the Forest Service’s $20 million contribution to the easement.

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Habitat conservation in Montana undergoing a ‘sea change’ 

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When Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks quietly unveiled a proposal to put Habitat Montana funds toward 30- and 40-year conservation leases, proponents described it as a “new conservation planning tool” while opponents warned of a “sea change” that could weaken one of the state’s most popular habitat protection programs.


“The staff worked with all of the concerned parties to get language that was agreeable. For us to make additional changes here, without consultation with all of the parties, would put us in a difficult position,” Gianforte said, adding that Arntzen had effectively missed her window to oppose the easement writ large.

“At this point, the easement has been approved, subject to this language,” Gianforte continued. “I feel a strong compunction to honor the local consensus which has been built around this, which I think is reflected in this modified language.”

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Arntzen also attempted to issue a “no” vote by proxy for Montana Attorney General and Land Board member Austin Knudsen. Gianforte, who chairs the Land Board, said only members who are actively present can vote.

Gianforte also struck down an amendment offered by Secretary of State and Land Board member Christi Jacobsen to make the easement subject to a 99-year term rather than perpetual.

The easement “has been granted, has been finalized,” Gianforte said. “So I would rule your amendment out of order.”

A variety of conservation and forestry-oriented organizations support the easement, arguing that it contributes to conservation and recreational objectives, and supports local economies reliant on forestry by facilitating access to a long-term timber supply. Those groups include Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Montana Wildlife Federation, Trust for Public Land, Montana Wood Products Association, Montana Logging Association,Stimson Lumber and FH Stoltze Land & Lumber. 

A trio of current and former elected officials opposed the easement in a letter to the Land Board, arguing that more due diligence should have been done to assess the prevalence of subsurface minerals and communicate with WRH about the project. A letter signed by Rep. Steve Gunderson, R-Libby; Sen. Dan Bartel, R-Lewistown; and Kerry White, a former state representative from Bozeman who now leads Citizens for Balanced Use, a nearly 20-year-old nonprofit that calls for more motorized recreation and resource development on public land.

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The second stage of the Montana Great Outdoors Conservation Easement is still in development. It’s estimated to top 52,000 acres to the west and south of the Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge.

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Search for missing Montana woman suspended at landfill north of Great Falls

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Search for missing Montana woman suspended at landfill north of Great Falls


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The search for a missing Conrad woman at the High Plains Landfill north of Great Falls has been suspended, the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office announced on Monday afternoon.

Alicia Wood, 46, was last seen on Nov. 22 and was reported missing on Nov. 30 to the Conrad Police Department. Wood’s car was found abandoned on the side of Highway 91 between Conrad and Brady and blood was later found inside the vehicle.

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The Montana Department of Criminal Investigation took over the case and a lead prompted a search for Wood at the landfill. The search began on Dec. 5 and lasted nine days.

“The is not a decision we took lightly, however, we feel we have conducted a thorough search of our landfill based on the information and leads provided,” Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter said in a statement.

DCI and the Pondera County Sheriff’s Office will continue to lead the investigation.

“As I said at the beginning of our search this is just one lead in this investigation. I’m confident that the Division of Criminal Investigation will continue to follow all current and future leads,” Slaughter said.

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Anyone with information about the disappearance of Alicia Woods is asked to contact the Division of Criminal Investigation by calling or 406-444-3874 or emailing contactdci@mt.gov.

The Cascade County Sheriff’s Office also thanked the numerous law enforcement and civilian agencies who assisted in the landfill search, as well as community supporters who provided meals for the search party.



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