At the invitation of Montana Senator Steve Daines, the Montana land trust community was front and center during the August 17 Western Congressional Foundation’s Summer Western Policy Roundtable discussion in Bozeman. Mark Lambrecht of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Mark Aagenes of The Nature Conservancy in Montana, and Glenn Marx of the Montana Association of Land Trusts, all had the opportunity to weigh in on a variety of national natural resource and agricultural policy matters. Other agricultural, timber, mining, federal agency, and conservation voices highlighted natural resource issues, problems, and recommendations. Senator Daines, a co-chair of the congressional Western Caucus Foundation, together with Foundation co-chair Congressman Paul Gosar (R-AZ), led the discussion. Mark at RMEF focused his remarks on elk habitat and forest management, Mark at TNC discussed forest health and creative ways to generate new and expand markets for wood products, and Glenn at MALT focused on the importance of the ALE Program and more specifically on the problems with ALE Management Plans. We appreciated the opportunity to participate in the Roundtable and engage in policy discussions with Caucus members.
