Park Fee Increase, Manafort and Gates Indictment, Whitefish Contract With Puerto Rico

Missoulian: Prices going up on Forest Service campgrounds, cabins and towers throughout region

Public invited to provide comments on proposed peak season fee increases at 17 highly visited parks
“The proposed new fee structure would be implemented at Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Denali, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Olympic, Sequoia & Kings Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Zion National Parks with peak season starting on May 1, 2018; in Acadia, Mount Rainier, Rocky Mountain, and Shenandoah National Parks with peak season starting on June 1, 2018; and in Joshua Tree National Park as soon as practicable in 2018.

A public comment period on the peak-season entrance fee proposal will be open from October 24, 2017 to November 23, 2017, on the NPS Planning, Environment and Public Comment (PEPC) website https://parkplanning.nps.gov/proposedpeakseasonfeerates. Written comments can be sent to 1849 C Street, NW, Mail Stop: 2346 Washington, DC 20240.”

Fact Sheet and Current and Proposed Fee Rates Spreadsheet.pdf 

Missoulian: Ex-Trump campaign chairman, associate indicted, ex-Trump aide pleads in Russia probe

George Papadopoulos Documents
Manafort Gates Indictment Filed and Redacted

“In furtherance of the scheme, MANAFORT and GATES concealed from the United States their work as agents of, and millions of dollars in payments from, Ukraine and its political parties and leaders.”

Missoulian: The Latest: Whitefish 'disappointed' contract is canceled

FEMA Statement on Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s Contract with Whitefish

“Based on initial review and information from PREPA, FEMA has significant concerns with how PREPA procured this contract and has not confirmed whether the contract prices are reasonable. FEMA is presently engaged with PREPA and its legal counsel to obtain information about the contract and contracting process, including how the contract was procured and how PREPA determined the contract prices were reasonable.”

Bill to remove environmental assessments in forests, JFK files

Missoulian: GOP targets environmental rules after wildfires

H.R.2936 - Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2017

“The forest management activities designated under this section for a categorical exclusion [from preparation of environmental assessment or environmental impact statements] are forest management activities carried out by the Secretary concerned on National Forest System lands or public lands where the primary purpose of such activity is—

(1) to address an insect or disease infestation;

(2) to reduce hazardous fuel loads;

(3) to protect a municipal water source;

(4) to maintain, enhance, or modify critical habitat to protect it from catastrophic disturbances;

(5) to increase water yield;

(6) produce timber; or

(7) any combination of the purposes specified in paragraphs (1) through (6).”

Forest Harvest Can Increase Subsequent Forest Fire Severity

Missoulian: JFK Files: Thousands released but Trump holds back others

JFK Assassination Records
“The National Archives is releasing documents previously withheld in accordance with the JFK Assassination Records Collection Act.  The vast majority of the Collection (88%) has been open in full and released to the public since the late 1990s. The records at issue are documents previously identified as assassination records, but withheld in full or withheld in part.”

EPA Toxin Reviews, Trump Budget

Missoulian: Feds back away from review of dangers of asbestos, other toxins in widespread use

Revisions to the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 4) for Public Water Systems and Announcement of Public Meeting 12/20/2016

Missoulian: The Latest: White House praises GOP budget passage by House

H.Con.Res.71 - Establishing the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2018 and setting forth the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2019 through 2027

Whitefish Energy, EPA Nominees

Missoulian: Whitefish firm's $300 million repair contract in Puerto Rico raises questions

Cantwell Statement On Whitefish Energy Contract

"Today I am calling on the Government Accountability Office to investigate the circumstances surrounding the multi-million dollar contract awarded to Whitefish Energy—a brand new company with two employees."

Corporations Division - Registration Data Search, WHITEFISH ENERGY HOLDINGS, LLC

A List of Carriers Currently Issued Out of Service Orders by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Missoulian: GOP senators advance Trump EPA nominees over Dems' objection

EPW Committee Moves Nominations Forward at Business Meeting
“Michael Dourson, nominee to be assistant administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention at the EPA….

William Wehrum, nominee to be assistant administrator for the Office of Air and Regulation at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)”

“Regrettably, I am concerned that Dr. Dourson is not the leader that we need for that job. Never in the history of the EPA has a nominee to lead the Chemical Safety Office had such deep ties to industry. Never has a nominee had such a long record of recommending chemical safety standards that are as much as thousands of times less protective, thousands of times less protective than those recommended by regulators. Never has a nominee, to my knowledge, so consistently underestimated the risks of chemical exposures to the most vulnerable among us.”- STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE THOMAS R. CARPER, (pg 9).

Mining Pollution and Off-shore Oil

Missoulian: Cabinet mine foes use 'bad actor' law to fight Hecla permits

Zortmanand & Landusky Mines
“The 1993 and 1995 federal and state water quality complaints that resulted in the Consent Decree also resulted in a $2 million fine against Pegasus for alleged unlawful discharges to surface and ground waters. A review of agency files between 1977 and 1995 documented acid mine drainage from historic and contemporary mine workings, multiple releases of cyanide to surface and ground water from leaks, spills, overflows, and emergency cyanide solution disposals, and elevated metals in surface and ground water samples in many areas of the Zortman and Landusky mines.”

Missoulian: Interior to offer largest oil and gas lease sale in US

Secretary Zinke Announces Largest Oil &Gas Lease Sale in U.S. History

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Latest Incidents

Taxing Retirement

Missoulian: Trump shoots down retirement limit to pay for GOP tax cuts

Donald J. Trump‏ @realDonaldTrump  11h11 hours ago

There will be NO change to your 401(k). This has always been a great and popular middle class tax break that works, and it stays!

Selling Cattle to China, Tax Cuts

Missoulian: Montana ranchers divided after Trump abandons plan to regulate cattle sales more fairly

China: Livestock and Products Annual
“While U.S. beef producers and exporters celebrate the return of U.S. beef to the China market, initial trade volumes will be limited by the number of U.S. cattle eligible for export to China. Overall, Post forecasts that while China’s domestic production will only see an incremental increase, imports in 2018 are forecast to increase by 15 percent to meet increasing consumer demand for this higher-end protein.”

Missoulian: Trump backs GOP budget as step toward massive tax cuts

Question: On the Amendment (Capito Amdt. No. 1393 )
“To help provide tax relief to middle-class Americans by reducing deductibility, for Federal tax purposes, of federal deductions, such as the state and local tax deduction which disproportionally favors high-income individuals.”