Gianforte extends state bipartisan housing task force
Ellis Juhlin | Montana Public Radio
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed an executive order Thursday extending the state’s bipartisan housing task force. The group formed last summer and includes lawmakers, researchers, policy advocates and local government officials.
The task force released two reports in its first year with findings on the problem of affordable housing in Montana and proposed solutions, including legislation suggestions for lawmakers ahead of the 2023 session.
The Gianforte administration, along with the task force, advocates for pro-construction policies aimed at boosting the state’s housing supply.
This was reflected in a suite of housing reform bills passed during the legislative session that targeted zoning restrictions and subdivision review processes to promote construction. Critics of the policies said they fail to keep places to live affordable even if more become available.
With the extension the task force will run through June 2025.
Custer Gallatin National Forest releases plans for a 300,000 acre thinning project
Edward O’Brien | Montana Public Radio
The Custer Gallatin National Forest released the final decision Thursday for a burning, logging, and thinning project covering nearly 300,000 acres in eastern Montana. The project’s primary goal is to reduce the impacts of future wildfires.
The South Otter Landscape Restoration and Resiliency Project is located approximately six miles south of Ashland in southeast Montana.
According to the Custer Gallatin National Forest, nearly 60% of the landscape surrounding Ashland has been affected by large fires since 1995. That’s resulting in a change from forested landscapes to grass and shrubland.
The Forest Service says the goal of the project is to create conditions conducive to low impact, low intensity fires.
Activity will include prescribed fire, commercial timber harvest and non-commercial thinning, as well as road improvements and road decommissioning.
The South Otter project could begin this fall and continue in phases for up to 20 years.
District judge combines two lawsuits against Montana’s TikTok ban
John Hooks | Montana Public Radio
Two separate lawsuits against Montana’s first-of-its-kind law banning TikTok in the state have been consolidated into one legal proceeding by a district court judge in Missoula.
This comes after reports that TikTok has been funding both legal challenges.
One suit had been brought by the social media company and another by creators on the app. Presiding Judge Donald Molloy said the consolidation was appropriate given the “common issues of fact and law” in both suits.
