Gov. Gianforte names new Department of Agriculture director
Governor Greg Gianforte has announced the new Director of Montana’s Department of Agriculture.
Chester-based farmer Jillien Streit will head the agency after Gianforte appointed former director Christy Clark to run Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Streit currently works for Flat Acre Farms in Chester.
She is also the former president of the Hill-Liberty-Blaine County Farm Bureau and previously sat on the Montana Pulse Crop Committee
Montana DEQ to develop emissions reduction roadmap
This year, state environmental regulators will develop a roadmap to reduce planet-warming emissions across the state.
Montana’s Department of Environmental Quality is asking people to fill out a survey and share ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Rebecca Harbage, is with DEQ.
"We're thinking things like maybe you as an individual have been wanting to do something like improve the energy efficiency at your home or buy a more fuel efficient vehicle," said Harbage.
But Harbage says responses can also be much broader.
"Maybe I'm looking at my community and thinking about ways that we can make the development and infrastructure more sustainable with fewer environmental impacts. So things like I really would like to see more recycling and reuse programs," Harbage said.
The state is looking for how it can incentivize voluntary actions to cut emissions. The governor has said he doesn’t want to impose regulatory changes.
DEQ’s developing this “Big Sky Emissions Reduction Roadmap”, as part of a federal program to reduce climate pollution.
A comprehensive inventory of greenhouse gas emissions will also be part of the roadmap’s development, which is a dataset the state hasn’t previously had. The road map will complement emissions reductions projects rolling out this year from a nearly 50 million dollar EPA grant Montana was awarded last summer.
The survey is open through the end of January.
