News

At a committee hearing of the Montana State Legislature’s Water Policy Interim Committee this week, members of the committee voted to send a letter to Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke and members of Montana’s Congressional Delegation.

In the past few months, judicial and regulatory bodies alike have concluded that the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Water Compact is unquestionably the best way to secure existing water rights for the use of future generations of Montanans.

There seems to be some confusion in the PSC District 1 race regarding Montana Stockgrowers Association support of the CSKT Water Compact as it made its way through the Montana Legislature.

Farmers and Ranchers for Montana, the grassroots coalition that supports fair water policies and the ratification of the CSKT Water Compact, recently added a new co-chair, JR Iman, to their organization.

In 2015, the Montana Legislature ratified the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) – Water Compact with Montana, which settled all water rights claimed by the CSKT under the 1855 Hellgate Treaty.

The Montana Supreme Court this week upheld the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ hard-won water compact, ruling that the legislatively approved water rights measure is constitutionally intact.

HELENA — The Montana Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of the CSKT Water Compact, according to court documents filed Wednesday.

The Montana Supreme Court Wednesday ruled the long-debated Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes water compact was constitutionally sound.

The Montana Supreme Court has issued a decision upholding the constitutionality of the CSKT Water Compact in the Flathead Joint Board of Control v. State of Montana case.

Professor Anthony Johnstone provides analysis of the sovereign immunity issues presented by the Compact. Article starts on page 16.

In Montana, we pride ourselves on treating strangers as friends and solving problems as neighbors.

The CSKT Water Compact and the federal settlement legislation seeking to resolve the claims of the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes against the federal government recently received its first hearing in the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.