Issue Position: Montana Lands

Issue Position

Issue Position: Montana Lands

As a member of the state Land Board, Mike has been an advocate for public access to 5 million acres of school trust lands. Mike believes in continued responsible management of timber sales on state lands as a means to support Montana schools.

Mike has been an outspoken advocate for the removal of the Milltown Dam on the Clark Fork River near Missoula. He also actively supported EPA Superfund designation for Libby, a northwestern Montana community facing asbestos contamination caused by years of vermiculite mining.

September 8, 2006 - Attorney General Mike McGrath is congratulated following a ceremony recognizing his extensive support of hunting and fishing in Montana. More than 20 Montana organizations offered support for the award. Photo by Jon Ebelt

In 2007, Mike filed a lawsuit against the State of Wyoming to protect Montana's water rights. Wyoming has repeatedly refused to release sufficient water into the Tongue and Powder Rivers, and to resolve these disputes according to the terms of the Yellowstone River Compact.

As Attorney General, Mike has successfully defended challenges to Montana's stream access law. He vigorously defended challenges to voter-passed initiatives prohibiting cyanide heap leach mining and restricting domestic game farm practices that endanger Montana's wild game herds and fair chase hunting tradition.

Mike continues to pursue litigation against ARCO for damages caused to Montana's natural resources in Butte, Anaconda and the Clark Fork River basin. And he is pushing for clean-up of the old Mike Horse mine site in the Upper Blackfoot Drainage.

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