MT HB 455 Big Sky Rivers Act Needs Your Action

This is a repost! If you haven't done so, please contact your representative and tell them to Support HB 455, The Big Sky Rivers Act. Read on for links to find contact information for your represtentative.

Help Protect Montana’s best rivers NOW!

Tell your Montana House Rep to support HB 455, The Big Sky Rivers Act!

Exploding streamside development threatens Montana’s blue-ribbon trout streams. By balancing river protection and property rights, The Big Sky Rivers Act protects water, crucial riparian areas and trout habitat from new development that occurs along 10 of Montana’s most iconic rivers.

Please contact your Representative TODAY and ask him or her to support HB 455.

HERE IS HOW:
Go here for information on how to contact your Representative and click here to find your legislator and contact them.

The Big Sky Rivers Act establishes a 250-foot protective streamside zone along 10 of Montana’s most famous rivers. It limits removal of key vegetation within a 150-foot buffer inside the streamside zone. The Big Sky River Act makes sense because it also allows local governments to opt-out of these mandatory conservation measures if they adopt ordinances or zoning rules that provide the same amount of protection.

Rivers included in the Big Sky Rivers Act: The Madison, main Flathead, Clark Fork, Bitterroot, Blackfoot, Smith, Jefferson, Upper Missouri, Upper Yellowstone and Gallatin.

Why support the Big Sky Rivers Act?
• It reduces costly flood and erosion damage by steering development away from known flood hazard areas;
• It protects private property rights by ensuring that actions of upstream landowners do not harm downstream landowners;
• It gives local governments control over the tools they need to manage their rivers;
• It protects water quality from stormwater runoff, lawn chemicals, and individual wastewater systems;
• It shields local governments from lawsuits brought by homeowners whose homes are damaged by flooding and erosion;
• It preserves critical fish and wildlife habitat by reducing the need for rip-rap and levees;
• It ensures high-quality recreational opportunities for anglers and boaters who value scenery and solitude;
• It includes a variance process to make sure no one loses the ability to build on an existing lot, and it includes a grandfather clause for existing homes.

Contact Members of the House and tell them this is a good bill. It protects private property as well as economic and recreational values all Montanans cherish.

Again go here for information on how to contact your Representative and click here to find your legislator and contact them.

What the Big Sky Rivers Act does NOT do:
• It does NOT take away the authority of local governments to create their own streamside development standards;
• It does NOT deprive riverfront landowners of the opportunity to build on their lots if their entire lot is located within a streamside management area;
• It does NOT apply within incorporated cities, towns or sanitary sewer districts;
• It does NOT prohibit property owners from rebuilding their home if it is destroyed by causes other than flooding;
• It does NOT grant public access to private property or expand the state’s stream access law.
• It does NOT affect agricultural-related buildings.

House Bill 455, the Big Sky Rivers Act, will be heard in the House Local Government Committee on Thursday, February 19th at 3:00 p.m. in room 172 of the Capitol. Please email, write, or call any and all members of the House of Representatives regarding the Big Sky River Act. If one of the following committee members represents your district, get them a message straight away!

House Local Government Committee meets Thursday, 3 p.m., Room
172

Arntzen, Elsie (R) (Chair) emarntzen@excite.com
Hands, Betsy (D) (Vice Chair) betsyhands@gmail.com
MacLaren, Gary (R) (Vice Chair) garymaclaren@yahoo.com
Becker, Arlene (D) arlene_becker@bresnan.net
Bennett, Gerald (R) jbenhd1@hotmail.com
Berry, Tom (R) tom@tomberrymt.com
Driscoll, Robyn (D) rdriscoll@peoplepc.com
Ebinger, Bob (D) buffalojump@imt.net
Grinde, Wanda (D) wsgrinde@aol.com
Hamilton, Robin (D) robinlhamilton@bresnan.net
Ingraham, Pat (R) pathd13@blackfoot.net
Menahan, Mike (D) mike@mikemenahan.com
More, Michael (R) mp_more@yahoo.com
Reichner, Scott (R) sreichner@centurytel.net
Reinhart, Michele (D) michelereinhart@gmail.com
Sands, Diane (D) hdsands@aol.com
Stahl, Wayne (R) wstahl@nemontel.com
Vance, Gordon (R) vancehd67@gmail.com

For more information contact Mark Aagenes at mark@montanatu.org or 449-9933. Or contact Bruce Farling at bruce@montanatu.org or 543-0054.