Watching the Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho state legislatures
The legislatures are back in session in the great states of Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho, which means lawmakers have been sworn in, new bills are being introduced, and the GYC advocacy team is hard at work monitoring potential changes to state policy.
Last year, the Montana legislative session in particular repeatedly made national news for a slate of unscientific and regressive wildlife bills. Already, it looks like we could be in for another doozy of a session as bills are being drafted and introduced that have potential implications for species like grizzly bears, wolves, and bison. We know you care about Greater Yellowstone’s wildlife as much as we do, so we wanted to take a moment to share our approach to monitoring the state legislatures with you.
Here’s what you need to know:
GYC is actively watching bills as they progress (or fail to progress) through the state legislatures. Our advocacy team meets weekly (or more, if needed) to discuss how the bills on our radar are evolving and make decisions about next steps.
Throughout the legislative calendar, GYC will keep an eye out for bills that fall within the scope of our mission and our conservation priorities. This year, our priority is protecting Greater Yellowstone wildlife.
Engagement takes different forms, depending on the bill itself. Sometimes you’ll hear from us directly on a bill because we need you to take action. Sometimes you won’t, because we are working behind the scenes with partners or taking a research or support role. Here are some examples of our approach to engagement:
Monitoring legislation and feeding information to partners who are well poised to take the lead in fighting for or against a particular bill.
Working in coalition with Tribal and NGO partners on a coordinated approach to engagement.
Engaging in direct advocacy and asking GYC’s Montana, Wyoming, or Idaho-based supporters to speak up for or against a specific bill.
Here are the key takeaways:
Much of this work happens behind the scenes. We stay on top of the legislative session through frequent check-ins with our advocacy team, strategy sessions with key partners, calls to legislators, coordinated letter writing, and more. This kind of work probably won’t show up on our blog or in our newsletter, but it’s occurring throughout the legislative calendar.
We also anticipate there being opportunities for our GYE-based supporters to take direct action. When that is the case, we will update this blog post and send out an email detailing how to take action. That could mean providing you with talking points to use in drafting comments or calling your representative, or it could mean asking you to sign your name onto a letter or statement. Your voice is powerful, so make sure you bookmark this blog post and are on our email list so you don’t miss an opportunity to speak up.
Right now, we already have a handful of bills we are actively keeping an eye on to see how they evolve. So, watch this space!
—Kristin Oxford, communications coordinator
The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is the land of 49+ Indigenous Tribes who maintain current and ancestral connections to the lands, waters, wildlife, plants, and more.
