Montanans can watch tomorrow’s Forest Jobs Bill hearing online

Tester and witnesses prepare for hearing as legislation gains momentum

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Montanans will have an opportunity to watch Thursday’s Senate hearing on the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act, Senator Jon Tester announced today.

The hearing will be webcast online HERE.

Thursday’s hearing is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. Montana time.  (If the hearing begins late, web viewers may see a blank screen until the gavel drops.)

Also today, Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer sent the subcommittee a letter in support of the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act.

“I am grateful that Senator Tester is not willing to sit idly while Montana loses what remains of its critical forest industry infrastructure,” Schweitzer wrote.  “This legislation begins to move us beyond these tired fights of the past.”

Tester and several Montana witnesses, meantime, are preparing for Thursday’s hearing.  It is the legislation’s first hearing since Tester introduced the bill in July.

Tim Baker, executive director of the Montana Wilderness Association, is one of the Montana witnesses scheduled to testify Thursday.

“This hearing is important because it’s our opportunity to show Washington, D.C., how we get things done by working together—how Montanans can work together to solve problems that have plagued our state for many years,” Baker said.  “Jon Tester’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act is a visionary piece of legislation that can serve as a model for communities all across the West.”

The Forest Jobs and Recreation Act creates jobs by requiring logging in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge and Kootenai National Forests.  It creates new recreation areas.  And it safeguards some of Montana’s best hunting and fishing areas.

More information about the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act is available online HERE.