Connect With Your Community!
Connect With Your Community!
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Thank you for supporting the creation of Gallatin County's local government study commission. This once-in-a-decade opportunity allows us to evaluate and potentially improve how our county government serves the community. The last time our government structure was updated was in 1994, when Gallatin County had a population of just 32,000. Today, with over 124,000 residents, it's essential to ensure that our government is well-equipped to meet the needs of a much larger and rapidly growing...
My name is Jesse Swenson, and I am running for Broadwater County Commissioner for District 3. I am a fifth generation Montanan whose family homesteaded in the Dutton area. We moved to Townsend in 1995 when I was 8 years old. With the exception of going to college in Kalispell, where I earned my AAS in Land Surveying, and a brief time living in Helena where I was the Assistant Golf Professional for Green Meadow Country Club, Townsend is and always will be my home! I met my wife, LaReissa Swenson, while in high school here at BHS, we have 2 child...
I was driving on Montana's Highway 89 just as fall began showing up at one of my favorite spots for walking, a turn onto a two-lane country road. If you don't know busy Highway 89, it travels north from Yellowstone National Park to Glacier National Park, a 400-mile haul. Making my way through a tree-heavy section on the highway known locally as "deer alley," I saw wild turkeys in the road just ahead of me. I immediately put on my emergency lights as I always do when I see wildlife on the road...
If you’re like me, and you’ve been a Montanan for awhile (I was born and raised here), then you have likely seen some changes that, well, feel uncomfortable, and perhaps even unwelcome. One thing I think we can all agree on - lifetime Montanans and newcomers alike - is that Montana politics are broken. As a small-population state in a post-“Citizens United” country, much of our state political system is purchased for us by out-of-state money. It has become a national theme, but especially true in Montana: “The System Is Rigged.” I’ve seen s...
California has always been on the forefront of new fads. Ranked Choice Voting is the latest. San Francisco and Oakland currently use Ranked Choice Voting to run their elections. Let’s take a look at how this has worked out for them: The 2022 election for Oakland Mayor had 10 candidates on the ballot. 9 rounds of counting were required to determine the winner. With each round, the lowest vote getter was eliminated and the votes redistributed to their 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th choices. Loren Taylor was in 1st place for the first 8 rounds but did n...
Since we moved to Montana nearly ten years ago, we’ve always had at least one teenager in the house. While this has probably accounted for some of my gray hair, with what seems like a never-ending stream of sass and eye rolls, our kids have generally been well-behaved, and I’m thankful for that. The most significant issue we’ve ever encountered is with phones and the never-ending dangers of social media. I remember we found an unopened beer under our daughter’s bed on one occasion, and we confronted her about it. I almost laughed when she sai...
My name is Jesse Swenson, and I am running for Broadwater County Commissioner for District 3. I am a fifth generation Montanan whose family homesteaded in the Dutton area. We moved to Townsend in 1995 when I was 8 years old. With the exception of going to college in Kalispell, where I earned my AAS in Land Surveying, and a brief time living in Helena where I was the Assistant Golf Professional for Green Meadow Country Club, Townsend is and always will be my home! I met my wife, LaReissa Swenson, while in high school here at BHS, we have 2 child... Full story
Few decisions made in Washington impact Montanans more than those made about our nation's natural resources. Unfortunately, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' pursuit of radical environmentalism and a liberal climate change agenda is shutting down our state's energy and mining and threatening our Montana way of life. When it comes to mining, look no further than the 700 hard working miners laid off from Montana's own Stillwater Mine near Columbus this fall. Stillwater is a great employer for our...
I’ve run for office four times, and each time I’ve worked to reach all voters, not just those who closely identified with my own politics or political party affiliation. We call our elected officials “representatives” for a reason. Once elected, their primary job is to represent their constituents, and that means all of their constituents. To be clear, that doesn’t mean pleasing everyone all the time - that is impossible. In my view, it simply means pausing before taking a vote on legislati...
I have been heard as saying that I do not have to defend life, you have to defend taking it, but CI128 has changed that. I feel obligated to defend it now. CI128, the abortion initiative as a constitutional right and the vagueness and simplicity of its wording leaves the door wide open for unimaginable harm and tragic attacks and loss to human life. Let me explain. Just recently, our Montana Supreme Court, yes yours and mine, was tasked with determining what Article ll Section 10 of our constitution, giving us the right to privacy, actually mea...
Most mornings, I only need a few minutes of “me” time before I’m at the computer and tackling what always seems to be a never-ending stream of emails. This morning, I was slower to get to my makeshift desk, a TV tray next to my recliner in the front room. A few weeks ago, I got a severe burn on my foot, and the healing process has been trying. Even something as mundane as sitting at a desk has hampered the process. So here I am in my living room, attempting to work while listening to the washing machine make a bunch of racket. I also wante...
Drive through downtown Bozeman any day of the week, and you're guaranteed to see some cowboy hats. Turn on the television and there's another Montana politician wearing the hat. On Instagram, it's billionaires with boots and buckles. Stetson even had a hat shortage from demand on the back of the success of "Yellowstone" and the Barbie movie. Meanwhile, the cowboy is dying. This is not a new observation. And it's not the fault of 99% of folks wearing the boots, buckles and hats that family farms...
While I was in elementary school, the end of summer always meant going school shopping, and this always meant searching for a new lunch box. Lunch boxes have certainly evolved over the years, but they pale in comparison to the novelty of those from my childhood. I remember being so excited to get a “Return of the Jedi” lunch box with a Thermos that I’m pretty sure I slept with it for about a week. As much as getting a lunch box was a rite of passage for a 1980s elementary school student, taking a lunch usually only lasted about a week. I would...
I have been heard as saying that I do not have to defend life, you have to defend taking it, but CI128 has changed that. I feel obligated to defend it now. CI128, the abortion initiative as a constitutional right and the vagueness and simplicity of its wording leaves the door wide open for unimaginable harm and tragic attacks and loss to human life. Let me explain. Just recently, our Montana Supreme Court, yes yours and mine, was tasked with determining what Article ll Section 10 of our constitution, giving us the right to privacy, actually mea...
It is no secret that Southwest Montana is rapidly changing. With more people in local communities and on the trails, it is imperative we work together to protect and steward our cherished public lands. The Greater Yellowstone Coalition has been at the forefront of taking action to protect this special place for more than 40 years, successfully adapting strategies to present-day social, political, and ecological realities. GYC brings together diverse interests, organizes communities, and ultimately develops widely supported projects that...
The other day, I had a good laugh when my sister sent me a dancing video about finding an onion ring mixed in with your fries at Burger King. I needed it too, I have been so stressed out trying to keep a business afloat and the non-stop political commercials terrorizing me, it was nice to enjoy something lighthearted. While I only eat at Burger King once every few years, I remember being younger and the joy of finding a tiny onion ring or two that had somehow made it into the fry carton. While I was driving from Three Forks to Helena to pick up...
The countdown is on for the 109th Montana Farmer’s Union Annual State Convention. Our convention will be held at the Grouse Mountain Lodge in Whitefish, MT on October 17th to 19th. I am particularly looking forward to this year’s convention policy debates and our keynote speaker, Zach Ducheneaux, Administrator for USDA’s Farm Service Agency. The event kicks off with a pre-convention tour on Thursday of area agriculture, then full programming on both Friday and Saturday. Members can easily network with their industry peers and fellow membe...
You can help prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease in Montana’s herds of elk, deer, and moose by getting your animal tested. By testing your animal for CWD, you are not only protecting our herds, but also the future of our hunting opportunities. Your test results help Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks gather data to evaluate the effectiveness of CWD management. FWP needs samples not only from hunting districts (HDs) where CWD is known to be, but also in HDs where it hasn’t yet been detected. If we don’t know where it is, we can’t stop th...
On an evening where the highlight should have been watching Montana native Sean O’Malley fight at UFC 306, it instead turned into an all-out battle between myself and a pork butt. Unfortunately, the pork won, and I’m still paying for it. While we watch a lot of sports at our house, the UFC pay-per-views are always a highlight. It’s an even bigger deal when one of our favorite fighters is on the main card, like at the recent event at the Sphere in Las Vegas. We always try to plan out something great to eat to go along with the fights, and about...
As volunteer election judges, we understand that few institutions are as precious as democracy. Despite all the differences in our state—whether political, cultural, or demographic—the ballot box is where we can unite to fight for the vision we see for our state—regardless of what that vision is. However, we have lost sight of this core principle somewhere along the way, and threats to our democracy have become all too common. Over the past four years, we have seen attacks on election officials, poll workers, and non-partisan volunteers like...
Biologist Diane K. Boyd has had a front-row seat to 40 years of wolf recovery in the West, but her new memoir reveals that entanglements with humans in Montana were often tougher than dealing with the four-legged predators. There's a proud literary canon of women telling their stories of studying wildlife in remote places-Mardy Murie in Alaska, Jane Goodall in Tanzania, Dian Fossey in Rwanda. Now, Boyd's memoir, A Woman Among Wolves-My Journey Through Forty Years of Wolf Recovery, runs in that...
More frequent wildfires in the West can turn hiking through beautiful, high-elevation country into a dangerous game for hikers. In July, seven friends from Idaho, Colorado, Washington and Montana took off for a week of backpacking in southwestern Montana. Everything went off without a hitch their first night. A rainstorm passed through but it wasn't a big deal. But when they woke up, they saw a plume of smoke rising into the sky. Darren Wilson had anticipated something like this, even before the...
As you drive over bridges this time of year, take a moment to look down at the streams and rivers and appreciate just how much water is flowing down there. I know: Late summer is when water levels in streams and rivers are at their lowest. By now, crops have been irrigated for several months, snowpack is gone, and it seems like a long time since we last saw a decent rain. But Montana’s water flows could be a lot worse. Here at FWP, we talk a lot about the contributions that agriculture makes to wildlife habitat—rotational grazing that kee...
For more than 50 years, generations of passionate, persistent citizens worked hard to ensure the Gallatin and Madison Ranges continue providing vital wildlife habitat, clean water and wild places for people to find adventure and solace. Today’s debate about the future of these mountains stands on this legacy, and for that we are deeply grateful. These mountains are among the wildest places left in the lower 48. As veterans of earlier efforts to protect the Gallatin and Madison Ranges, we support the Greater Yellowstone Conservation and R...
Whenever our household budget has gotten tight over the near decade of living in Montana, one topic that always seems to come up is getting rid of our satellite service and finding a different and cheaper way to watch television. Our bill would keep growing, and we would call them to say we’d like to cancel. They’d end up giving us a discount for a few months, only to have the high prices return after it ended. It was a never-ending cycle. I still think I’m still trying to recover financially from the year we thought it would be a good idea to...
