Green groups find doors opening at governor's office

By WALT WILLIAMS, Chronicle Staff Writer

It was a meeting that may not have happened in the four years before Gov. Brian Schweitzer took office.

A few weeks ago representatives from two environmental groups, along with Bozeman Democratic lawmakers, sat down with Schweitzer and the head of the state's environmental enforcement agency to make their case against Holcim Inc.'s use of slag waste at its Trident cement plant.

No one from Holcim was at the table.

The delegation got 20 minutes to accuse the company of violating state law and level complaints against the state for ignoring the issue. When it was done, the governor turned to his chief environmental officer and said, "I want you on this like stink on a skunk."

The half-playful comment drew laughs from the people there, but less than a month later, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality announced it was putting on hold a review of the plant's plan to burn tires for fuel, saying it first needed to know what was in the slag.

Anne Hedges of the Montana Environmental Information Center doubts she and the others would have had the chance to make their case before former Gov. Judy Martz, who once labeled environmentalists "obstructionists."

"DEQ has been sitting on this now for a year and not doing anything," she said. "I just don't believe the Martz administration was interested in these types of situations."

Environmental groups contacted Wednesday said they are now seeing the doors to the governor's office open after 12 years of being locked out, thanks to a new administration that is at least willing to listen to their concerns.

Those doors were closed completely for the four years of Martz's term. Former Gov. Marc Racicot, who served for eight years, would hear environmentalists out but rarely would he act, Hedges said.

"Racicot was all talk," she said.

One of the first groups Schweitzer met with after taking office was the Buffalo Field Campaign, which protests the state's killing of bison that wander out of Yellowstone National Park. The group used its time with the governor to show him graphic videos of the Montana Department of Livestock's capture operations.

The group never got that chance with Martz and Racicot, even though they had asked to, project director Dan Brister said.

"We've seen a 180-degree change as far as availability and openness of government in general," he said.

Martz, for one, never hid her pro-industry views. She was criticized for meeting with W.R. Grace officials before meeting with the residents of Libby, the town the company allegedly contaminated with asbestos from its nearby vermiculite mine.

She also refused to meet with environmental groups in 2002 after they requested to see her about logging in the Bitterroot Valley and her "obstructionist" comments. Her office didn't even tell the groups about her refusal, instead sending the letter to the media, Matthew Koehler of the Native Forest Network of Missoula said.

"We felt as if Gov. Martz took an incredibly narrow view when it came to working with Montanans on a variety of issues," he said.

Schweitzer, on the other hand, ran on a pro-environment platform, particularly emphasizing sportsmen issues that his campaign felt were critical for winning votes among pro-hunting Republicans in Gallatin County.

The governor has maintained an open door to industry groups as well. Don Allen of the Western Environmental Trade Association, which represents resource extraction industries, said he wasn't aware of any changes in the access his organization's members have enjoyed.

"It was that way before and we don't anticipate it being any different now," he said.

Not all business groups have access to the governor regardless the administration, according to Webb Brown of the Montana Chamber of Commerce. Several small niche groups have complained to him about a lack of access in general, and even when more mainstream groups like his get in, there's no guarantee they will walk away satisfied.

"We just don't snap our fingers and get what we want," he said.

Access for the groups opposed to Holcim's plans may have been made easier given they had Bozeman's Democratic delegation on their side.

But Schweitzer spokesperson Sarah Elliott said whenever people want to come to the governor's office to talk about issues, the door is open to them.

"In general, this administration has a lot of respect for diversity of ideas," she said.

Walt Williams is at wwilliams@dailychronicle.com

Reader Comments