Montanans will have an opportunity to watch Thursday's Senate hearing on Sen. Jon Tester's Forest Jobs and Recreation Act.
Thursday's hearing, the first for the bill, is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. Montana time. Follow the link in this story online at helenair.com to see the hearing. If it begins late, Web viewers may see a blank screen until it begins.
Also on Wednesday, Gov. Brian Schweitzer sent the Senate 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."
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 in a press release. "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 aims to create jobs by requiring logging in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge and Kootenai National Forests. It aims to establish new recreation areas and proposes to safeguard some of Montana's best hunting and fishing areas.