We have been recording and producing daily audio digests of the historic Held v State of Montana trial, brought by 16 youth plaintiffs asserting that their constitutional rights are being violated by the State of Montana, which began on June 12, 2023, in the Lewis and Clarke County District Court in Helena, MT, Judge Cathy Seeley presiding.
We share the testimony of the final two witnesses for the plaintiffs, Dr. Lise Van Susteren, an internationally recognized psychiatrist and expert on how climate change affects the physical and mental health of youth differently and more drastically than adults. http://kgvm.org/show/held-v-state-of-montana-lise-van-susteren-testimony-6-16-23/
We will continue to record and produce these daily audio digests of the Held v State of Montanatrial as it continues on July 19, 2023 as the Defense presents their case with witnesses Terry Anderson, Christopher Dorrington and Sonja Nowakowski.
Welcome to this special edition of Ecotones. We continue our coverage on this fourth day of the historic Held v State of Montana proceedings, sharing this audio daily digest from June 15, 2023. In this edition, we feature three witnesses, but not in the order in which they actually testified on Thursday June 15th. Testifying first was youth plaintiff, Kian Tanner, followed by Montana Environmental Information Center Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs, Anne Hedges, and then youth plaintiff, Claire Vlases.
Claire Vlases testifies on 6-15-23, while Judge Kathy Seeley listens intently
Next is testimony from Anne Hedges, who is the Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs at the Montana Environmental Information Center, including cross examination by Defense Attorney for the State of Montana, Bain Johnson (apology if his name is misspelled). http://kgvm.org/show/held-v-state-of-montana-anne-hedges-testimony-6-15-23/
Due to radio broadcast time restraints, we were not able to include the testimony of the final witness on June 15, 2023, Peter Erickson, a climate change policy researcher for the Stockholm Environment Institute in Seattle, Washington. He provided expert testimony on Montana’s contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions – via fossil fuel consumption, extraction, and infrastructure that the state of Montana permits – and how these emissions are both nationally and globally significant. “We are at a decision point about taking action on climate change,” Mr. Erickson said. “The world community has decided we must. Montana continues to issue fossil fuel permits.”http://kgvm.org/show/held-v-state-of-montana-peter-erickson-testimony-6-15-23/
We will include audio of his testimony, as well as those of others we could not previously share, in later programs.
We continue our coverage of the historicHeld v State of Montana proceedings with this audio daily digest of the hearing from June 14, 2023. Dr. Lori Byron continued her testimony from June 13th, discussing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and human generated catastrophic climate change. http://kgvm.org/show/held-v-state-of-montana-dr-lori-byron-testimony-6-13-23/
After cross examination of Dr. Byron by Defense Attorney for the State of Montana, Mark Stermitz, attorneys for the plaintiffs called Dr. Shane Doyle to the witness stand, testifying on behalf of his daughters, two of the youth plaintiffs, Ruby and Lillian Doyle. http://kgvm.org/show/held-v-state-of-montana-shane-doyle-testimony-6-14-23/
Beginning on Monday, June 12, 2023, in the Lewis & Clark County District Court in Helena, Judge Kathy Seely presiding, attorneys for 16 youth plaintiffs in the case ofHeld v. State of Montana began. We have recorded the proceedings via Zoom, and produced for you this daily audio digest.
Judge Seely opened the second day of this trial at 9 a.m on June 13, 2023, one year to the day of the Great Yellowstone River flood of 2022, which closed Yellowstone National Park, and wreaked havoc along the path of the river, including Livingston, hometown of one of the youth plaintiffs, Eva.
Dr. Cathy Whitlock
Today’s hearing began with expert testimony from Dr. Cathy Whitlock, an earth scientist and professor emeritus at Montana State University, who is an expert in environmental change and paleoclimatology, and was a lead author of the 2017 Montana Climate Assessment. http://kgvm.org/show/held-dr-cathy-whitlock-testimony-6-13-23/
At 9 a.m. on Monday, June 12, 2023, in the Lewis & Clark County District Court in Helena, Judge Kathy Seely presiding, attorneys for 16 youth plaintiffs in the case of Held v. State of Montana began. We recorded the proceedings via Zoom, and produced this audio digest, which begins with opening statements by Plaintiff Attorney, Roger Sullivan, and Defense Attorney for the State of Montana, Assistant Attorney General, Michael D. Russel, which is broadcast in their entirety.
The plaintiff’s first expert witness was Mae Nan Ellingson, who had been the youngest delegate to the 1972 Montana Constitutional Convention, which established inalienable rights to “a clean and healthy environment,” which she spoke of passionately and proudly. She explained the process by which a bipartisan group of 100 delegates from all over the state of Montana met 51 years ago to create our current Montana State Constitution. http://kgvm.org/show/held-mae-nan-ellingson-testimony-6-12-23/
Then, the lead plaintiff, Ricki Held, was called to the stand. Unfortunately, there were technical problems that rendered her testimony so garbled, that we can not offer it in this audio digest. She spoke about the impacts that, just in her lifetime, have negatively affected her life and her family’s livelihood on their 3,000 acre ranch and motel near Broadus, MT, particularly the effects of drought and flood on the Powder River, which runs through it. http://kgvm.org/show/held-v-state-of-montana-ricki-held-testimony-6-12-23/
Fortunately, the audio problems were addressed by the time Steven Running, International Panel on Climate Change 2007 Nobel Laureate and University of Montana professor emeritus of ecosystem and conservation sciences, took the stand. Plaintiff attorney, Philip Gregory, questioned Professor Running at length about numerous aspects of the science of climate change, which we excerpt in this broadcast. Defense attorney, Mark Stermitz, raised several objections most of which Judge Seely denied. We include Mr. Stermitz’s entire cross-examination of Professor Running. http://kgvm.org/show/held-dr-steve-running-testimony-6-12-23/
In the afternoon, two more of the youth plaintiffs took the stand, Grace Gibson-Snyder, from Missoula, MT, who was 16 when the lawsuit was filed and is now 19, testified how smoke and excess heat affect her ability to play soccer, hike or any outdoor activity because of threats to our health. Here is an excerpt from her testimony. http://kgvm.org/show/held-v-state-of-montana-grace-testimony/
Eva, from Livingston, MT, who is now 17, but was 14 when the suit was filed, declined to give her last name on the stand. She testified to the effects climate change has had on her and her family. She described 7 hours of packing sand into sand bags as the waters were swiftly rising during last year’s flood of the Yellowstone River, which she noted occurred one year and a day before this trial was beginning, on June 13, 2022. Her family was forced to move from their home, when bridges connecting them to Livingston washed out in 2018.
According to a press release from Our Children’s Trust, “Held v. State of Montana is a constitutional climate lawsuit brought by 16 Montana youth against their State to protect their equal rights to a healthy environment, life, dignity, and freedom. They are suing because their government keeps promoting and supporting fossil fuel extraction and burning, which is worsening the climate crisis and harming these youths’ lives.
The youth are suing to protect their state constitutional right to a “clean and healthful environment” as well as the air, waters, wildlife and their public lands that are threatened by drought, heat, fires, smoke, and floods. They are also suing to have their rights to individual dignity and equality enforced under the Montana Constitution.
The youth plaintiffs do not seek money. They are asking the court to declare that Montana’s fossil fuel energy policies and actions violate young people’s state constitutional rights.
The 16 youth plaintiffs in this case are represented by attorneys with Our Children’s Trust, the Western Environmental Law Center, and McGarvey Law.
Our Children’s Trust is the world’s only nonprofit public interest law firm that exclusively provides strategic, campaign based legal services to youth from diverse backgrounds to secure their legal rights to a safe climate. We work to protect the Earth’s climate system for present and future generations by representing young people in global legal efforts to secure their binding and enforceable legal rights to a healthy atmosphere and safe climate, based on the best available science. Globally, we support youth-led climate cases in front of national courts, regional human rights courts, and UN bodies.” http://www.ourchildrenstrust.org
On May 5th & 7th, Intermountain Opera concludes their 2022-23 season with a performance of Verdi’s opera, Rigoletto. We spoke with Intermountain Opera’s Artistic Director, Michael Sakir, about the opera and his work with Intermountain Opera.
You can find Olivia Weitz’s segment on Yellowstone Public Radio about Intermountain Opera’s Wheels of Harmony Tour:
Born in Bozeman soon after his parents moved here to take a position at the then Montana State College, Michael Reynolds, has stayed true to the family tradition. His father, Creech Reynolds was the co-founder of the Bozeman Symphony Orchestra and the InterMountain Opera. His mother, Patricia Reynolds, founded the orchestra program at Bozeman High School. Mike co-founded the internationally renowned and Grammy Award winning Muir Quartet at the age of 23!
He has taught cello at Boston University’s College of Fine Arts since 1983, as well as having served on the faculties of The New England Conservatory, Rutgers University, the University of Utah, and UC Santa Cruz. He received an honorary doctorate from Rhode Island College in 1995.
On October 27, 2022, attorneys for two environmental organizations, WildEarth Guardians and Project Coyote, a project of Earth Island Institute, filed a lawsuit against The State of Montana, by and through the MT Dept of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and the MT Fish & Wildlife Commission. The suit was filed in MT First Judicial District Court in Lewis & Clark County.
The case named, WildEarth Guardians v. FWP, Cause No. DDV-25-2022 DK, alleges that the state’s wolf hunting and trapping policies violate the Montana Constitution, Montana Administrative Procedure Act, Public Trust Doctrine, and several federal laws meant to protect wildlife on federally-managed lands.
On November 10, 2022, a motion was filed asking The Court to prohibit the start of the state’s wolf-trapping season, as well as immediately halt the on-going wolf-hunting season, while the merits of the lawsuit are being considered. The conservation groups filed the time-sensitive motion with the wolf trapping and snaring season set to begin on November 28, 2022. The hunting season began in September. This motion asks the court to issue a temporary restraining order, followed by a preliminary injunction, to stop all recreational killing of wolves in the state pending resolution of the lawsuit.
On November 15, 2022, District Court Judge Christopher D. Abbott, granted a partial Temporary Restraining Order, with a hearing set for November 28, 2022. It’s set to expire November 29, 2022 at 5:00 p.m. The partial TRO requires MFWP to return to 2020 regulations with respect to wolf hunting and trapping quotas and “bag limits”, prohibits the use of snares, and limits quotas in former WMUs 110 (bordering Glacier NP), 313, and 316 (bordering Yellowstone NP).
In the 2021-2022 season, 273 wolves were killed by hunters and trappers—including 19 Yellowstone wolves—with nearly 70 percent of the wolves killed, after the trapping season began. As of November 15, 2022, hunters had already killed 56 wolves, while regulations permit hunters and trappers to kill an additional 395 wolves before the season ends in March 2023. The motion alleges that the conservation groups’ interests will be harmed beyond repair, if the court allows the hunting and trapping season to proceed while they fully litigate their case.
The motion—and the underlying lawsuit—claim that there are significant flaws in the population model used to estimate the total number of wolves in the state, and that since the quota of 456 wolves for this season relies upon a flawed population model, reaching the quota could have devastating consequences on the state’s wolf population. The motion states, “Montana does not have an accurate picture of how many wolves are living in Montana, and cannot sustainably and legally manage the species through another wolf hunt this winter.”
A listener asked us to investigate, and we share interviews with four people knowledgeable about the issues, Lizzy Pennock, an attorney with WildEarth Guardians;
Greg Lemon, Administrator of MFWP’s Communication and Education Division;
Pat Byorth, MT Fish & Wildlife Commissioner for Region 3, below
Michael Waasegijig Price, of The GREAT LAKES INDIAN FISH & WILDLIFE COMMISSION, which joined six tribes, who sued the state of Wisconsin in September of 2021 to prevent further wolf slaughter there.
Documents, articles and links pertinent to this episode of Ecotones:
A year ago we interviewed Kay Roseen, president of Future Forward for Haiti, about the 2021 Gallatin Valley Packathon for Haiti. Over 400 local volunteers gathered at Hope Lutheran Church and packed 8 tons of food into packets to be prepared and served to the school children of the small village of Bois Negresse near the southeastern border of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. That provided over 75,000 meals – one meal every week day to those children for a full year.
This year, Future Forward for Haiti is again organizing a Gallatin Valley Packathon for Haiti at Hope Lutheran Church on October 15, and they are looking for 500 volunteers to pack 10 tons of food, which will yield 100,000 meals!
We spoke with Kay Roseen to find out more about the packathon, as well as the challenges in getting food and other assistance to the children of Haiti under increasingly difficult and dangerous circumstances. She tells us that Miraculously, Future Forward For Haiti and their partner, Feed the Hunger, with their local partners in Haiti, are succeeding – where larger, international organizations are less successful.
David Andes’ ancestry goes back farther than most of European descent here in the Gallatin Valley. David shared his family’s stories with us on September 13, 2022. And what stories they are…
John E. Reese Gallatin History Museum Photograph Archives. P5318N.
His Great-Great Grandfather, John Reese, moved his family from Wales, after having been converted to Mormonism by Brigham Young, himself. The Reese family narrowly escaped being executed in the new Salt Lake City… after refusing to give their young daughter over to be a 3rd or 4th wife for a Mormon bishop, trying to leave, being captured by the Dannites, Brigham Young’s quasi-military police force, returned to Salt Lake City and scheduled for execution, but they were rescued by the US Cavalry, & moved to Montana, where they eventually settled north of Bozeman, along what is now known as Reese Creek.
Tintype of John E. Reese and Mary Davis Reese View of Reese Creek taken from Cemetery Hill, looking East. (Gallatin History Museum Photograph Archives, Frank Norman, donor. P7608N)
There the family history continued: A run-away bride, a posse chasing the groom with intent to kill, and more.
Mary Jane Reece Wells and John Harvey Wells
Andes House in Andes, MT (c.1913). The sod kitchen is on the right behind the house. The room to the left was a bedroom added for David’s grandparents. 6 of the eventual 10 children are shown. The photo’s frame was made from wood from the barn his grandfather built in 1911, salvaged and chosen to feature a bullet (lodged in the lower left) likely shot by one of his uncles, who were known for often shooting guns around the house.
His grandson, young Reese, is the seventh generation to live here in Gallatin Valley. You can read more in his article, Stories My Mother Told Me, in the Gallatin History quarterly, Volume 43, No. 4, from 2020. You can also find his photo next to that of Alan Turing at the American Computer & Robotics Museum.
Forthright Radio 