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The Dawson and Wibaux County Farm Bureau held their annual picnic at the Jaycee West Park in Glendive Sunday July 10, 2011. The members and officers were delighted to have a perfect summer day for the event. They were able to mix an afternoon of pleasure with some business as several reports were given from local elected officials.

     After enjoying a pleasant cook-out with Bernard Evans at the grill, bureau president Gene Evans introduced Dawson County Commissioner Jim Skillestad for the first update. Skillestad shared with the membership the progress that the county was making in reference to repairs on damaged roads from this years flooding. In meetings that the commissioners had with FEMA, the cost for repairs were estimated at $ 2 million. The commissioners felt that this was too large a burden for the residents to absorb and are working with FEMA to utilize federal funds for these repairs. That will enable the commissioners to keep from raising taxes to cover the unforeseen repairs, however, assistance from the federal government does require additional review and processing time. This will cause a delay in those repairs.

     The commissioner also spoke about the proposed Trans-Canada pipeline. If constructed, it will provide an estimated $ 11 million a year to Dawson County for schools and general fund expenditure’s. This  additional revenue would help reduce real estate taxes for all property owners and fund much needed improvements to the county water and sewer systems.

     Next up was former State Senator Ric Holden. Senator Holden brought a copy of a program which reflected the Farm Bureau’ contribution to the Miss Montana Scholarship Competition.  The event has been held in Glendive for the past several years. Holden stressed the importance of continued support for this event as one of the major statewide competitions which take place annually. It gives Eastern Montana and specifically Glendive the opportunity to introduce citizens from around the state to the community.

     Next State Representative Matt Rosendale gave a summary from the legislative session which he recently returned. The representative highlighted 17 bills that directly impacted the agricultural community. Rosendale broke the bills into 3 categories. There was information on bills that had passed, bills that failed and bills that were vetoed. As with any session, there were good and bad pieces of legislation that passed and failed. As private property rights are of paramount concern to the agricultural community, Rosendale included detailed information about these issues. “The fight to protect private property will be ongoing” Rosendale said. “With the development of our resources comes the need to construct pipelines and power lines. This doesn’t give corporations or governments the right to strong arm landowners. Landowners rights must be protected and they must be negotiated with fairly”. The United Property Owners of Montana recognized Rosendale’s work in the legislature and voted him the highest ranking member of the House for those efforts.