Thank you, Sen. Vincent, for your work on compact

Letter to the Editor:

Running for political office takes a dedicated individual. Being elected and working hard in the Legislature takes more time and effort than most people imagine. One of these individuals spending long hours on understanding an extremely complicated piece of legislation is Sen. Chas Vincent from Libby who represents Senate District 1.

Sen. Vincent spent more than 500 hours looking over court cases and closely examining the information, carefully studying the CSKT Water Compact. After his work and dedication, he agreed to introduce the controversial Senate Bill 262, which ratifies a water rights compact entered into by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation, the State of Montana and the United States government.

This was not a bill farmers and ranchers took lightly. After much studying and deliberation on agriculture’s behalf, we believe that S.B. 262 is good for farmers and ranchers both on and off the Salish-Kootenai reservation and into the Bitterroot Valley.

We would like to thank Sen. Vincent for his hard work, research and dedication on this difficult and complex piece of legislation.

— Hans McPherson, Stevensville