Joseph T. Burns: “today I am pleased to be jointly introducing with my fellow Senator from Montana, Senator Baucus, a bill to settle the…”

“today I am pleased to be jointly introducing with my fellow Senator from Montana, Senator Baucus, a bill to settle the claims and define the water rights of the Chippewa Cree Tribe of the Rocky Boy's Reservation. This bill is the product of many years of work and negotiations in our state and will result in the federal government sanctioning the water rights agreement that has been adopted by the Montana State Legislature. This settlement represents a textbook example of how State and Tribal governments, together with off-Reservation local representatives, can sit down and resolve their differences. I am also pleased that local ranchers were involved in every step of discussions, and that their water rights are fully protected under this settlement. The state agreement quantifies the Tribe's on-reservation water rights and establishes a water administration system carefully designed to have minimal adverse impacts on downstream, non-tribal water users. In fact, our goal was to benefit downstream water users wherever possible. This is quite an accomplishment in an area of Montana with a scarce water supply.”