Gov. Gianforte declares statewide drought emergency

HELENA — Gov. Greg Gianforte declared a statewide drought emergency Thursday and asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to declare all 56 of the state's counties as primary natural disaster areas. The designation would give them more access to federal assistance after the heat wave that stifled the Pacific Northwest moved into Montana.

"Every region of the state faces severe to extreme drought conditions, and the situation is getting worse," Gianforte said in a statement. "These alarming drought conditions are devastating our ag producers, challenging our tourism industry and could bring a severe wildfire season."

More than 92% of Montana faces abnormally dry conditions. High temperatures have been in the 90s and 100s for days, the National Weather Service has issued excessive heat warnings in northwestern and eastern Montana and red flag warnings of severe wildfire danger are in effect for several areas because of high temperatures, low humidity and winds that could contribute to extreme fire behavior.

The governor's declaration directs the state departments of Agriculture, Livestock, and Natural Resources and Conservation to work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to secure federal funding to address the fallout from the drought.

Almost 90% of the U.S. West faces drought conditions. Montana's disaster declaration follows similar ones in other states, most recently a declaration in South Dakota earlier this week, as governors seek solutions to curb the impacts of unusually dry conditions.

Several Montana cities are asking residents to use less water, and some are implementing watering restrictions because current demand is much higher than normal for early July.

"Essentially what we've seen this June is one month ahead of schedule on the demand side," Bozeman Water Conservationist Jessica Ahlstrom told the Montana State News Bureau.

She said the city's water usage for June was already 25% higher than a year earlier.

"Since we're reliant on snowpack and stream flow, and we have limited storage as well, that makes us very susceptible to drought," Ahlstrom said.

The state, counties and national forests started enacting fire restrictions ahead of the Fourth of July holiday weekend. The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks has also imposed fishing restrictions due to high temperatures and low water flows. The restrictions include some full closures and others that ban fishing during the hottest hours.

"We expect its going to be a tough summer for trout," fisheries biologist Jason Mullen told the Great Falls Tribune. "That's why we've implemented those restrictions, to try and reduce the stress as much as we can."

Gianforte sent a letter Thursday to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack calling for all counties in the state to be designated as primary natural disaster areas. The federal agency has so far identified 16 of Montana's 56 counties as primary natural disaster areas.

The governor said expanding the designation would increase access to federal relief through programs that support farmers such as the Livestock Forage Program, the Emergency Conservation Program and the Emergency Livestock Assistance Program.

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines and U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale, both Republicans, asked Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on Wednesday to open the Charles M. Russell Wildlife Refuge in Montana for emergency livestock grazing because of the drought.

A report released by the state Wednesday predicted that drought conditions in Montana will worsen over the next two months.

Drought metrics are significantly worse than they were the same time last year, when just under half of the state was experiencing similar dryness.

Nearly 20% of the state is in extreme drought, up from 14% a week ago, according to figures released Thursday.

The July forecast projects below-normal rain throughout the state. Montana has already had unusually high fire activity in June, including a fire near Yellowstone National Park that burned over 25 square miles (65 square kilometers).

"Given the latest on-the-ground conditions and the fire activity we have seen across the state over the past several weeks, we urge all Montanans and visitors to remain vigilant in doing their part to prevent wildfires," Amanda Kaster, director of the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, said in a statement.