Executive Reorganization: Building a State Government That Worked for People -- Tom Harrison, Diana Dowling & Sheena Wilson “In the Crucible of Change”

One of the primary accomplishments of Governor Forrest Anderson in 1969-71 was the reorganization of the Executive Branch of Montana government, something that had been attempted six different times between 1919 and 1962 as state government had grown from twenty agencies to almost 200 uncontrolled boards, bureaus and commissions. The chaotic structure of the executive branch disempowered governors of both parties and empowered the private corporations and organizations that were the power structure of Montana. With remarkable political acumen, Governor Anderson figured out how to get that near impossible job done. Central to his efforts was the creation of an Executive Reorganization Commission, including eight legislators and the Governor, the adoption of a Constitutional Amendment that limited the executive branch to no more than twenty departments under the Governor, and the timely completion of a massive research effort to delineate the actual structure of the twenty departments. That story is told in this episode by three major players in the effort, all involved directly with the Executive Reorganization Commission: Tom Harrison, Diana Dowling and Sheena Wilson. Their recollections reflect an insider’s perspective of this significant accomplishment that helped change Montana “In the Crucible of Change.” Tom Harrison is a former Republican State Representative and State Senator from Helena, who was a member of the Executive Reorganization Commission. As Majority Leader in the Montana House of Representatives in 1971, he was the primary sponsor of the House’s executive reorganization bill and helped shepherd the Senate’s version to passage. Harrison was the Republican candidate for Attorney General in 1976 after which he practiced private law for 3 more decades. He served in the Montana Army National Guard for almost 34 years, rising to the rank of Colonel in the position of Judge Advocate General. He was a founding Director of Federal Defenders of Montana (legal representation for indigents accused within the Federal Judicial System); appointed Chairman of the original Montana State Fund (workers' compensation insurance) by Gov. Stephens; served as President of the Montana Trial Lawyers Association, Helena Kiwanis Club and St. Peter's Community Hospital Foundation, as well as Chairman and Director of AAA MountainWest; and was a founder, first Chairman and Director of the Valley Bank of Helena for over 25 years. Diana Dowling was an attorney for the Executive Reorganization Commission and helped draft the legislation that was passed. She also worked for Governor Forrest Anderson and for the 1972 Constitutional Convention where she prepared and directed publication of official explanation of the new Constitution that was mailed to all Montana voters. Diana was Executive Director of the Montana Bar Association and for 20 years held various legal positions with the Montana Legislative Council. For 12 years she was a commissioner on the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and for 7 years was a member of Montana State Board of Bar Examiners. Diana was the first director of the Montana Lottery, an adjunct professor at both Carroll College and the UM Law School, and an administrative officer for Falcon Press Publishing Co. Diana is currently - and intends to continue being - a perpetual college student. Sheena Wilson came fresh out of the University of Montana to become a Research Assistant for the Executive Reorganization Commission. Later she worked for seven years as a field representative in Idaho and Montana for the Mountain Plains Family Education Program, for thirteen years with Congressman Pat Williams as Executive Assistant in Washington and Field Assistant here in Montana, owned and managed a Helena restaurant for seven years, worked as Executive Assistant for State Auditor John Morrison and was Deputy Chief of Staff for Governor Brian Schweitzer his full 8 years in the Governorship. Though currently “retired”, Sheena serves on the Montana Board of Investments, the Public Employees Retirement Board and the Capitol Complex Advisory Council and is a partner in a dry-land wheat farm in Teton County that was homesteaded by her great uncle.

Razor Thin Win: The 1972 Constitution Ballot, Campaign, Ratification & the Courts -- Mae Nan (Robinson) Ellingson & Mick McKeon “In the Crucible of Change”

Beyond the challenge of crafting a new state Constitution that empowered the people and modernized and opened up state and local government in Montana, the Constitutional Convention delegates, as they signed the final document, looked forward to the arduous task of getting it ratified by the electorate in a short ten week period between the end of the convention on March 24 and the ratification election of June 6, 1972. While all 100 delegates signed the draft Constitution, not all supported its adoption. But the planning about how to get it adopted went back to the actions of the Convention itself, which carefully crafted a ballot that kept “hot political issues” from potentially killing the entire document at the polls. As a result, three side issues were presented to the electorate on the ballot. People could vote for or against those side issues and still vote to ratify the entire document. Thus, the questions of legalizing gambling, having a unicameral legislature and retaining the death penalty were placed separately on the ballot (gambling passed, as did the retention of the death penalty, but the concept of a one-house legislature was defeated). Once the ballot structure was set, delegates who supported the new Constitution organized a grassroots, locally focused effort to secure ratification – thought hampered by a MT Supreme Court decision on April 28 that they could not expend $45,000 in public monies that they had set aside for voter education. They cobbled together about $10,000 of private money and did battle with the established political forces, led by the MT Farm Bureau, MT Stockgrowers’ Assn. and MT Contractors Assn., on the question of passage. Narrow passage of the main document led to an issue over certification and a Montana Supreme Court case challenging the ratification vote. After a 3-2 State Supreme Court victory, supporters of the Constitution then had to defend the election results again before the federal courts, also a successful effort. Montana finally had a new progressive State Constitution that empowered the people, but the path to it was not clear and simple and the win was razor thin. The story of that razor thin win is discussed in this chapter by the two youngest delegates to the 1972 Constitutional Convention, Mae Nan Ellingson of Missoula and Mick McKeon, then of Anaconda. Both recognized “Super Lawyers in their later professional practices were also significant players in the Constitutional Convention itself and actively participated in its campaign for ratification. As such, their recollections of the effort provide an insider’s perspective of the struggle to change Montana for the better through the creation and adoption of a new progressive state Constitution “In the Crucible of Change.” Mae Nan (Robinson) Ellingson was born Mae Nan Windham in Mineral Wells, TX and graduated from Mineral Wells High School in 1965 and Weatherford College in Weatherford, TX in 1967. Mae Nan was the youngest delegate at the 1972 Convention from Missoula. She moved to Missoula in 1967 and received her BA in Political Science with Honors from the University of MT in 1970. She was a young widow known by her late husband’s surname of Robinson while attending UM graduate school under the tutelage of noted Professor Ellis Waldron when he persuaded her to run for the Constitutional Convention. Coming in a surprising second in the delegate competition in Missoula County she was named one of the Convention’s “Ten Outstanding Constitutional Convention Delegates,” an impressive feat at such a young age. She was 24 at the time, the youngest person to serve at the ConCon, and one of 19 women out of 100 delegates. In the decade before the Convention, there were never more than three women Legislators in any session, usually one or two. She was a member of the American Association of University Women, a Pi Sigma Alpha political science honorary, and a Phi Alpha Theta historical honorary. At the Convention, she led proposals for the state's bill of rights, particularly related to equal rights for women. For years, Ellingson kept a copy of the preamble to the Constitution hanging in her office; while all the delegates had a chance to vote on the wording, she and delegate Bob Campbell are credited with the language in the preamble. During the convention, she had an opportunity that opened the door to her later career as an attorney. A convention delegate suggested to her that she should go to law school. Several offered to help, but at the time she couldn't go to school. Her mom had died in Texas, and she ended up with a younger brother and sister to raise in Missoula. She got a job teaching, but about a year later, intrigued with the idea of pursuing the law as a career, she called the man back to ask about the offer. Eventually another delegate, Dave Drum of Billings, sponsored her tuition at the UM School of Law. After receiving her JD with Honors (including the Law Review and Moot Court) from the UM Law School Ellingson worked for the Missoula city attorney's office for six years (1977-83), and she took on landmark projects. During her tenure, Missoula became the first city to issue open space bonds, a project that introduced her to Dorsey & Whitney. The city secured its first easement on Mount Sentinel, and it created the trail along the riverfront with a mix of playing fields and natural vegetation. She also helped develop a sign ordinance for the city of Missoula. She ended up working as bond counsel for Dorsey & Whitney, and she opened up the firm's full-fledged Missoula office after commuting a couple of years to its Great Falls office. She was a partner at Dorsey Whitney, working there from 1983 until her retirement in 2012. The area of law she practiced there is a narrow specialty - it requires knowledge of constitutional law, state and local government law, and a slice of federal tax law - but for Ellingson it meant working on great public projects – schools, sewer systems, libraries, swimming pools, ire trucks. At the state level, she helped form the Montana Municipal Insurance Authority, a pooled insurance group for cities. She's shaped MT’s tax increment law, and she was a fixture in the MT Legislature when they were debating equal rights. As a bond lawyer, though, Ellingson considers her most important work for the state to be setting up the Intercap Program that allowed local governments to borrow money from the state at a low interest rate. She has been a frequent speaker at the League of Cities and Towns, the Montana Association of Counties, and the Rural Water Users Association workshops on topics related to municipal finance, as well as workshops sponsored by the DNRC, the Water and Sewer Agencies Coordination Team, and the Montana State University Local Government Center. In 2002, she received an outstanding service award from the Montana Rural Water Users Association. In addition to being considered an expert on Montana state and constitutional law, local government law and local government finance, she is a frequent teacher at the National Association of Bond Lawyers (NABL) Fundamentals of Municipal Bond Law Seminar and the NABL Bond Attorney’s Workshop. For over 30 years Mae Nan has participated in the drafting of legislation in Montana for state and local finance matters. She has served on the Board of Directors of NABL, as Chairman of its Education Committee, was elected as an initial fellow in 1995 to the American College of Bond Counsel, and was recognized as a Super Lawyer in the Rocky Mountain West. Mae Nan was admitted to practice before the MT and US Supreme Courts, was named one of “America’s Leading Business Lawyers” by Chambers USA (Rank 1), a Mountain States Super Lawyer in 2007 and is listed in Best Lawyers in America; she is a member and former Board Member of NABL, a Fellow of the American College of Bond Counsel and a member of the Board of Visitors of the UM Law School. Mae Nan is also a philanthropist who serves on boards and applies her intelligence to many organizations, such as the Missoula Art Museum. [Much of this biography was drawn from a retirement story in the Missoulian and the Dorsey Whitney web site.] Mick McKeon, born in Anaconda in 1946, is a 4th generation Montanan whose family roots in this state go back to the 1870’s. In 1968 he graduated from Notre Dame with a BA in Communications and received a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Montana Law School in 1971. Right after graduating from law school, Mick was persuaded by his father, longtime State Senator Luke McKeon, and his uncle, Phillips County Attorney Willis McKeon, to run for delegate to Montana’s Constitutional Convention and was elected to represent Deer Lodge, Philipsburg, Powell, and part of Missoula Counties. Along with a coalition of delegates from Butte and Anaconda, he fought through the new Constitution to eliminate the legal strangle hold, often called “the copper collar,” that corporate interests -- the Anaconda Company and its business & political allies -- had over state government for nearly 100 years. The New York Times called Montana’s Constitutional Convention a “prairie revolution.” After helping secure the ratification of the new Constitution, Mick began his practice of law in Anaconda where he engaged in general practice for nearly 20 years. Moving to Butte in 1991, Mick focused has practice in personal injury law, representing victims of negligence and corporate wrongdoing in both Montana district courts and federal court. As such, he participated in some of the largest cases in the history of the state. In 1992 he and his then law partner Rick Anderson obtained a federal court verdict of $11.5 million -- the largest verdict in MT for many years. Mick’s efforts on behalf of injured victims have been recognized by many legal organizations and societies. Recently, Mick was invited to become a member of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers - 600 of the top lawyers in the world. Rated as an American Super Lawyer, he has continuously been named one of the Best Lawyers in America, and an International Assn. of Trial Lawyers top 100 Trial Lawyer. In 2005, he was placed as one of Montana’s top 4 Plaintiff’s lawyers by Law Dragon. Mick is certified as a civil trial specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and has the highest rating possible from Martindale-Hubble. Mick was awarded the Montana Trial Lawyers Public Service Award and provided pro bono assistance to needy clients for his entire career. Mick’s law practice, which he now shares with his son Michael, is limited to representing individuals who have been injured in accidents, concentrating on cases against insurance companies, corporations, medical providers and hospitals. Mick resides in Butte with his wife Carol, a Butte native. Mick, Carol, Michael and another son, Matthew, who graduated from Dartmouth College and was recently admitted to the Montana bar, enjoy as much of their time together in Butte and at their place on Flathead Lake.

Intensive Rotational Grazing of Steers at the Andrew Jackson Demonstration Farm

Fifty head of crossbred steers started grazing 51 acres of pasture on May 1 in a rotational grazing system using a variable density paddock system. Twenty-two head grazed 92 days, 27 grazed 140 days, and one steer died. A total of 11,922 pounds was produced on 5,804 animal-days of grazing. The average daily gain was 2.02 pounds for group 1 and 2.07 for group 2. The stocking rate for the first 92 days was .98 steers per acre and .53 for the final 48 days. The animal days of grazing per acre was 113 and the pounds of gain per acre was 233. Total return for land, labor and management for the demonstration was $2,829.76 or $55.49/acre.

Management Intensive Grazing of Stockers at the Andrew Jackson Demonstration Farm (1996 – 1998)

The Andrew Jackson Demonstration Farm (AJDF) is located in central Jackson County in east central Iowa. A board of directors operates the farm for the purpose of demonstrating different production practices and management strategies. From 1996 to 1998 management intensive grazing practices and the grazing of stockers on a combination of permanent and tillable pasture have been demonstrated. Grazing strategies or practices demonstrated during these years included establishment of Eastern Gamagrass and Big Bluestem, variable density grazing, measuring forage on-offer, estimating dry matter intake, grazing corn, pasture renovation, and fencing and water systems. Production performance data were gathered for the three years stockers that were grazed. During this time the stockers averaged 121 animal days of grazing, a 1.1 head per acre stocking rate, a 1.85 pound average daily gain, and 228 pounds of gain per acre. The financial measures evaluated the value of gain on pasture and the pasture cost of the gain. The value of gain per pound was positive for 1996 and 1997 at $.58 and $.52 whereas in 1998 it was a -$.04. Pasture costs per pound of gain ranged from $.12 to $.16. Production performance is only one part of the profit picture when evaluating a stocker operation. Buysell margins are the other significant part that can greatly impact the profit potential of a summer grazing program.

Forage-Based Beef Production Research at the Armstrong Outlying Research Farm

Fifty-five yearling crossbred steers and 3C cow-calf pairs were used in a forage-based beef production system demonstration project at the Armstrong Outlying Research Farm. From May 11 to June 13, steers rotationally grazed a 41-acre grass pasture that was divided into eight paddocks. From June 13 to August 24, steers were placed in a drylot and fed berseem clover/oat soilage from a strip-intercropping system. Beginning June 5, 36 cow-calf pairs were allowed to rotationally graze the 41-acre pasture until September 18. Calf weight gains for the 110 days were 1.57 pounds per day, and total production from the pasture was 151 pounds per acre. No cow weight change or condition score change was measured. Total steer production was 29 and 580 pounds per acre or average daily gains were .67 and 2.23 pounds while grazing pasture and being fed in a drylot.

Effects of Novel Growth Hormone Secretagogues on Growth Hormone Secretion in Farm Animals

The requirement for growth hormone (GH) secretion by the anterior pituitary gland in beef calves is demonstrated by a complete lack of long bone-growth and muscle accretion after hypophysectomy (surgical removal of the pituitary gland). When the connecting link (hypophyseal stalk) to the basal region (hypothalamus) of the brain is surgically severed, long bone growth and body weight gain are greatly limited compared with sham-operated controls. This limited growth results from obliteration of episodic GH secretion and reduced basal blood concentration of the hormone compared with sham-operated controls. Thus, the hypophyseal stalk-transected (HST) calf provides an appropriate model to determine mechanisms by which hypothalamic neuropeptides from the brain regulate GH secretion, and thereby growth in the young calf. Neuropeptides have been isolated and characterized in bovine hypothalamus that stimulate GH secretion (GH-releasing hormone [GHRH]) or factor [GHRF] and inhibit GH secretion (GH release-inhibiting hormone [GHRIH] or somatostatin [SRIH]). A dose of .067 micrograms of GHRF per kilogram of body weight injected intravenously in HST calves abruptly increased plasma GH concentration to 55 nanograms per milliliter from the control period mean of 5 nanograms per milliliter. HST calves then were infused intravenously with .033 and .067 microgram somatostatin per kilogram of body weight, during which a pulse injection of .067 microgram of GHRF was administered. GH increase was limited to 9 and 5 micrograms per kilogram body weight during the .033- and .067 microgram SRIH infusions after GHRF; no GH rebound was observed after the SRIH was discontinued. GHRF from humans contains 40 to 44 amino acids. Rat hypothalamic GHRF analogs containing 29 to 32 amino acids elicited dose-dependent GH peak release in these HST calves. In 1977, Bowers and Monomy isolated novel GH releasing peptides consisting of only six amino acids; they caused GH release by isolated pituitary cells in culture and acute GH release when administered intravenously. We recently have utilized a novel nonpeptidyl GH secretagogue of low molecular weight in the pig to determine its mechanisms of action within the central nervous system.

Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection in McNay Farm Calves

Clinical respiratory disease occurs almost every year in fall calves in the McNay Farm herd. Diagnostic procedures have implicated Haemophilus somnus (H. somnus) and bovine respiratory syncyial virus (BRSV) as the infectious agents primarily associated with this disease. Therefore, the 1995 calves were closely monitored after weaning and during the course of a respiratory disease. Serologic evidence indicated the involvement of the same two agents in the pathogenesis of the disease. Also, experimental evidence suggested a role for a preexisting immediate hypersensitivity to H. somnus and the development of this type of response to BRSV. We theorize that the pathogenesis of the clinical disease involved infection with H. somnus, establishment of immediate hypersensitivity in the lungs, viral infection with associated pathologic lesions, and viral exacerbation of the immediate hypersensitivity reaction with resultant clinical signs and tissue damage.

Alternative Rotational Grazing Systems at the Beef Teaching Farm

Fifty-six acres of central Iowa corn land were seeded to bromegrass and divided with high-tensile wire into eight seven-acre plots. This bromegrass was fertilized with 70 pounds of nitrogen each spring and fall, 1987-1990. In 1991 – 1995, the nitrogen was increased to 80 pounds both spring and fall. The plots were stocked with 1.3 cow/calf pairs per acre in 1987-1991 and 1993–1995, but in 1992 the plots were stocked with 1.55 cow/calf pairs per acre. The pairs were rotated using two distinct schemes among four cells for about 150 days. The plots averaged 607 pounds of net calf weight per acre per year over nine years. Rainfall was quite variable during the grazing seasons and was reflected in calf performance as well as summer feed costs. This intensive rotational grazing system has greatly reduced both weed population and the need for mechanical clipping.

Pasture Weaning at the McNay Memorial Research and Demonstration Farm: A Progress Report

In September 1995, 225 spring-born calves were weaned on pasture at the McNay Memorial Research and Demonstration Farm to explore procedures necessary to conduct a successful pasture-weaning program. In the two to three week post-weaning period, average daily gains (ADG) for the two groups weaned that year were 1.06 and 3.06 pounds; there were no health problems. In 1996, a research trial utilizing 242 spring-born calves was conducted to compare pastureweaned and feedlot-weaned calves. Half of the calves were weaned on pasture for three weeks and then placed in a feedlot for three more weeks. The other half of the calves were weaned directly into the feedlot for the six week post-weaning period. ADGs during the three week post-weaning period were 1.24 and 2.42 for the pastureweaned and feedlot-weaned calves. For the entire six week trial, ADGs were 1.83 and 2.40 for the pastureweaned and feedlot-weaned calves. There was no sickness in either weaning treatment during the six week trial. Initial experience indicates pasture-weaning is a feasible method of getting calves through a stressful procedure.

Acoustic Detection of Organic Enrichment in Sediments at a Salmon Farm Is Confirmed by Independent Groundtruthing Methods

Acoustic backscatter contrast in depositional sediments under salmon farm cages in the Bay of Fundy, Canada, was correlated with localized changes in (unknown) sediment geotechnical properties, as indicated by 4 independent measures of organic enrichment. Sediment total sulfides and redox potentials, enzyme hydrolyzable amino acids, sediment profile imaging and macrofaunal samples, taken at mid-cage positions, each rejected the null hypothesis that salmon cage footprints, defined acoustically as high backscatter areas, were indistinguishable from nearby reference areas. Acoustic backscatter imaging appears capable of mapping organic enrichment in depositional sediments caused by excessive inputs of salmon farm wastes associated with intensive aquaculture.

Minimising pain in farm animals: the 3S approach - 'Suppress, Substitute, Soothe'

Recently, the French National Institute for Agricultural Research appointed an expert committee to review the issue of pain in food-producing farm animals. To minimise pain, the authors developed a '3S' approach accounting for 'Suppress, Substitute and Soothe' by analogy with the '3Rs' approach of 'Reduction, Refinement and Replacement' applied in the context of animal experimentation. Thus, when addressing the matter of pain, the following steps and solutions could be assessed, in the light of their feasibility (technical constraints, logistics and regulations), acceptability (societal and financial aspects) and availability. The first solution is to suppress any source of pain that brings no obvious advantage to the animals or the producers, as well as sources of pain for which potential benefits are largely exceeded by the negative effects. For instance, tail docking of cattle has recently been eliminated. Genetic selection on the basis of resistance criteria (as e.g. for lameness in cattle and poultry) or reduction of undesirable traits (e.g. boar taint in pigs) may also reduce painful conditions or procedures. The second solution is to substitute a technique causing pain by another less-painful method. For example, if dehorning cattle is unavoidable, it is preferable to perform it at a very young age, cauterising the horn bud. Animal management and constraint systems should be designed to reduce the risk for injury and bruising. Lastly, in situations where pain is known to be present, because of animal management procedures such as dehorning or castration, or because of pathology, for example lameness, systemic or local pharmacological treatments should be used to soothe pain. These treatments should take into account the duration of pain, which, in the case of some management procedures or diseases, may persist for longer periods. The administration of pain medication may require the intervention of veterinarians, but exemptions exist where breeders are allowed to use local anaesthesia (e.g. castration and dehorning in Switzerland). Extension of such exemptions, national or European legislation on pain management, or the introduction of animal welfare codes by retailers into their meat products may help further developments. In addition, veterinarians and farmers should be given the necessary tools and information to take into account animal pain in their management decisions.

Comparison of hepatic adaptation in extreme metabolic phenotypes observed in early lactation dairy cows on-farm

The aim was to study the variation in metabolic responses in early-lactating dairy cows (n = 232) on-farm that were pre-selected for a high milk fat content (>45 g/l) and a high fat/protein ratio in milk (>1.5) in their previous lactation. Blood was assayed for concentrations of metabolites and hormones. Liver was measured for mRNA abundance of 25 candidate genes encoding enzymes and receptors involved in gluconeogenesis (6), fatty acid β-oxidation (6), fatty acid and triglyceride synthesis (5), cholesterol synthesis (4), ketogenesis (2) and the urea cycle (2). Two groups of cows were formed based on the plasma concentrations of glucose, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and β-hydroxybutyric acid (BHBA) (GRP+, high metabolic load; glucose <3.0 mm, NEFA >300 μm and BHBA >1.0 mm, n = 30; GRP-, low metabolic load; glucose >3.0 mm, NEFA <300 μm and BHBA <1.0 mm, n = 30). No differences were found between GRP+ and GRP- for the milk yield at 3 weeks post-partum, but milk fat content was higher (p < 0.01) for GRP+ than for GRP-. In week 8 post-partum, milk yield was higher in GRP+ in relation to GRP- (37.5 vs. 32.5 kg/d; p < 0.01). GRP+ in relation to GRP- had higher (p < 0.001) NEFA and BHBA and lower glucose, insulin, IGF-I, T3 , T4 concentrations (p < 0.01). The mRNA abundance of genes related to gluconeogenesis, fatty acid β-oxidation, fatty acid and triglyceride synthesis, cholesterol synthesis and the urea cycle was different in GRP+ compared to GRP- (p < 0.05), although gene transcripts related to ketogenesis were similar between GRP+ and GRP-. In conclusion, high metabolic load post-partum in dairy cows on-farm corresponds to differences in the liver in relation to dairy cows with low metabolic load, even though all cows were pre-selected for a high milk fat content and fat/protein ratio in milk in their previous lactation.