75-7-304. Duties of the commission. Duties of the commission are:

(1) to monitor the existing condition of natural resources in the basin and coordinate development of an annual monitoring plan. This plan must involve a cooperative strategy among all land and water management agencies within the Flathead basin and identify proposed and needed monitoring which emphasizes but is not limited to the aquatic resources of the Flathead basin.

(2) to encourage close cooperation and coordination between federal, state, provincial, tribal, and local resource managers for establishment of compatible resource development standards, comprehensive monitoring, and data collection and interpretation;

(3) to encourage and work for international cooperation and coordination between the state of Montana and the Province of British Columbia concerning the undertaking of natural resource monitoring and use of consistent standards for management of resource development activities throughout the North Fork Flathead River drainage portion of the Flathead basin;

(4) to encourage economic development and use of the basin's resources to their fullest extent without compromising the present high quality of the Flathead basin's aquatic environment;

(5) to, in the discretion of the commission, undertake investigations of resource utilization and hold public hearings concerning the condition of Flathead Lake and Flathead basin;

(6) to submit to the governor and, as provided in 5-11-210, to the legislature a biennial report that includes:

(a) a summary of information gathered in fulfillment of its duties under this section;

(b) information on monitoring activities within the Flathead basin concerning the condition of the basin's natural resources, with particular emphasis on Flathead Lake;

(c) the identification of land use and land development trends in the Flathead basin;

(d) any recommendations the commission considers appropriate for fulfillment of its duties and for continued preservation of the Flathead basin in the present high quality of its aquatic resources; and

(e) an accounting of all money received and expended, by source and purpose, for the period since the last report; and

(7) to meet at least semiannually within the Flathead basin, alternating the meeting site between the cities of Kalispell and Polson.

History: En. Sec. 7, Ch. 424, L. 1983; amd. Sec. 49, Ch. 112, L. 1991.