Cathy Valenti

A national nonprofit legal organization claimed in federal court Tuesday that several western states, including Montana, will suffer financially while coal, oil and gas industries will unfairly benefit from the actions of the Interior Department’s Royalty Policy Committee.

Montana’s governor claimed in federal court Tuesday that an Internal Revenue Service decision to abandon disclosure requirements for major donors to dark money groups could result in corporate and foreign donors influencing future elections, and presents a financial and administrative burden on the state.

An international advocacy group claimed in federal court Tuesday that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service could place wild mustangs at risk of extinction by refusing to issue a 90-day finding on the group’s petition to list the Pryor Mountains population as endangered.