The Senate Natural Resources Committee approved a series of bills by voice votes and recorded proxies, and it reported them to the Senate floor for further consideration.

Key outcomes: House Bill 48 (dam-related bill), House Bill 58 (metal-mines related), House Bill 59 (water well bill), House Bill 70 (included an amendment adding controlled livestock grazing as a fire-prevention tool), House Bill 40 (state special revenue account cleanup), House Bill 189 (adjusted date to expand business eligibility for a program), House Bill 270, House Bill 299 (clarified public uses and added public trails as permitted uses on state land), and House Bill 368 (Cold Strip water infrastructure/mitigation account) all received committee approval and were assigned carriers to take them forward to the floor.

Several bills passed by voice vote with proxies recorded for absent senators; the committee routinely asked for volunteers to carry each bill to the floor and recorded named volunteers where offered.

Notable amendment: An amendment to House Bill 70 (h b 0070Dot001Dot001) added language recognizing that controlled livestock grazing can be an effective tool for managing fuel loads and explicitly included grazing as a fire-prevention tool. Committee members described the amendment as straightforward and agreed to incorporate grazing into the study language.

Votes and procedural notes: Most measures were advanced on unanimous or near‑unanimous voice votes; multiple instances show proxies recorded for Senator Zelnickoff (aye by proxy), Senator Usher (aye by proxy in several items), and Senator Flowers (aye by proxy). For items with substantive committee discussion (for example, HB40 and HB189), senators said they had questions during hearings but reported minimal opposition in committee.

Next steps: Each bill advances to the Senate floor and will be scheduled according to Senate procedures; sponsors and volunteer carriers were announced for most items in committee.

Ending: The committee completed its business and adjourned after clearing the agenda and advancing the bills.