Since the historic Held v. State of Montana trial began on June 12, 2023, in the Lewis and Clark County District Court in Helena, MT, Judge Kathy Seeley presiding, we recorded and archived the audio to preserve the record to inform and allow listeners to hear for themselves what transpired.

In this edition we share the unedited recording of the testimony of Youth Plaintiff, Georgianna “Georgi” Fischer, who has lived in Montana since she was eight years old. She was 17 years old when the case was filed. She attends the University of New Hampshire, where she is majoring in environmental science and is a competitive cross-country skier.

Her ancestry goes way back to the first minister of St. James Episcopal Church in Bozeman. She was named for his wife, her great-great-great-great grandmother, Georgianna Frances Ambler. Her great grandmother, Mary “Polly” Wisner Renne, was a conservationist, who testified before the US Congress in support of the Lee Metcalf Wilderness. Georgi testified at the Montana State Legislature when her 4th grade Longfellow Elementary School petitioned to name Scobey Soil the official Montana State Soil.

She testified that dangerous smoke interferes with her summer training as a competitive skier, as does the declining snow pack in shortening the season and worsening conditions. Her family’s ability to float the rivers has also been impacted by low flow.

Georgi‘s guest column, “We are entitled to a ‘clean and healthful’ environment. Montana’s policies endanger that.“co-written with Claire Vlases, appeared in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle on June 21, 2023. https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/opinions/guest_columnists/guest-column-we-are-entitled-to-a-clean-and-healthful-environment-montanas-policies-endanger-that/article_e6efe522-1049-11ee-8203-bf3b259a32c9.html

For the first time in the United States, youth plaintiffs were able to present their case in a court of law, that their inalienable constitutional rights under Article II Section 3 of the Montana State Constitution “to a clean and healthful environment and the rights of pursuing life’s basic necessities, enjoying and defending their lives and liberties, acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and seeking their safety, health and happiness in all lawful ways.” ….. were being denied and violated by the policies and actions of their government. Further, that The State was in violation of their responsibilities as required under Article IX, Environment and Natural Resources, Section 1. Protection and Improvement that “The state and each person shall maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment in Montana for present and future generations. Section 2. The legislature shall provide for the administration and enforcement of this duty. and Section 3. The legislature shall provide adequate remedies for the protection of the environmental life support system from degradation and provide adequate remedies to prevent unreasonable depletion and degradation of natural resources.”