Episode 11: Rabble Rousin’ with John Meyer

For episode 11 of the Mad About Montana Podcast, Erik andBill took a road trip to Bozeman to talk to one of the good guys.John Meyer is not one of the lawyers in the jokes. Rather, heis a crusader who fights for what is right. He puts people, wildlife and the environment above contingency fees and retainers.John is the founder and executive director of Cottonwood Environmental Law. The mission statement of the group stats, “Cottonwood is a group of free-thinking rabble rousers dedicated to protecting the people, forests, water, and the wildlife of the American West, and having fun doing it.”Cottonwood filed a Clean Water Act lawsuit against theultra-rich Yellowstone Club for knowingly discharging its treated sewage into the South-West Fork of the Gallatin River without a permit. For his efforts, John was arrested in 2023 for criminal trespass. His “crime” was legally walkingup the Gallatin to accompany a contractor who collected water samples coming from Yellowstone Club property.After the court dismissed the silly charge against John,Cottonwood relied on the samples to file the lawsuit against the club.So, if you drive around Bozeman today, you just might see one of John’s bumper stickers. “I went FISHING on the GALLATIN and all I caught was a LAWSUIT from the YELLOWSTONE CLUB.”Earlier this year, a federal court allowed Cottonwood tointervene on behalf of the National Park Service to defend a legal challenge to the 2024 Yellowstone Bison Management Plan brought by the State of Montana.Cottonwood also fought to defend the people against a senate bill that unlawfully infringed upon all Montanans’ constitutional right to propose ballot initiatives. John is not afraid to speak out and fight for what is right —even if that means running for mayor of Bozeman in 2024 or confronting Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) about the importance of townhalls, the EndangeredSpecies Act and the senator’s honesty, or lack thereof.Listen in to hear John tell his story, and visit cottonwoodlaw.org to learn more and join in on the rabble rousing.The podcast is labeled “explicit” because of a few justifiedF bombs.