Governors swarm town; talk energy, water

Whitefish took on the characteristics of a mini metropolis earlier this week while the Western Governors Association's annual meeting was being held here.

Black suits and stiletto heels hummed around the downtown sidewalks, extra security kept eyes on the Whitefish Middle School campus, a helicopter buzzed low in the sky, and a who's who of corporate heads and political benefactors bellied up to local bars.

It was an atypical downtown scene for a mountain town more accustomed to beach bums on cruiser bikes and tourists in flip-flops.

A dozen Western governors and hundreds of corporate sponsors and their guests were here June 27-29 for the association's centennial meeting. Gov. Brian Schweitzer, the group's chairman, hosted the convention where political leaders met daily at the middle school auditorium to discuss water management, energy issues and conservation.

The three-day conference cost about $550,000. Most of it was paid for by nearly 100 corporate sponsors, mostly energy companies, pharmaceutical companies, tech businesses and financial groups, including BP America, ConocoPhilips, ExxonMobil, Citigroup, IBM, Microsoft, BNSF Railway and Northwest Energy.

Notables in attendance were, New Mexico governor and one-time presidential candidate Bill Richardson, Washington governor Christine Gregoire, Idaho governor C.L. "Butch" Otter, Microsoft's chief environmental strategist Rob Bernard, and REI president Sally Jewel, among others. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger did not attend, and Sec. of Interior Ken Salazar was at the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

On Saturday, Sequoia Capital partner Michael Goguen hosted a party for the governors at his Two Bear ranch estate above Whitefish Lake.

Los Angles Lakers coach Phil Jackson officially kicked off the meeting Sunday afternoon as the keynote speaker 'see page B2), and part-time Montana resident David Letterman sent a pre-recorded top-10 list of "great things about the West." Montana came in at No. 7, with Letterman joking, "Montana. I never get tired of Schweitzer's old joke about helping that sheep over the fence."

Later, the governors discussed water supply-and-demand issues with Schweitzer saying, "As a region, we have to become more aggressive and a lot smarter in how we manage this resource."

A sunset dessert train ride took guests from Whitefish to West Glacier in the evening.

On Monday, governors talked about how best to work within a changing energy landscape after the Gulf oil spill and how the West can meet its growing energy demands. Schweitzer unveiled WGA's "Transmission Roadmap," a report that can be used by anyone who wants to build a renewable energy facility with transmission.

The governors also passed a major energy resolution that will have the WGA reporting on industrial and commercial energy efficiency programs, the impacts of plug-in vehicles on the electrical transmission system and issues associated with the expansion of nuclear energy in the West.

After lunch, the topic shifted to landscape conservation where Glacier National Park superintendent Chas Cartwright addressed the panel and thanked Schweitzer for his work to secure the North Fork from oil and gas exploration. REI's Jewel also gave the governor a "hats off" for his work on the North Fork and advised the group to think about economic impacts broadly while they are juggling oil exploration, wildlife concerns and water quality.

"Ecosystems don't know political boundaries, so conservation of the most important wildlife corridors, water and forest resources require cooperation across multiple public and private entities," she said.

A closing dinner and reception was held in the evening at Whitefish Mountain Resort, where guests rode the alpine slide and took lift rides to the summit of Big Mountain. Lunch was served at the Summit House, and dinner followed at the Base Lodge.

Most of the convention's guests stayed at The Lodge at Whitefish Lake, where a SNOW bus made frequent trips between the hotel and middle school.