Gov. Dave Freudenthal updated ranchers and landowners on state-level issues relevant to their industry at an awards luncheon Friday at the Wyoming Stock Growers Association summer conference in Casper.

U.S. Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., attended the luncheon, too, but not as a speaker.

Addressing the WSGA, Freudenthal talked about an array of topics including the resignation of State Veterinarian Jim Logan, brucellosis and a water rights dispute between Montana and Wyoming.

Where Logan is concerned, Freudenthal said, he has agreed to stay on until a replacement is named. Logan announced his plans to resign in April, saying he wants to return to private practice in Fremont County.

Blaming drought conditions, the state of Montana in May called on Wyoming to shut off junior water rights in the Tongue, Powder and Little Powder rivers to provide drought relief to more senior water rights holders in Montana, who officials say have priority.

"We have rejected Montana's call," Freudenthal told WSGA members.

The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation said it is prepared to take action to protect its water rights under a 1950 compact the two states signed.

And so is Wyoming, according to Freudenthal.

"Neither the facts nor law support this quest but there will be some further discussion between their state and our state later this month," he said.

The governor's task force on brucellosis is making progress, he said. The group is coming up with both short and long-term solutions to the problem - "None of which are going to be painless and none of which are going to be without cost," the governor said.

He also alluded to the special legislative session recently called in response to the state's malpractice insurance crisis.

The special session, he said, was approved Friday by a majority vote and is slated to begin next month.

"It is my hope that the session will remain narrow and focused. The issues have already been discussed," said Freudenthal. The issues on the table are tort reform, a constitutional amendment and the possibilities surrounding the private underwriting of medical malpractice insurance premiums, he said.

The governor, again, touted his desire to set aside some of the state's surplus money for the future of wildlife and habitat preservation.

A trust fund should be set up now "to make sure our children have the same opportunities to hunt and fish and recreate as we had," he said.

In a visit after the awards luncheon, Thomas said he has been traveling around the state the past couple of years asking the livestock community to really think about what they want their future to look like.

"I think it would good idea if, as an industry, the livestock people would spend a little more time thinking about where they need to be, what changes are taking place in terms of public lands, in terms of the size of ranches, in terms of the markets, and begin to get a little bit of a view of where we want to be in 10 years and what we have to do to get there," Thomas said.

In his presentation to the WSGA this morning, Thomas said, he'll update members on what is going on in Congress in regard to issues that are relevant to their industry

"I was going to talk with them, generally, about some of the things that kind of are hung up in Congress, like the energy bill and the highway bill, the budget, and so on," he said.

WSGA members will also get an update on where Congress is at regarding country of origin labeling on beef.

"And, of course, everyone's interested in the drought," said Thomas. "We're working on some tax relief if they have to sell their cattle. They don't have to pay capital gains when they buy them back over a period of time."

Wyoming Rep. Barbara Cubin and Sen. Mike Enzi are also scheduled to speak to WSGA members today.