Janet and her family visited a marsh in July 2022.
Legislative Experience
Janet has served in the legislature since 2015. During all legislative sessions, she has served on one of the state budget committees, either Senate Finance & Claims or House Appropriations. This work has included serving as Minority Vice Chair of Senate Finance & Claims during the 2021, 2023, and 2025 Legislative sessions.During the 2025 Legislature, she also was a member of the State Administration Committee (which oversees pensions, elections, veterans issues) and the Energy, Technology & Federal Relations Committee.
During 2025-2026, Janet will be serving on 5 interim committees, including Legislative Finance (which oversees the state budget), the Communication Advisory Commission (which oversees broadband internet installation with federal infrastructure money), the Modernization and Risk Analysis Committee (MARA) (which oversees data collection on a variety of topics, including state population, infrastructure, water, and education), the Interim Budget Committee on Natural Resources and Transportation (which oversees the budgets of all natural resource agencies and the Dept. of Transportation), and the Western Montana Conservation Council (which oversees aquatic invasive species and other water quality issues).
Learn more about Janet’s position on the issues that matter to you HERE.
Personal and Professional History
As background, Janet has lived in Helena for over 35 years. She is married and has one son, who graduated from Helena High School in June 2013, and from college in May 2017.
Janet retired in 2018 from her work at Montana Audubon, a science-based, citizen conservation organization dedicated to promoting “appreciation, knowledge and conservation of Montana’s native birds, other wildlife, and natural ecosystems to safeguard biological diversity for current and future generations.” As Audubon’s Senior Director of Policy, Janet coordinated Montana Audubon’s legislative and public policy work on behalf of Montana’s wildlife and wildlife habitat between 1983 and 2018.
Janet still helps count birds on the Helena Christmas Bird Count.
Her work at Audubon resulted in Janet receiving several awards, including “Conservationist of the Year” from the Montana Environmental Information Center, Montana Wildlife Federation, and Montana Audubon; a 2016 “Lifetime Award for Conservation and Clean Energy Achievement” from the National Wildlife Federation; and a 2013 “Special Achievement Award” from the Montana Native Plant Society.
Before joining Audubon, Janet worked as a ranger and naturalist for Yellowstone and Zion National Parks, Cedar Breaks National Monument, and Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park. She has a degree in biology from the University of Montana.
Among other adventures, Janet has bicycled from Missoula to Denali, Alaska, and from Oregon to the tip of Baja, Mexico. In college, she also spent four months in Churchill, Manitoba, studying polar bears.