Havre Weekly Chronicle: Port of Wild Horse starts summer hours

U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that it has decided to extend the summer hours of the Port of Wild Horse at the U.S.-Canadian Border north of Havre to its usual summer hours for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., sent a letter to a letter to Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Troy A. Miller the last week of May, saying the extended hours were “critical for the agricultural sector, tourism, and everyday trade and travel between the U.S. and Canada.”

Tester also noted that the Canadian side already implemented summer hours, and the U.S. matching that was crucial to avoid confusion and problems for people trying to cross the border.

“Expanding the summer hours of operation at the Port of Wild Horse is great news for Montanans along our northern border who rely on access with our number one trading partner to keep their businesses running, make a living, and support their families,” Tester said in a statement to Havre Weekly Chronicle today. “I told the Biden Administration that reduced hours of operation simply would not cut it during this busy season, and I’m glad to see they got the message. I’ll keep fighting until the hours of operation are restored at all of Montana’s northern ports of entry.”

CBP said in a press release this morning that, beginning Sunday, June 9, summer hours of Wild Horse will be 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week.

These seasonal hours will remain in effect until Sept. 30 when they revert to the winter schedule of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week.

That had been the normal operation of Wild Horse, with the summer hours typically started in mid-May and ran to the end of September.

With the border closure during the COVID-19 pandemic, once the border started opening, the shorter winter hours were kept year-round.