Category Archives: Documents

Tester’s forest plan gets the big reveal

Documents, Environmental Issues, News, , , , ,

The Missoulian is all over Senator Jon Tester’s “Forest Jobs and Recreation Act” (mostly called “Tester’s wilderness bill” throughout the week). The big reveal was at a meeting in Townsend Friday afternoon. The Missoulian posted a basic write-up shortly thereafter, followed by two lengthier articles early Saturday morning.

What’s the North Fork connection? The projects in the bill are the thin edge of the wedge. Tester is proposing a fairly basic change in the way the Forest Service works with all local communities.

Here are the links and ledes for the two most recent Missoulian articles, as well as a map showing the areas affected.

The smell of sawdust hung in the air Friday as U.S. Sen. Jon Tester stood in front of a small lumber mill and announced his plans to create almost 700,000 acres of new Montana wilderness, designate a new national recreation area and mandate timber harvests on thousands of forested acres.

Called the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act, Tester’s bill is the first effort to set aside new wilderness in Montana in a generation. Most of the new wilderness, more than 500,000 acres, would be in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest.

Yet most of the talk Friday was about all the other things Tester’s bill would do, specifically requiring timber harvests, directing different kinds of timber removal — like cutting small trees for biomass generators — and creating new kinds of contracts timber companies could make with the federal government.

Read the entire article . . .

Public lands logging would see big changes if U.S. Sen. Jon Tester’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act becomes law.

That’s either a needed compromise to break deadlocks in Montana’s wilderness debate, or a step toward breaking up the U.S. Forest Service, depending on whom you talk to.

Read the entire article . . .

And also: A map of the proposed land designations in PDF format.

Road paving & land development report released

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One of the factors in the ongoing road maintenance debate is the impact of paving on increased land development and settlement. Headwaters Economics along with Chris Servheen of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the University of Montana just released a report titled “Land Use Effects of Paving Rural Roads in Western Montana” that is relevant to this issue. In Chris’s words…

Headwaters Economics and I have partnered to complete a preliminary analysis of the relationship between the paving of rural roads and the development of adjacent private lands.  The report on this work is attached.  We believe this is a useful preliminary analysis and that it sets the stage for a more in-depth and through analysis of this most important issue.  The paving of rural roads in the West and the resulting impacts on adjacent private land development are one of the greatest challenges faced by wildlife managers and county decision-makers.  We hope this report is of value to you.

The report is essentially a series of case studies followed by some carefully qualified observations and conclusions. It’s a bit dry and dusty (sorry, couldn’t resist) in spots, but a worthwhile read.

DOW not happy with heli-skiing proposal

Commentary, Documents, Environmental Issues, ,

The deadline for public comments on the proposal to allow helicopter skiing on state lands in the Whitefish Range expired today. Overall attitudes appear to range from cautious skepticism to outright hostility. One of the lengthier responses was an 18-page missive submitted by the Rocky Mountain Region Office of Defenders of Wildlife, covering everything from the applicable regulations and agreements to wildlife impact and the potential disturbance to nearby federal and private holdings. The real meat is in the last paragraph:

This letter has described the complex and varied potential effects of the proposed helicopter skiing operations. In order to completely and carefully examine these effects, we believe the preparation of an environmental impact statement is justified and required. We are also concerned that many interested members of the public may not be aware of these proposals. If it were not for an article in the Kalispell newspaper, we would not know about it ourselves. We found no mention of it on the NDRC website, for example. For these reasons, we look forward to participating in the public review component of an EIS process.

They seem annoyed.

BP Coalbed Methane and Cline Mine

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From the Tuesday, September 11, 2007 online edition of the Flathead Beacon . . .

In a Washington D.C. meeting with executives for British Petroleum, U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., issued his harshest rebukes yet for BP’s coalbed methane exploration proposal in the Canadian Flathead, according to a release sent from his office Monday afternoon. Baucus also called for public meetings in Kalispell to allow Montanans to weigh in on the project.

BP can expect “a knock-down, drag-out fight” and “a massive and unpleasant fight from Montana that will end badly” Baucus told BP America Chairman and President Bob Malone and BP Canada chief Randy McLeod, according to the release.

Baucus’s threats refer specifically to BP’s intent to file an exploratory permit for what it calls its “Mist Mountain” coalbed methane (CBM) extraction project in southeastern British Columbia.

Read the entire article . . .