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Oil and Gas Leases up in Gallatin County


By Lucia Stewart, 7-30-08

State-owned land in and around Gallatin County could up for oil and gas development — parcels that include the riverbeds of the Yellowstone and Boulder rivers.

The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation considers the sale of school trust land each quarter for oil and gas leasing, and are currently in the preliminary lease sale stage. And they are moving fast. Public comment closes on Friday, Aug. 1st, with the sale set to take place on Sept. 9th.

In Gallatin County, three parcels north of Interstate 90 in the Bozeman Pass area are listed on the lease sale list — an area that is prospective with oil, methane and coal from past exploratory test sites, but does fall under the Bozeman Pass zoning district that residents created in 2001 following potential coal-bed methane drilling which the Gallatin County Commissioners were pressured to implement emergency interim zoning.

“Due to the geology, there is some definite potential up there,” Alan English, Gallatin Local Water Quality District Manager said to the Belgrade News.

A majority of the parcels involve the riverbeds of the Yellowstone and Boulder Rivers, 14 in the bed the Yellowstone and 18 in the Boulder River. Click here to see a map of the parcels.

All leased parcels do need to follow the Montana Environmental Policy Act guidelines, which include a standard environmental assessment to a full-blown Environmental Impact Statement.

Comments should be submitted to O&G Lease Sale Comments, Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, P.O. Box 201601, Helena, MT, 59620-1601. Late comments will be reviewed and taken into consideration.



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