New West Network

My Page: Lucia Stewart

Something just ain't straight

In the recent wave of gravel pit approvals in the Gallatin Valley, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality has received quite a bit of criticism.

Last week, District Court Judge Jeffrey Sherlock issued a stay on his April ruling that required the department to permit gravel pits without first doing environmental analysis.

George Ochenski has an interesting column in this week’s Missoula Independent, where he writes “Sherlock then gives DEQ a legal tongue-lashing, writing that the agency ‘did not present any of the constitutional analysis in its original brief which has now been presented by the landowner-Intervenors.’ He continues the criticism, saying, ‘the DEQ is doggedly refusing to do anything to review the permits. The DEQ has not only violated the Legislature’s mandate…but it has not even bothered to start the environmental assessment process. Further, it has not even extended the time period involved, nor has it issued findings that would allow it to withhold the requested permits…’”
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From The New West Blog

Silicon Valley software mogul donated $3.9 million to the Trust for the Public Lands this week, with specific requirements that is goes to protecting the open space and agricultural heritage of the Madison Valley in Southwest Montana.

Roger Lang, owner of the Sun Ranch, is hoping to protect 1 million acres of the Madison Valley under conservation easement, driven by his “love for the region,” reports Daniel Pearson from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

The Sun Ranch, also located in the Madison Valley, is an example of a new development model for land conservation, where 95 percent of the 11,000 acres is placed under conservation easement while 10 lots are available, priced between $5 million and $8 million. All the money raised then goes back into buying more land and land easements.
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Energy exploration in our backyard

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 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. [more]

We all care for this land

Last week I spent two days with 20 ranchers and 2 journalists. Everyone except the journalists wore boots and pants. Everyone except the journalists was up early. At times I felt totally out of place, yet right at home.

I know I come from a different breed, a more urban outlook. That is why I was nervous to attend the Undaunted Stewardship tour with the Montana Stockgrowers Association, knowing I would be on a tour bus, eating three meals a day with folks that I didn’t think I would have much in common with, nor really know what to discuss. As a journalist, of course I’m going to undertake the challenge, and I sure didn’t expect to be so enthralled, tutored and standing on the same ground as my weathered neighbor. [more]

Is trouble in paradise really over?

The battle over control of the exclusive Yellowstone Club may be coming to n end, reports the Wall Street Journal, with Edra Blixseth taking over her estranged husband Tim's 50% stake and becoming the sole owner of the club.

The deal came as part of the couple's divorce settlement, the Journal reported (though the Journal last year ran a story characterizing the divorce as a model of amicability, and that turned out to be far from the case). The story of the club's woes has turned into a veritable courtroom soap opera, echoing with phrases such as "liquidity crisis," "breach of fiduciary duty" and "hopelessly conflicted."

The Journal says Edra will bring in Discovery Land Co. to manage the club, which is struggling with a heavy debt load and a cratering real estate market. At least some club members, who are horrified by the negative publicity, have told New West they favor professional management.

History suggests this is not the end of the story, so stay tuned.

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Late Fun in the Summertime

It’s the weekend to get out and enjoy the rivers, as they've reached their max and the weather is going to be 80’s-90’sF and sunny across Montana. To many of us, it seems like an amazing year of river flows, but not so.

“This is historically a normal year in Montana,” said Mel White, chief of the data management unit for the USGS in Helena. “We have just forgotten about what normal is because we’ve had a drought in effect for at least the past seven to eight years.”

Because of the unusually high snowpack along with the timely late May and June rains, the rivers have continued to rise up to this point. White concluded they have peaked and starting on their way down.

“It’s a good thing,” said White. “Due to the increase moisture in the high country, it will keep the fisheries happy and curtails our fire season.” [more]

Conflicts between State and Development

A month after a Helena judge ordered Montana DEQ to issue a permit to a gravel-pit developer in Gallatin County because of environmental assessment time delays, a Big Sky developer used the same court ruling in attempts to obtain a water permit from the DNRC for groundwater pumping that Fish, Wildlife, and Parks says will have negative flow affects on the Gallatin River.

The DEQ, according to the Environmental Policy Act, must complete an environmental assessment and, in accordance with the Opencut Mining Act, issue a permit within 60 days of acknowledging an application – a potential conflict in Montana laws. The Belgrade News reports the Montana DEQ currently has four staff to cover the state on open-cut mining, where currently 200 permits are awaiting approval and ES statements.

Originally, the gravel pit owners used this loophole when their expansion projects were threatened when the Gallatin County Commission considered adopting emergency interim zoning due to the sudden four gravel pit applications and being amidst the Countywide Planning and Zoning. Although hours after the permit was court ordered the Gallatin County Commissioners immediately adopted interim zoning, it was ruled the interim zoning would be exempt from the gravel pits’ permits. [more]

When can a community afford to say no?

A moratorium on all new 20-acres or more development applications in Teton County, Wyoming until Dec. 31, 2008 has left a litigious air in the majestic Jackson Hole Valley.

Teton Meadows Ranch filed a lawsuit last week to reverse the moratorium, which was approved by commissioners one day prior to the development’s scheduled hearing.

The moratorium has essentially killed their 500-unit, 288-acre development in South Park, 4miles south of Jackson, which contained the condition to rezone the rural 50-home zoning allotment — a density 10 times more than is currently allowed. Many residents began “emergency” conversation with the commission in March when two additional projects, both in the South Park area, submitted plans for rezoning to allow 614-units, a total of over 1,000 new residences projected in the area.

Jackson faces a tough challenge of how and where to grow. Overflow from Teton County, Wyoming over Teton Pass into Teton County, Idaho has become rampant. [more]

Telluride MountainFilm Review

In Bristol Bay, Alaska, a controversial copper and gold mine is proposed at the headwaters of Talarik Creek and Koktuli River, the world’s largest salmon fishery where tens of millions of trophy-size salmon spawn each year.

The film, Red Gold, tells a story of Native American sustenance-users, Alaskan commercial fisherman and sport fisherman that all share the commonality of salmon fishing at the core of their existence. For the first time, all user groups have come together in opposition of Pebble Mine development — the story at the heart of this film.

Ben Knight, the co-director of Red Gold, had a goal of no narration in this film. After 10 years at a newspaper industry, he wanted to be unbiased as possible. “I wanted people to tell the story the way they wanted it to be heard,” he said. [more]

A Small Town VS Big Development

The City of Telluride, Colorado is rejoicing this week after a Supreme Court 6-1 ruling found the condemnation of 572-acre Valley Floor lawful and within the city's jurisdiction.

This stretch of red-carpet open space that leads into Telluride is a decade-old battle that shows what a little town with a large motive can do in the face of big development.

After the town condemned the open space acreage under the Colorado Constitutional right for a city municipalities use of eminent domain, the developer Neal Blue and the San Miguel Valley Corporation worked on passing the “Telluride Amendment” to HB1203 in the 2004 Colorado Legislature term that made it unlawful to allow this kind of acquisition and condemnation outside city boundaries. [more]