And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
From: "Wild Rockies Alerts" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The State of Montana proposes to lease portions of eight sections
totaling 1490 acres of the Sun River WMA to oil & gas speculators.
Comment deadline: April 23, 1999
Request that your opinion be made part of the public comment record.
E-mail:
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Mark O'Keefe, Auditor, Land Board)
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Mike Cooney, Sec of State, Land Board)
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Nancy Keenan, Supt of Schools, Land Board)
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Joe Mazurek, Attorney General, Land Board)
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Pat Graham, Dept Fish, Wildlife, & Parks (DFWP)
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Monte Mason, Dept of Nat Res & Cons (DNRC)
(regular addresses below)
EXPRESS YOUR CONCERN ABOUT POTENTIAL INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT IN SPECIAL
WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREAS LIKE THE SUN RIVER WMA.
Points to make:
1. The ONLY leases allowed within special natural areas such as the Sun
River Wildlife Management Area should be NO SURFACE OCCUPANCY, NO
EXCEPTIONS.
2. There should be no possibility of industrial development activity
occurring within designated game areas such as the Sun River Wildlife
Management Area.
3. Thank the Land Board for placing special stipulations for leasing
state lands along the Rocky Mountain Front in the past. But tell them
that proposing leases within the state�s most prestigious and
long-established natural areas deserves more attention and protection
from the State. The special wildlife and wildland values (and risks)
associated with the Sun River WMA are an added dimension.
4. There is overwhelming public sentiment to protect the Rocky Mountain
Front from any and all industrial activity.
5. It makes no sense for the State to commit the Sun River WMA for
development. Any proposal to develop the area is certain to ignite a
firestorm of public opposition and endless litigation.
(In a similar situation, federal leases in the Badger-Two Medicine area
have dragged on for years without resolution. If the Forest Service had
heeded public warnings not to lease in the early 1980s, that agency
would not be faced with the current dilemma there. Gloria Flora
recognized this and said "NO" to new leases on national forest lands
along the Front, including previously leased lands on which leases had
expired. Although Montana citizens got no official help from the
governor's office, a large majority of the public supports Flora's
decision.)
6. Montana�s premier WMAs are worthy of a higher purpose than
oil & gas speculation. Like the national forest lands, the WMAs and
certain other state lands along the fabulous Rocky Mountain Front have
inherent values far above and beyond industry's speculation on a minute
chance to convert the State's most prime wildlife habitat into an oil
patch.
7. Federal mineral rights on the Sun River WMA were withdrawn, or
placed in "excluded" status, by the Department of Interior.
8. State mineral rights on the Sun River WMA have been withdrawn from
oil & gas lease sales in the past. The Land Board withdrew school lots
on the Sun River Game Range from a pending oil & gas lease sale in 1956,
at the request of sportsmen and the Dept of Fish & Game.
9. The Sun River Wildlife Management Area, a.k.a. the "Game Range" or
"Elk Pasture" is one of Montana's premier Wildlife Management Areas.
Its creation was a landmark in a long conservation history to preserve
wildland values of the Rocky Mountain Front/Bob Marshall Ecosystem. The
Sun River Game Range was purchased in 1947 and set aside specifically
for wintering wildlife. It is considered so important and so sensitive
that for six months out of each year it is illegal for the general
public even to set foot on it.
10. Many citizens have the impression that state lands in the WMAs
along the Front are off-limits to oil & gas leasing. To avoid public
battles every three months, the State needs to define a clear answer to
the leasing question -- an answer that will give lasting protection to
the game ranges along the Front.
URGE the STATE of Montana to allow NO DEVELOPMENT such as OIL & GAS on
Rocky Mountain Front WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREAS. The ONLY leases allowed
should be NO SURFACE OCCUPANCY, NO EXCEPTIONS.
Send regular-mail comments (before April 23, 1999) to:
Pat Graham State Land Board Monte Mason
DFWP Director c/o Secretary of State MMB, DNRC
PO Box 200701 PO Box 202801 PO Box 201601
Helena, MT 59620 Helena, MT 59620 Helena, MT 59620
from:
FRIENDS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT
PO BOX 763 (406) 466-2750
CHOTEAU, MONTANA 59422
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
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