Summer - Northern Plains Resource Council

For 40 Years Protecting Montana’s Future
A look back at Northern Plains in the 1990s – Pages 8-9
Inside:
• A word from our
Chair.................Page 2
• People of the Plains –
Kate French................3
• Climate scientist
issues warning...........4
• Nearly 500 attend coal
export forums.............5
• Officials, public tour
land subsidence from
underground mine.......6
• Momentum building
for fracking rules........7
• Wyoming rancher talks
frack in Lewistown.....7
• A trip back to the
’90s.........................8-9
• Two reports boost our
coal-export issue.....10
• Vote to curb power of
the wealthy...............11
• Marysville mine
merges with giant....12
• Farm Bill progress....13
• Save the East Rosebud
Celebration...............14
• Council Roundup......15
• Landowner group signs
pipeline pact.............16
• Membership form....16
Film Fest coming to Billings again
Mark your calendar
for a fun Northern
Plains event: the fourth
annual Wild & Scenic Film
Festival in Billings.
Friday, Sept. 14
7:00 p.m.
Petro Theater
MSU-Billings
A $10 admission
($8 if you buy in advance)
will get you more than two
hours of fun, engaging,
Volume 41, Issue 3, Summer 2012
Coal-hauling railroad derailed
The proposed Tongue River Railroad threatens farmers and
ranchers and would turn the rural, agricultural Tongue River Valley
into an industrial corridor. The Tongue River Railroad has been
proposed to gain access to the isolated Otter Creek coal tracts in
order to ship the coal to China and other Asian markets.
and short independent
films that look at different
aspects of our natural
environment – issues,
adventure,
inspiration. These
are films you won’t
see in commercial
movie theaters.
If you would like
your business to
be a local sponsor or for
information, call Caleb at
(406) 248-1154.
The the Missoula City
Council and Helena
City Commission
have adopted resolutions
requesting that they be part
of a cumulative study on the
impacts of a massive increase
in coal trains that will service
six newly proposed coal
export ports in the Pacific
Northwest.
“Montanans, and Missoula
The Plains Truth Summer 2012 Page 1
Feds tell TRR backers
to resubmit application
Northern Plains’ December
courtroom victory against the
Tongue River Railroad (TRR)
reverberated in June as the application for
the controversial Tongue River Railroad
was officially sent back to the drawing
board.
The federal Surface Transportation Board
(STB) ruled that TRR must re-apply for
a permit, and the sections of the route
that had been tacked on over the years,
including a connection with Wyoming
lines, will be dropped.
The STB also announced that the
Environmental Impact Statement required
in the court decision must consider the
impacts of hauling the coal to new, nondomestic
markets – that is, hauling coal
from the isolated Otter Creek coal tracts in
southeastern Montana to barges bound for
China and other Asian countries.
Last December, the Ninth Circuit U.S.
Court of Appeals ruled, in a case filed
Continued on Page 4
Helena, Missoula ask for voice
in Northwest coal-export debate
residents in particular,
deserve to be part of the
decision-making that will
affect our community and
quality of life,” said Northern
Plains member and Missoula
resident J. Bob Yarger at a
Missoula Council meeting in
May. “I urge you to support
the resolution from the
Conservation Committee
tonight that would request
that Missoula has a voice.”
”
We
fi nally
have a
chance to
ask whether
it’s really in
America’s
interest to
ruin good
ranchland
to build a
railroad that
will ship coal
to China
so we can
stoke their
economic
engine.
– Jeanie Alderson,
Birney rancher and
Northern Plains
Vice Chair
Yarger was among the 20
or so people who testified.
Members Janet McMillan
and Carolyn Walker also
testified.
A June 4 letter from the
Helena Commission asked the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
to conduct a comprehensive
environmental review of
the proposed projects in
Continued on Page 4

to the members
Dry, hot, and moving ahead with our agenda
I
hope you are all able to stay cool
during this hot, dry summer
that’s affecting not only Montana
but nearly the entire United States.
Records continue to be broken for
both heat and drought, but climate
change is rarely mentioned. No one
seems to want to make the connection
between using more and more
fossil fuels and the weather we are
experiencing.
The continued drumbeat we hear
from fossil fuel advocates is that we
must develop and use fossil fuels as
fast as possible. Anyone disagreeing
with this approach is often called an
“obstructionist” or worse.
However, we – the determined and
clear-thinking members of Northern
Plains – have challenged them on
several fronts.
Our Tongue River Railroad Task Force
persisted in challenging the permit
for building the railroad for years and
finally got a victory from the Ninth
Circuit Court of Appeals last winter.
That victory laid the foundation for
a more recent victory at the Surface
Transportation Board, which ruled in
June that the Tongue River Railroad
permit process must start over from
scratch.
In related coal news, we’ve had
successes in organizing citizen action
to get the Helena and Missoula city
councils to request that Montanans be
given the chance to be heard when the
Army Corps of Engineers studies the
impacts of the new and expanded coal
ports being planned for Washington
and Oregon. Coal train traffic across
our state will increase dramatically as
that coal is exported to Asia, and it
will affect the people who live along
the route, including Helena and
Missoula.
WORC’s recently released study,
Heavy Traffic Ahead, took a look at
how that train traffic will affect the
rail system in the region as well as
the communities where tracks cut
through town. This study raises
particular questions about how the
increased coal train traffic over the
years ahead – possibly a 50-train-perday
increase at Billings – will affect
other freight such as grain. Those of
us who raise grain are very dependent
upon timely shipping at a competitive
rate. Will coal have priority over grain
on the limited available tracks?
I wanted to mention some items for
your calendar:
• September 14 is this year’s
Wild and Scenic Film Festival
in Billings. If you’ve attended
previously, you know that it’s a
great sampling of independent
films about important issues,
personal courage, and simple
beauty. It’s a very fun evening!
• The Annual Meeting is November
9-10 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in
Billings. I hope you can make it to
all or part of the Annual Meeting
– it’s a great time to learn more
about the work we do, the people
in our organization, and the course
we will be taking in the year ahead.
• Starting in September and ending
at the Annual Meeting, we will
be selling raffle tickets for a
beautiful “radiant star” quilt made
by member Donna Yarger. This
great prize would be a wonderful
addition to your home, and the
proceeds support the work of our
Agriculture Task Force.
In the meantime, I hope the rest of
your summer is a little bit cooler and
good for your spirit.
Until next time,
– Walter Archer,
Northern Plains Chair
Chair
Walter Archer, Olive
treasurer
Sandra Abraham, Billings
Bear Creek Council
Julia Page, Gardiner
Beartooth Alliance
Nellie Israel, Joliet
Bull Mountain Land
Alliance
Ellen Pfister, Shepherd
Steve Charter, Shepherd
Carbon County Resource
Council
George Corbe, Red Lodge
Deb Muth, Red Lodge
www.northernplains.org
Northern Plains Resource Council is a grassroots conservation and family agriculture group. Northern Plains organizes
Montana citizens to protect our water quality, family farms, and unique quality of life.
Northern Plains Board of Directors
Vice Chair
Jeanie Alderson, Birney
Assistant secretary
Lana Sangmeister, Nye
Past Chair
Ed Gulick, Billings
at-large board members
Deborah Hanson, Miles City Mark Fix, Miles City Janet McMillan, Greenough Peter Mickelsen, Lewistown
AFFILIATE board members
Cottonwood Resource Council
Cindy Webber, Big Timber
Dawson Resource Council
Amy Myran, Glendive
Dennis Getz, Glendive
McCone Agricultural
Protection organization
Lyle Quick, Circle
Rosebud Protective
Association
Del Dinstel, Colstrip
Brad Sauer, Jimtown
Secretary
Beth Kaeding, Bozeman
assistant Treasurer
Connie Keogh, Billings
Sleeping giant
citizens council
Roxa Reller, Helena
Kate French, Helena
Stillwater Protective
Association
Lana Sangmeister, Nye
Charles Sangmeister, Nye
Yellowstone Valley
Citizens Council
David Strong, Billings
Paul Miller, Billings
The Plains Truth
The Plains Truth is published by Northern Plains
Resource Council. Northern Plains members receive
The Plains Truth as one of the benefits of membership.
Membership Dues
$500+ Riders of the Big Sky $50 Range Rider
$200 Bottom Line Rider $40 General Member
$100 Rough Rider $15-$39 Living Lightly
Endowment
The Northern Plains Endowment is a permanent fund
established to help sustain Northern Plains’ work
into the future. If you want to make a donation,
a memorial gift, or a bequest to this fund, please
contact the Northern Plains office.
Northern Plains Staff
Staff Director: Teresa Erickson
Development Coordinator: Steve Paulson
Director of Organizing and Campaigns: Olivia
Stockman
Organizers: Becca Fischer, Svein Newman, Clayton
Elliott, Rose Bender, Kelsey Miller, Natalie Snyders,
Page Atcheson
Grassroots Fundraiser: Caleb Lande
Communications Coordinator: Larry Winslow
Office Manager: Karen Olson
Comptroller: Paula Berg
Technical Assistant: Chrissantha Cramer
Western Organization of Resource Councils
Northern Plains is a founding member of the Western
Organization of Resource Councils. WORC is a
regional network of seven grassroots community
organizations that include 10,000 members in seven
Western states. WORC helps its member groups
succeed by providing training and coordinating
regional issue campaigns. Visit WORC at www.worc.org.
Northern Plains Resource Council
220 South 27th Street, Suite A, Billings, MT 59101
Tel: (406) 248-1154 Fax: (406) 248-2110
Email: info@northernplains.org
Website: www.northernplains.org
The Plains Truth Summer 2012 Page 2

people of the plains
Commitment to change drives Kate French
Kate French, Chair of
Sleeping Giant Citizens
Council (SGCC), reflected
recently on the growth of Helena’s
local Northern Plains affiliate and
her personal involvement with the
organization’s work.
This spring, SGCC successfully
convinced Helena’s City Commission
to request that the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers consider the impacts to
Montana if the coal ports proposed in
the Pacific Northwest are approved.
The ports will lead to a dramatic
increase in coal train traffic across
Montana in the years ahead, and
Helena is one of the communities
where local citizens have forced local
officials to look at problems coming
their way.
Kate was recently quoted in the
Helena Independent Record during
SGCC’s coal export campaign.
“These out-of-state coal companies –
headquartered in places like St. Louis
and Australia – stand to make billions
of dollars from these proposals. It is
no surprise that these companies –
just like the Copper Kings did 100
years ago – are working to silence our
community.”
Despite being relatively new to the
Helena community, commitment to a
healthy environment and community
is a natural cause for Kate. Growing
up in Boulder, Colorado, she joined
her family on weekends exploring the
great wild country there.
“It’s hard not to become an
environmentalist when you grow up
in wild, beautiful landscapes,” she
You still have chance to win $100, $500!
You still have a chance to win great cash prizes while
supporting Northern Plains’ work on coal issues!
We began drawing raffle tickets for
weekly $100 cash prizes on June
15. The grand prize of $500 will be
drawn at the Northern Plains Board
meeting on Saturday, August 18.
Raffle tickets cost $10 each or $40
for a book of five.
Winning tickets are put back in the
jar for a chance to win again. Sorry, but you must be a
Montana resident to win.
Support the Coal Task Force’s great work and buy raffle
tickets in our Coal Hard Cash raffle.
”
Northern Plains stood out from the beginning
for me: the degree of transparency, the
commitment to democratic decision-making,
and the truly local scope of its work.
said. “You just have an obligation to
make sure these places are here for the
next generation.”
She currently works for Detour, an
international sustainable travel firm
based in Helena that uses tourism to
build durable community institutions
and economic opportunities for local
people. She relocated to Helena with
her company in 2008. Kate met
Brad Bauer shortly after moving to
town, and the two were married last
summer.
Kate joined Northern Plains shortly
after moving to Helena. She was
interested in finding a way to
The Plains Truth Summer 2012 Page 3
make positive change in her own
community. A friend recruited her
to attend Sleeping Giant’s canvass
on local foods, and she immediately
noticed Northern Plains and Sleeping
Giant as organizations that reflected
her community.
“I need to trust an organization,
believe in how decisions are made,
and know that they are partners in
working to make my community a
better place to live and work,” Kate
said. “Northern Plains stood out
from the beginning for me: the degree
of transparency, the commitment to
democratic decision-making, and the
truly local scope of its work.
Telecommunications business CREDO
helps its customers take part in policy
decisions by crafting petitions and emails and
by targeting key decision-makers.
Through a network of activists, it turns up the
heat on CEOs, government officials, members
of Congress, or even the president, through
phone calls, petition drives, and by speaking
out at local meetings.
– Kate French
The company also donates a percentage of
charges to several progressive organizations
each year. In 2012, WORC (the Western
Organization of Resource Councils – a regional
network that provides groups like Northern
Plains with trainings and coordinates regional
“The commitment to these principles
means it is an organization that is
around for the long-haul. It isn’t just
the organization that jumps from one
sexy, rock-star cause to the next.”
Since Kate became Chair in 2010,
SGCC’s focus has broadened from a
local farm-to-school campaign to an
affiliate with three active campaigns:
coal exports, local foods, and hardrock
mining. At the last Northern
Plains Annual Meeting, SGCC was
recognized as the affiliate with the
highest growth in membership during
2011. She credits the membership:
“We work together – work hard
together – to build our organization
and make this a better place to live.”
Living in Helena, Kate and her fellow
SGCC members often get the chance
to represent Northern Plains in a
variety of venues. During the 2011
Legislature, Kate was a regular voice
in committees, speaking to issues like
renewable energy and the impacts of
coal mining. She has been interviewed
by a number of newspaper and
television reporters, and submits
regular letters to the editor on SGCC
and Northern Plains issues.
It is that commitment to empowering
the people of her community that
drives her passion for this work.
“I love it when environmentalism
reflects the values that my
grandmother believes. It is the kind
of environmentalism that benefits our
community and neighbors as much as
it benefits the natural world.”
– Clayton Elliott
Vote for WORC and we all benefit
issue campaigns) is one of 40 organizations
eligible for the 2012 Working Assets/CREDO
funding vote. This year, you can vote on how
CREDO should allocate its donations. In early
2013, WORC will receive a portion of the
donation pool based on the percentage of votes
WORC receives in an online poll.
Even if you aren’t a CREDO customer, “action
members” can still vote for the organization of
their choice. For instructions on how to join
and vote to help WORC, visit
www.worc.org/2012-CREDO-Ballot.
When you help WORC, you benefit Northern
Plains, too.
– Kevin Dowling

TRR Continued from Page 1
by Northern Plains and Native Action, that the
environmental impact statement for the Tongue
River Railroad fell short of the law’s requirements,
partly because much of the field data was decades
old, and partly because much field data had
simply never been gathered.
Because of this court decision and the numerous
changes in the railroad’s proposals, the STB
decided to clarify the proposal before it by
requiring the TRR to submit a revised application.
The TRR has undergone numerous modifications
since being proposed in 1980. Those changes have
become intertwined in several court cases and
changes of plans by the railroad’s promoters. It
was originally intended to serve a speculative coal
mine in the Ashland area. When that mine never
came to be, TRR’s promoters announced a new
proposal to haul coal from Wyoming to the main
rail line in Montana. Years passed and the railroad
was never built.
With the plans of St. Louis-based Arch Coal for
building Montana’s largest-ever coal mine on Otter
Creek southeast of Ashland, the Tongue River
Railroad took on a new form. The TRR would
now become the first leg in transporting coal from
Montana to China and other Asian nations.
Northern Plains members facing condemnation
along the TRR’s route have fought the plan for
more than 30 years. They would be forced to
bear a tremendous cost for the benefit of coal and
railroad companies and Asian economies that kill
American jobs.
“My ranch would be cut in half by the proposed
Tongue River Railroad,” said
Mark Fix, a Tongue River
rancher and Past Chair of
Northern Plains. “We can
only hope that, for the first
time in more than 30 years,
the Surface Transportation
Board will ask some tough
Mark Fix
questions about whether this
railroad will benefit anyone besides Arch Coal and
the Chinese industrialists who will burn that coal.”
“What we have done is won a voice for
Montanans,” said Northern Plains Chair Walter
Archer of Powder River County. “We can express
our concerns about the effects that industrializing
southeastern Montana will have on agriculture
and tourism – our two mainstays in the economy
that seem to always get overlooked by economic
development boosters.”
Tongue River rancher and Northern PlainsVice
Chair Jeanie Alderson added, “We finally have
a chance to ask whether it’s really in America’s
interest to ruin good ranchland to build a railroad
that will ship coal to China so we can stoke their
economic engine.”
– Kelsey Miller
Land and water
Climate scientist: Expect more fires
Climate change means two important
things for Montana – more fire, and less
ice. That was the primary message more
than 100 people heard from Nobel laureate Dr.
Steve Running at an April event, hosted by the
Climate Protection Group and Northern Plains
affiliate Carbon County Resource Council.
Running was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
in 2007 along with other members of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC), a group of 600 researchers from around
the world who prepared three systematic reports
on climate change. Dr. Running, a forest ecologist,
was the sole Montanan on the panel and a chapter
author for the report Climate Change 2007:
Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.
Steve Running
Running said climate models
project that – by 2050 –
Montana will be 5 degrees
warmer with 10% less
precipitation, a particularly
significant challenge in parts of
the state where water is already
in short supply.
“The most noteworthy things to watch, though,”
said Running, “are the hottest and the coldest days.
That’s where the most change happens.”
For example, in Missoula, there were 12 days over
100 degrees in July 2007 alone, while there were
only a handful of days that hot in the entire decade
of the 1950s. Winter days as cold as those of past
years are quickly disappearing as well. That may
sound comfortable, but it is also a big driver of the
pine beetle infestation devastating Montana forests.
“Even a few very cold winter nights can be enough
to keep larvae in check,” said Running. But
without them, populations run rampant. There are
Helena Continued from Page 1
Washington and Oregon. It cited concerns that the
expanded port capacity would mean a dramatic
increase in the number of coal trains traveling through
the Helena community every day, increasing ambient
air pollution from coal dust and diesel fumes and
exacerbating already-stressed infrastructure. It also
formally requested that the impacts to Helena be
explicitly considered in the permitting decisions.
Members of affiliate Sleeping Giant Citizens Council
(SGCC) heralded the responsible decision.
“A comprehensive review will provide unbiased
information, allowing citizens and officials to take a
hard look at the social, economic, and environmental
ramifications of exporting coal to Asia,” said SGCC
Chair Kate French. “Without the review, we would
be relying on the promises of out-of-state business
owners telling us that these trains will have little to
no effect on our community.”
Source: Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
have been increasing steadily over the last half
century. The yearly dips represent seasonal
changes.
other problems, too. He showed a chart illustrating
August low-flow levels of all major Montana rivers
have dropped over the last decades.
Among peer-reviewed scientists, there is no
controversy regarding man-made climate change;
“95 to 97 percent of scientists have agreed for years,”
said Running. He said that recently a group of wellfunded,
climate skeptic researchers set out to prove
past climate scientists wrong by redoing prior models
and looking at data from the ground up. Their
findings almost identically matched the past studies
documenting that climate change is real, serious, and
humans are overwhelmingly the leading contributor.
Running urged lowering our carbon footprint,
by transitioning away from coal and aggressively
pursuing energy efficiency. Event organizers
distributed a list of things individuals can do to
lower their carbon footprint.
– Svein Newman
SGCC members provided nearly 50 public
comments to the commission. Many more members
wrote letters and made phone calls. The persistent
pressure from Helena residents made the difference
in final passage, as the consideration of the letter
was met with stiff opposition from the coal and rail
industry and a number of industrial trade unions.
“Despite the protests from corporate interests that
stand to make billions of dollars, this letter is simply
an opportunity for Helena residents to participate
in the public process regarding the permitting of six
connected port decisions that would export coal,”
French added.
Over the coming months, the campaign will
continue to broaden and deepen the coalition in
Helena, Missoula, and other communities along the
route and will give residents more opportunities to be
involved.
– Clayton Elliott
The Plains Truth Summer 2012 Page 4

What would you do if
40-50 additional coal
trains were cutting
through your community every day?
That’s the question Northern Plains
has posed to Montanans since the
beginning of 2012.
Powder River Basin and Bull
Mountains coal for overseas export
currently is sent by rail to British
Columbia. Most of the coal trains
follow a circuitous route through
Montana, northern Idaho, then
southwest to Spokane, the Columbia
River Gorge (the lowest pass
through the Cascades) to Vancouver,
Washington. From there they head
north through the heavily populated
areas of Tacoma, Seattle, and
Bellingham to Vancouver, B.C.
Current ports in Oregon and
Washington aren’t deep enough or big
enough to handle the huge oceangoing
coal ships. Six coal ports are
proposed, and some are beginning the
permitting process.
A 12-fold increase
If all six ports were developed,
coal companies plan to export
up to 170 million tons of coal
through West Coast ports, and
50 additional trains per day
could become a reality in Billings
(slightly lower numbers in other
communities, depending on the
routes that carry the most coal).
This increase will take place over
the next 10 years if the plans
of coal companies and railroads
materialize for shipping huge
volumes of Western coal to Asia.
Obviously, this increase in coal train
traffic could have great impacts
on day-to-day life in communities
bisected by railroad tracks, and could
reduce property values, interfere with
local business, hamper the movement
of ambulances and fire trucks, and
reduce air quality for people who
live near the tracks (not to mention
people who have to wait repeatedly at
railroad crossings).
Unless something changes, the coal
and railroad companies could get
away with imposing these costs on
Montana communities. Solutions to
relieve these problems are expensive,
and local communities could get
stuck with major tax burdens. For
Land and water
Montanans seek answers about coal trains, exports
What you can do
If you want to get involved
in our work on coal exports,
please call Natalie at
406-248-1154.
example, Billings implemented a
quiet zone to stop the train horns
blaring in downtown. The upgrades
to the crossings for this quiet zone
cost $1.5 million and were paid for
by taxpayers. Montana Rail Link
has repeatedly said that paying for
overpasses is “not an expense the
railroad company typically covers.”
In order to get the message out,
Northern Plains and our allies have
hosted informational meetings in
Billings, Missoula, Helena, Bozeman,
and Columbus, so far. More than 500
people have attended these meetings.
The question raised in town after
town is, “What can we do to make
sure our communities aren’t stuck
with the costs and impacts of dozens
of additional coal trains every day?”
Northern Plains, along with groups
from Idaho, Washington, and
Oregon, is asking the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers (which would
BNSF scrubs its website of coal dust
There are many health, safety, logistics, climate, and ethical
problems with coal and coal trains. One problem – coal dust –
BNSF Railway addressed on its website as late as March of 2011.
The information has since been removed. At YVCC's Community
Coal Export Conversation in March, a BNSF representative said
the company has attempted to make coal companies pay for
coal dust treatment. Citizens are depending on the rail and coal
companies to own up to addressing the problem. Here is what the
website used to say:
Source: Sightline Institute report, Coal Exports from Canada (July 2012)
Coal Dust Frequently Asked Questions
“The amount of coal dust that escapes from PRB [Powder River
Basin] coal trains is surprisingly large. While the amount of
coal dust that escapes from a particular coal car depends on a
number of factors, including the weather, BNSF has done studies
indicating that from 500 lbs to a ton of coal can escape from a
single loaded coal car. Other reports have indicated that as much
as 3% of the coal loaded into a coal car can be lost in transit.
In many areas, a thick layer of black coal dust can be observed
along the railroad right of way and in between the tracks. Given
the high volume of loaded coal trains that move each day in the
PRB, large amounts of coal dust accumulate rapidly along the
PRB rail lines.
“In May 2005, there were two signifi cant derailments of coal
trains in the PRB within a short period of time, resulting in
signifi cant disruption in service and congestion. BNSF determined
that the derailments resulted from weakened track structure
caused primarily by a combination of coal dust and high levels of
rainfall along with other factors….”
have to approve shoreline permits
for most of the new and expanded
coal ports) to study the community
impacts of 50 additional trains per
day crossing Montana to deliver coal
to those ports.
Area-wide study
If the coal companies had their way,
the bigger picture would never be
studied and Montana would begin
seeing an increase in coal train traffic
without any serious study. The U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers has said
it will not do a “programmatic”
environmental impact statement
(EIS) at this point but will instead do
an “area-wide” EIS. The difference
appears to be mere semantics, and
Montana still has the opportunity
have a voice in the process.
But the clock is ticking. The Cherry
Point port (Gateway Pacific) proposed
at Bellingham, Washington, (north
of Seattle) has hired a contractor
to begin the scoping process. The
geographic area to be studied could
be decided any day now. In the
meantime, the city governments of
Missoula and Helena have requested
to be included in any of the
decisions being made on the port
(see article on Page 1), and we are
working to make sure other cities
have a say as well. This early stage
is when it’s critical that we make
our voices heard.
Every community along the rail
tracks, small or large, will be
impacted by this coal export
proposal. It’s time we made sure
that we don’t get stuck with the
impacts and costs.
– Becca Fischer
The Plains Truth Summer 2012 Page 5

On June 8, members
of Northern Plains’
affiliate Bull Mountain
Land Alliance (BMLA) met with
representatives from Montana’s
Department of Environmental
Quality (DEQ) and the federal Office
of Surface Mining (OSM), as well as
staff from Signal Peak Energy. They
took them on a tour of the surface
effects of underground longwall coal
mining in the Bull Mountains.
While some surface subsidence
cracks caused by mining the
coal underground are “healing”
(recompressing), some are not. The
unhealed cracks on steep slopes are
particularly troubling as they pose a
risk of slope failure.
land and water
Officials tour mine land subsidence
Coal industry representatives have
long said that cracks would heal
on their own, a claim the state has
historically seemed willing to accept.
The trip provided conclusive evidence
that, to date, the industry’s claims
don’t hold up.
Along with subsidence, the tour
highlighted the risk that coal mining
poses to water resources. A visit to
Litsky’s Spring, which sits above one
of the panels of coal that has already
been mined, revealed substantial
drawdown in an adjacent deep
monitoring well due to mining. The
spring pond itself was well below
its high water mark. The deeper
monitoring well at the site has
recovered a small amount.
Gaining ground
Bull Mountain Land Alliance
members are confident that their
efforts to protect agricultural land
above mined areas are making
headway. For instance, DEQ and
Signal Peak have committed to
monitoring the length and width of a
long crack on Dunn Mountain. This
physical monitoring goes beyond
prior monitoring which, up until now,
has only measured elevation change.
DEQ has also pushed Signal Peak to
establish a subsidence reclamation
plan and to do more emergency
response planning to reduce surface
disturbance in the future.
Surface equipment
Also of note, the mine has recently
Photo courtesy of Don Thompson
Onlookers view subsidence cracks, like the one in the foreground, on Ellen Pfi ster and Don Golder’s ranch high in the
Bull Mountains during the Bull Mountains Land Subsidence Tour and Picnic on July 15.
Tour, picnic highlight mine cracks on ranchland
Ellen Pfi ster
had to pump nitrogen into the
underground operations due to
carbon monoxide problems – a
process that had large surface effects.
A surface pad, pipeline, equipment
for injection, and more tore up Ellen
Pfister and Don Golder’s land.
The mine has now moved the
equipment underground to reduce
future surface disruption. Signal Peak
purchased a nitrogen generator and
on-site lab for maintaining air quality
in its underground operations.
There are, however, new challenges
and trade-offs. Signal Peak has
encountered unforeseen problems
with the predictability and stability
of the longwall roof under Dunn
Mountain and are having to “seal
the gob,” a process which involves
About 35 people from around the state
gathered July 15 to tour land subsidence
on Northern Plains members Ellen Pfister
and Don Golder’s Hereford ranch in the Bull
Mountains, north of Billings.
Ellen and neighbor Steve Charter, both
longtime member leaders in Northern Plains
and affiliate Bull Mountain Land Alliance,
injecting a special expanding concrete
into the mine to separate mined-out
areas from the rest of the mine as
they proceed. The former nitrogen
injection sites have been replaced by
concrete injection sites. Signal Peak
plans to construct an industrial road
with a 90-foot right-of-way through
some of the roughest drainages below
Dunn Mountain.
Water protection bonding
Also, BMLA’s calls for additional
bonding to protect water over the
long-term remains unresolved.
Still, there is no doubt the group has
made noteworthy progress and is wellpositioned
to go even farther in the
future.
– Svein Newman
showed the subsidence cracks and other surface
damage caused by underground coal mining by
Signal Peak Energy. In addition, they provided
history and other context for how coal mining
is affecting ranching in the area.
After the tour, the group enjoyed a picnic, silent
auction, and live music.
– Svein Newman
30¢ a ton lease near
The State Land Board on June 27
received a bid of 30 cents per
ton from Signal Peak Energy to lease
state-owned coal in the “life of mine
area” of its Bull Mountain coal mine.
The bid, for coal destined for export
to Asian markets, is identical to the
amount for which the Bureau of Land
Management leased federal coal in the
Bull Mountains earlier this year.
Northern Plains has challenged the
BLM’s valuation as too low, given that
the government is getting over a $1 per
ton for coal in Wyoming, and Asian
markets have paid coal companies
record prices of over $100 per ton. The
Land Board will soon decide whether
to proceed with the lease.
– Svein Newman
The Plains Truth Summer 2012 Page 6

land and water
Momentum builds
for needed drilling rules
What you can do:
Send in comments
using the talking points
below to the Bureau of
Land Management by
September 10.
• Your subject line
should be Re: Oil and
Gas: Well Stimulation,
Including Hydraulic
Fracturing, on Federal
and Indian Lands
(Document ID BLM-
2012-0001-0001)
• The website where you
can comment is http://
www.regulations.gov/#
!submitComment;D=B
LM-2012-0001-0001
• Mail: U.S. Department
of the Interior, Director
(630), Bureau of Land
Management, Mail
Stop 2134 LM, 1849
C St. NW., Washington,
DC 20240, Attention:
1004-AE26.
Talking points:
• Require oil and gas companies
to disclose the chemicals they
plan to use before fracking is
permitted. Nearby residents
would then be able to learn
what chemicals the companies
intend to use, comment on the
chemicals, and have BLM address
those comments. In addition,
residents could test their water for
contamination by those chemicals.
• Bar use of all pits (lined
and unlined) for wastewater
from drilling and fracking.
Overflowing pits are a common
source of contamination on
oil and gas sites. They can be
replaced with closed tanks which
won’t leak or overflow.
• Establish “no drill” zones
around homes and water
supplies. Independent
research shows a higher risk
There is good news on the
way for people who live
in areas where federal oil
and gas is being developed.
The Bureau of Land Management
(BLM) has put draft “well
stimulation and chemical
disclosure rules” out for public
comment, and it just extended
the deadline until September
10 for public comment. (“Well
stimulation” involves chemical
procedures for squeezing more
production from an oil or gas
well.)
The BLM has a chance to set the
bar higher for chemical disclosure
and general well stimulation
rules. Up until now, the states
have handled this regulation
with mixed results. Northern
Plains led the push in the 2011
Legislature to get chemical
disclosure laws for oil and gas
wells in Montana, but the Board
of Oil and Gas Conservation
ended up adopting rules that still
allow for “trade secrets” – leaving
a large percentage of chemicals
unidentified.
of air pollution and water
contamination for a half-mile
around drill sites. A half-mile
buffer zone around well bores
would lower the risk of people
getting sick and water supplies
being contaminated.
• Require oil and gas companies
to conduct and make available
baseline water quality tests that
will help document whether
contamination occurs after
drilling and fracking. It’s time for
Getting stronger rules in place is
timely, with new oil and gas fields
popping up around Montana.
In particular the Heath Shale
(between Lewistown and
Winnett) is seeing the drilling
of new exploratory wells. A
Northern Plains member from
Lewistown recently took the
photo (below) at the site of an
exploratory well 11 miles west of
Big Spring.
At the federal level, the push has
been for rules to address myriad
reported problems associated
with fracking. The Stop the Frack
Attack rally, sponsored by citizens
across the U.S., took place July 28
in Washington, D.C. Northern
Plains endorsed the rally and
members of the WORC network
attended.
It has taken a long time for the
BLM to make a constructive
response to all the drilling
problems of recent years. Your
comments to the BLM can help
make for a constructive change.
– Becca Fischer
Site for an exploratory well 11 miles west of Big Spring near Lewistown.
regulators to collect real data to
determine just how widespread
contamination from oil and gas
development is.
• Require drilling companies
to document pathways for
contamination, such as any
existing faults, fractures, and oil
and gas wells, and avoid fracking
in areas where there is a high risk
of contamination.
– Becca Fischer
The Plains Truth Summer 2012 Page 7
Wyoming farmer/rancher John Fenton tells
Lewistown-area residents about problems that might
lie ahead with increased oil and gas development.
Wyoming rancher
frank about fracking
Wyoming farmer/rancher John Fenton shared
information for Lewistown residents about
what it’s like to live with oil and gas on your land –
and not much was good news.
About 80 Lewistown-area residents turned out to
hear John’s experiences at a showing of Gasland,
a documentary about hydraulic fracturing, or
fracking, of oil and gas wells. The Wyoming rancher
is featured in the film.
“If you think they are drilling for American energy
independence, you’re mistaken. These corporations
are only doing this to make a profit,” John warned.
He’s been dealing with the effects of drilling on his
land for many years now, losing some of his animals
and suffering headaches himself. Though he, along
with neighbors, spent almost 10 years trying to
get the State of Wyoming to do water testing, his
neighbors finally gave up and spent $18,000 doing
three of their own tests.
John is a member of Powder River Basin Resource
Council, a Wyoming sister organization to Northern
Plains. Asked why he’s still on his family farm and
hasn’t given up and moved, his answer was two-fold.
For one, he doesn’t think it would sell. But really, it’s
their way of life and they don’t want to leave.
As oil and gas production continues to spread into
Montana, questions are inevitable about the sheer
quantity of water that will be diverted toward
resource extraction. One to eight million gallons of
water are used for every fracking event, and a well
can be fracked as many as 10 times.
Northern Plains published a new factsheet in May,
called Your Water, Your Rights. Check it out on our
website, and stay tuned for ways to get involved.
– Olivia Stockman

1990
From The Plains Truth vault
Eastern Montana viewed as waste dump
Northern Plains begins working on waste disposal issues after a proposal is
made to ship out-of-state garbage to Miles City on empty coal trains.
Rancher’s leases pulled
July/August 1991
Meridian Minerals Co. publicly announced it was canceling grazing
leases held by Pete Tully, President of the Bull Mountain Landowners
Association. The company, a Burlington Resources subsidiary, is pulling the
railroad land-grant leases as retaliation for a letter Tully wrote expressing
the group's opposition to a proposed underground coal mine in the Bull
Mountains.
Congress takes historic step toward 1872 reform
June 1992
Victory! Northern Plains and our allies throughout the country celebrated
an important and long-awaited victory when the U.S. House Interior
Committee approved a strong, comprehensive reform of the 1872 Mining
Law. In 120 years, no congressional committee has ever voted for reform this
extensive. [The full House later rejected it.]
Non-existent coal railroad proposes extension
August 1992
Members turned out in force at public hearings in Lame Deer, Forsyth,
Miles City, and Sheridan, Wyoming, to voice their opposition to the
41-mile expansion of the (still proposed) Tongue River Railroad from Ashland
to Decker. Northern Plains submitted more than 1,000 letters from area
residents opposing the TRR.
‘Mine All Mine’ mining claim staked
October 1993
Sixty-five Northern Plains members staked a mining claim in an off-road
motorbike course in the South Hills of Billings. The area was claimed in
the name of "Mine All Mine Mining Co." to make a point: Until the 1872
Mining Law is reformed, multiple use of public lands will be in jeopardy.
Protecting our water quality
May 1994
t a state Department of Health hearing, Past Chair Richard Parks gave
A a graphic demonstration of proposed changes to Water Quality Rules.
He produced several jars of water and a glass pitcher. One jar was filled with
Northern Plains 1990s timeline
FOR 40 years protecti
Northern Plains in 1990s challenge
Jan.
1990:
Paul
Hawks
is Chair
May 1990:
Beartooth
Alliance in
Cooke City
affiliates
with
Northern
Plains
The The Plains Truth Spring Summer 2008 2012 Page Page 8 8
Northern Plains has never backed
away from taking on corporate
interests that continue to
degrade our water quality, make life
difficult for our family farmers and
ranchers, and in general try to whittle
away at the quality of life we share in
Montana in order to make a quick buck.
This was definitely true of Northern
Plains in the 1990s.
Northern Plains brought our cando
attitude into a decade filled with
challenges from many directions.
Northern Plains worked with a
nationwide campaign for reform of
the 1872 Mining Law, a long-obsolete
law enacted to encourage settlement
of the West, but which has led to
terrible damage to lands and watersheds
in Montana and other states. While
our efforts came close to achieving
meaningful reform, hard-rock mining
interests were able to muster enough
political support to stave off reform.
Members of Northern Plains and affiliate
Beartooth Alliance fought the New
World project, a proposed gold mine at
high elevation just outside Yellowstone
National Park. In 1996, President
Clinton signed an agreement that bought
out the mine, allocated money for mine
cleanup, and facilitated a transfer of
federal minerals to the state of Montana.
The victory was bittersweet, however,
for the minerals the state received are the
Otter Creek coal tracts.
Hard-rock mining in the ’90s included
expansion plans for platinum and
palladium mining in the Beartooth
Mountains and a number of cyanide heap
leach gold mines statewide. Along with
affiliates Stillwater Protective Association
and Cottonwood Resource Council,
we watchdogged the Stillwater Mining
Company as it expanded operations and
opened a new mine south of Big Timber.
Residents were concerned about traffic
on rural roads, construction of mancamps,
and pollution of the Stillwater and
Boulder Rivers by mine tailings and other
contaminants. Members organized and
entered into negotiations with SMC which
eventually resulted in the Good Neighbor
Agreement. This legally binding document,
now in its 12th year, is a model for how to
include citizens in an ongoing basis in the
operations of large corporations.
Northern Plains co-led the campaign for
the Clean Water Initiative in 1996. The
March 1990:
Stillwater Mining
Company
reveals plans
for large-scale
platinum mine
south of Big
Timber
Sept.1990:
Custer
Resource
Alliance
affi liates with
Northern Plains
July 1990:
1300 Custer
County residents
sign petition
against a
proposed dump
for Minnesota
garbage
May 1991:
U.S. House
subcommittee
holds fi eld hearing
at Eastern Montana
College on
reforming the 1872
Mining Law
Feb. 1991:
Members hold a
"garbage drive"
at the State
Captiol seeking
a bill to control
siting of large
garbage dumps
Nov. 1991:
Richard
Parks
elected Chair
May 1992:
Ross Electric
proposes to
burn PCBladen
electric
transformers
in Baker
Sept. 1992:
Northern Plains
forms Waste
Task Force to
address proposals
to dump out-ofstate
garbage in
Eastern Montana
Sept. 1992:
State Health
Board grants an
exemption to Water
Quality Act for
proposed platinum/
paladium mine on
East Boulder River.
The fi rst Birney
Barbecue,
an annual
fundraiser for
Northern Plains’
Tongue River
Railroad Task
Force, was held
at Irv Alderson’s
Bones Brothers
Ranch near
Birney in 1992.
Nov. 1992: In a
memorable Northern
Plains 20th anniversary
speech, Paul Hawks
describes Northern
Plains as a family and "a
community of common
values and common
purpose."
May 1993:
After 22 years
in the Stapleton
Building,
Northern Plains
and WORC move
offices to historic
Rex Hotel
April 1993:
Southeastern
Montana Alliance
(SEMA) in Carter
and Fallon
Counties affiliates
with Northern
Plains
Nov. 1993:
Tom
Breitbach
elected
Chair
Jan. 1994:
U.S. EPA says
Billings has
worst annual
concentrations of
sulfur dioxide of
476 sites in the
country
1994:
Audubon
magazine
describes Richard
Parks as "the
inevitable man
of Montana
conservation"
Nov. 1994:
Farmer, poet, writer,
and philospher
Wendell Berry is
Annual Meeting
keynote speaker
May 1994:
Billings residents rally
for clean air and send
a message to the
1995 legislature to
revoke the clean-air
exemption for Billings
March 19
More than
inside Sta
demand G
veto seve
industry-s
bills that w
Water Qu

ng montana’s future
es mining pollution, ag monopolies
In July 1999, farmers and ranchers block a lane of I-15 at Sweet Grass border
crossing as part of the Campaign to Reclaim Rural America.
measure was aimed at preventing and
cleaning up water pollution from hardrock
mines, but a six-to-one spending
advantage by the mining industry
defeated it at the polls. However, I-122
laid groundwork for the victory of I-137
two years later, a measure which banned
new mines from using cyanide.
Breaking the monopoly meatpackers
have over ranchers was a continuing
battle during the 1990s and still is today.
Northern Plains members put a lot of
time and energy into fighting for fair
markets for livestock producers and
against unfair foreign trade agreements.
Northern Plains helped organize rallies
at Montana ports of entry such as Sweet
Grass and Raymond to protest the
dumping of Canadian cattle on the U.S.
market that depressed U.S. cattle prices.
In five eastern Montana communities
in December 1999, Northern Plains
volunteers educated consumers about the
economic crisis gripping family agriculture
and the failure of “free trade” when they
sold loaves of bread for just 3½ ¢ – the
amount a farmer got from the retail sale of
a one-pound loaf. It was part of a national
Campaign to Reclaim Rural America.
In 1990, a proposal was floated to fill
empty coal trains with garbage from the
Twin Cities and carry it to Montana
for burial at a proposed mega-landfill at
Miles City. This proposal was fought off,
but Northern Plains had to challenge
other dump and incineration proposals
in the ’90s.
Affiliate Yellowstone Valley Citizens
Council led the fight to force polluters to
reduce the amount of sulfur dioxide in
Billings’ air and make it a more livable city.
Northern Plains worked for the entire
decade – as we had the decade before –
to fight the ill-conceived Tongue River
Railroad and keep it from cutting
apart Montana ranchland.
clear, pure spring water. The other jar was filled with a greenish-brown liquid
identified as raw sewage. Richard carefully measured four parts of spring water
and then added one part of sewage (20%). The clear water turned a sickening
brown color. Although cups were offered, none of the Board of Health
members took a drink. “This is what your rules would allow to happen to our
groundwater,” Richard told the Board.
Initiative’s failure sparks future success
Spring-fall 1996
Northern Plains joins forces with other Montana conservation groups for
I-122, the Clean Water Initiative. This measure against mining pollution
lost at the polls, but laid the groundwork for the passage of I-137 in 1998.
Billings Council reverses on clean-air exemption
March 1996
Former Yellowstone Valley Citizens Council Chair and current City Council
member, Pat Creighton, made good on her campaign promise by getting
the Billings City Council to reverse its historic position and support the repeal
of the infamous “Hannah Bill.” If this 1987 law is repealed by the legislature,
Montana's sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) standards would once again be restored to
Yellowstone County.
Clinton stops proposed New World Mine
August 1996
At Yellowstone National Park, President Clinton shook hands with
Beartooth Alliance activist Sue Glidden, thus ending six years of citizens’
struggles to stop the New World Mine proposal. While applauding the action,
Northern Plains Board members expressed reservations about a transfer of
federal minerals to the state as part of the deal. [That transfer later turned out
to be the Otter Creek coal tracts in the Tongue River Valley near Ashland.]
Good Neighbor Agreement negotiations begin
May 1999
Cottonwood Resource Council, Stillwater Protective Association, and
Northern Plains formally met with representatives of Stillwater Mining
Company to negotiate terms of a “good neighbor agreement.” The groups
hope the result will be a legally binding written agreement between the
parties for the life of mining operations. [Negotiations were contentious, but
successful in 2000.]
Beef Checkoff program mandatory
1999
Northern Plains takes part in national campaign for a referendum on
the mandatory and misused Beef Checkoff program. Cattle producers
are charged $1 per head sold, which goes to the National Cattlemen's Beef
Association. [This is still in effect.]
May 1995:
President Clinton
visits Billings. Over
breakfast, NP Chair
Tom Breitbach bends
President's ear
about price fi xing by
meatpackers
95:
n 500 rally
ate Capitol to
Gov. Racicot
eral mining
sponsored
weaken the
uality Act
Oct. 1995:
Federal Judge
Jack Shanstrom
rules Crown Butte
Mines is liable for
water pollution
at its New World
Mine
July 1995:
Northern Plains
sponsors a series of
public meetings across
the state about the
monopolization of the
meatpacking industry
Nov. 1995:
Julia Page
elected Chair
Nov. 1995:
CBS Evening News
interviews Lyle
Quick, member and
Circle farmer, about
meatpacker monopoly,
an ongoing Northern
Plains campaign
June 1996:
Dawson
Resource
Council works
to protect
Makoshika
State Park from
oil development
Jan. 1996:
Northern
Plains uses
email for
fi rst time to
communicate
with
members
July 1996:
Carbon County
Resource
Council of Red
Lodge affiliates
with Northern
Plains
Aug. 1996:
President Clinton
signs deal to
stop New World
Mine outside
Yellowstone Park
Sept. 1997:
Ross Management
cancels plans to
incinerate PCBtainted
electrical
equipment in Baker
Sept. 1996:
Surface
Transportation
Board OKs
extension of the
proposed Tongue
River Railroad from
Ashland to Decker
The Plains Truth Winter Summer 2009 2012 Page Page 9 9
Nov. 1997:
Jerry Sikorski
elected Chair
Oct. 1997:
Montana
Supreme Court
rules in favor of
Northern Plains,
cancels the permit
for the Montco
Mine
Nov. 1998:
Voters approve
I-137, a ban on
new open-pit
gold and silver
mines that
use cyanide
leaching
April 1998:
Bighorn
Resource
Council in
Hardin affiliates
with Northern
Plains
July 1999:
Members help
organize rally at
Sweet Grass border
crossing as part
of the Campaign
to Reclaim Rural
America
May 1999:
Good
Neighbor
Agreement
negotiations
begin
Nov. 1999:
Dena Hoff
elected Chair
– Compiled by Larry Winslow

land and water
Two reports bolster Northern Plains efforts
Coal exports could
delay grain sent by
Montana growers
In recent months, more Montanans
have expressed concerns about
the impacts of increased coal train
traffic from the Powder River Basin to
existing and proposed coal ports in the
Pacific Northwest.
To provide some basic information
to citizens and local
officials, WORC (Western
Organization of Resource
Councils) commissioned
a study by longtime rail
transportation experts Terry
Whiteside and Gerald Fauth
III. WORC released the study
at a press conference in July.
Since solid numbers are hard to
come by, the study’s authors went
directly to the existing proposals
for new or expanded coal ports.
The proposed capacities of those
ports show how much coal is
projected for export.
The authors used their decades
of knowledge about rail
transportation to calculate how
much coal train traffic would
be required to ship those
volumes of coal.
Titled Heavy Traffic Ahead:
Rail Impacts of Powder River Basin
Coal to Asia by Way of Pacific Northwest
Terminals, the report shows that coal
transport to the proposed terminals in the
Pacific Northwest could exceed 75 million
tons per year by 2017 and 170 million
tons per year by 2022. This represents
a tremendous increase in coal transport
that will require additional overpasses,
Toxic coal ash affects our
members near Colstrip,
who live near leaking PPL
Montana coal ash ponds that have
contaminated dozens of area wells and
surface waters.
Rosebud Protective Association (RPA)
members have been pushing the state
Department of Environmental Quality
(DEQ) to put a stop to the leaks and
have met with DEQ numerous times
”
The
ability
to ship
effi ciently and
economically
is a critical
component
of success
for our grain
producers
and markets.
– Arlo Skari,
Northern Plains
member and
grain grower from
Chester
underpasses, and other upgrades, costs
which taxpayers have typically had to pay.
“There are many areas along the
railroad routes which will require major
upgrading and expansion of existing
railroad tracks and related infrastructure
which could cost billions of dollars,”
said Whiteside. “State and local
governments will likely bear the brunt
and burden of the related infrastructure
costs in their localities and will likely
be required to spend hundreds of
millions of dollars in related mitigation,
litigation, debt and other costs
associated with the necessary
improvements to accommodate
export coal traffic levels.”
The study also found that
increased rail traffic will affect
grain producers who need access
to rail space. The producers,
the report shows, will face
increased competition for access
to rail lines, potentially delaying
shipments and increasing costs.
“Montana ranks first nationally
in the production of certified
organic wheat and third in the
production of all wheat and
barley. Montana agriculture
brings in $2 billion in annual
revenue, much of that coming
from grain growers,” said
Arlo Skari, a Northern Plains
member and grain grower from
Chester. “The ability to ship
efficiently and economically is a critical
component of success for our grain
producers and markets.”
The report is available at
www.heavytrafficahead.org
and the Northern Plains website
at www.northernplains.org
– Steve Paulson, Larry Winslow
to discuss their concerns. The DEQ
is close to finalizing an agreement
with PPL Montana and will release
the agreement soon. However, RPA
members maintain that they want a
consent agreement that is stronger
and holds the Colstrip power plant
accountable for the pollution it has
created.
On top of this, in June, the federal
Transportation Bill became a potential
Undervalued coal
cost $29 billion in
lost revenue
Taxpayers missed out
on an estimated $28.9
billion in revenues over
the past 30 years due to the failure
of the federal Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) to ensure
that taxpayers get a fair market
value for U.S.-owned coal mined
in the Powder River Basin.
This is a key point made in a
report recently released by
the Institute for Energy
Economics and Financial
Analysis (IEEFA). The
report titled The Great
Giveaway: An analysis
of The United States’
Long-Term Trend of
Selling Federally Owned
Coal for Less Than Fair
Market Value calls for a
moratorium on additional
Powder River Basin coal
sales and a full-scale
federal investigation of the deeply
flawed BLM program.
The vast majority of BLM coal
sales in the Powder River Basin are
non-competitive, proceeding with
only one bidder. BLM coal-leasing
activities neither have been audited
nor subjected to any other publicly
available external review for almost
30 years. This lack of oversight is
especially troubling as a scandal
erupted three decades ago after the
BLM ignored its own appraisals in
leasing Powder River Basin coal for
$100 million less than its value.
“The BLM has historically given
vehicle for legal language that could
have undermined state and federal
oversight of the toxic pollution from
coal ash.
Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) was on
the conference committee considering
the final version of the Transportation
Bill and was pushing to include this
coal ash language. RPA members
reached out to Baucus to protest
including weak coal ash provisions,
”
BLM is
giving
away coal
so it can be
exported
by rail and
shipped to
China. This is
an outrage.
away publicly owned coal to giant
energy corporations for practically
nothing,” said Ellen Pfister, a
Northern Plains member whose
ranch sits above the Signal Peak
underground coal mine in the
Bull Mountains. “Currently, the
BLM is giving away coal so it can
be exported by rail and shipped to
China. This is an outrage.”
Pfister added, “If BLM is going to
lease the public’s coal, it has to sell
it for fair market value. It’s time
for our government agencies to
start doing their job and become
proper stewards of our
natural resources.”
Given that the United
States owns almost all the
coal in the region, the
U.S. government holds
an effective monopoly on
Western coal.
IEEFA Executive Director
David Schlissel said: “Our
new report makes it clear
that BLM is failing U.S.
taxpayers on a colossal
scale.... As a result of policy choices
and an inherently subjective and
flawed fair market value appraisal
process, the U.S. Treasury has
lost almost $30 billion in revenue
throughout the past 30 years.”
– Ellen Pfister,
Northern Plains
member and Bull
Mountain rancher
Tom Sanzillo, IEEFA finance
director, conducted the analysis. He
has written several studies on coal
plants, rate impacts, credit analyses,
and the public and private financial
structures for coal.
The report is available at
www.ieefa.org and at
www.northernplains.org
– Steve Paulson, Larry Winslow
Bad coal ash language kept out of Transportation Bill
and thankfully, this provision was not
included in the final bill.
Lack of state and federal oversight
of coal ash ponds has created a mess
for Montana’s ranchers near Colstrip.
The Montana DEQ and our federal
legislators need to bear down and stop
the leaking coal ash ponds at Colstrip
to protect the water of adjacent
landowners.
– Natalie Snyders
The The Plains Plains Truth Truth Summer Spring 2008 2012 Page 10

2012 Election
Vote No on Referendum 123
Millionaire kickback could cripple state
The severity of this fire
season, which has damaged
the property of multiple
Northern Plains members and left
quite a few more on evacuation
alert, reminds us how important
it is to be prepared. It adds even
more significance to one of the most
troubling measures on our ballot this
November: Legislative Referendum
123.
That’s because if the referendum
passes, it would leave the state unable
to respond to emerging fiscal or
natural disasters because it would
prevent the state from leaving some
“grain in the bin” to weather the bad
times. The measure is another product
of the shamelessly irresponsible 2011
Legislature.
Referendum 123 is also extremely
unfair to Montana family ranchers.
In fact, Referendum123 would send
almost 60 percent of the rebates to
the richest 20 percent of Montanans.
Montana farmers and ranchers should
Montanans rise up
William A. Clark
used his vast Butte
copper-mining wealth to
manipulate the Montana
state government and
literally buy votes to make
himself a U.S. senator.
Blatant corruption by
Clark and the other
Copper Kings created a
furor that led to passage,
by citizen initiative,
of Montana’s Corrupt
Practices Act in 1912.
”
I never
bought
a man who
wasn’t for
sale.
– William A. Clark
The century of transparent campaign-finance
restrictions that followed, preventing corporate
money from influencing elections, came to
an end in June when the U.S. Supreme Court
summarily reversed the Montana law and upheld
its controversial Citizens United ruling.
Clark’s corruption contributed to passage of the
17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,
establishing election of U.S. senators by the
people instead of by the state legislature.
– www.DemocracyNow.org
be especially
concerned about
this measure since
rebates are based
on the amount
of residential
property and
income taxes paid
by each taxpayer.
That means taxes
paid on nonresidential
property
would not be
factored into
individual rebates,
leaving most rural
Montanans empty handed.
Referendum 123 is not only
dangerous – it is flat out
unconstitutional. As proposed, it
would create an automatic tax rebate
based on what the Legislative Fiscal
Analyst thinks the state’s ending fund
balance will be. Last year, the analyst
was off by hundreds of millions of
dollars.
What you can do
Get more information by
visiting www.NoLR123.org or
call (406) 359-1233.
Vote Yes on I-166
In 1912, Montana passed
the Corrupt Practices Act to
ban corporate spending in
elections.
Until then, Anaconda Copper King
William A. Clark and his friends
used their wealth to buy courts,
politicians, newspapers – anything
and anyone that could help them
or hinder their opponents. At
his peak, Clark bought himself a
U.S. Senate seat, advertising in
his newspapers that he would pay
$10,000 cash to any Montana
legislator who would vote to send
him to Washington D.C. (this was
before senators were directly elected
by voters). Montanans know better
than most people how money
corrupts politics.
On June 25, the U.S. Supreme
Court struck down the Corrupt
Practices Act on a 5-4 decision,
opening the floodgates for
These tax
rebates would
be mandatory
– regardless of
the state’s fiscal
condition. It
would mean
tax rebates to
the wealthiest
Montanans even if
it means slashing
funds for schools,
public safety, and
other services.
Referendum 123
strips all oversight
power from our legislature and hands
it directly to the Legislative Fiscal
Analyst with no recourse for oversight
from our elected representation.
unlimited corporate spending
in Montana elections, and
taking away the power of any
state to keep its elections clean.
The ruling comes on the heels
of an earlier decision allowing
corporations to spend unlimited
amounts of money in federal
elections, Citizens United vs. FEC
(commonly referred to as ‘Citizens
United’).
When billionaire out-of-state
corporations are allowed to spend
tens of millions of dollars to flood
television, radio, and mailboxes
for their candidates, it makes it
Mechanically, the measure would
provide a property and income tax
rebate whenever the state’s ending
fund balance exceeds the projected
fiscal analyst’s projection by more than
25%. However, not all citizens are
treated equally – in fact, even multimillionaires
who don’t pay income
taxes in Montana could receive these
rebates.
While District Court judge Sherlock
recently ruled that Referendum 123
is unconstitutional, it was appealed
to the Montana Supreme Court.
Because of this appeal, it is slated to
be on the ballot. The only way it gets
thrown off the ballot is if the Supreme
Court upholds Judge Sherlock's ruling
before ballots are certified on August
23.
In the meantime, all of us should talk
with our family and neighbors about
the far-reaching and irresponsible
consequences of Referendum 123.
Any smart businessperson or
homeowner knows that it’s important
to leave a little in the bank for a rainy
day. Montana’s state government
shouldn’t be run any differently. Tell
your friends and family to vote NO
on LR 123.
– Svein Newman, Clayton Elliott
Keep corporate money out of politics
hard to hear the voices of the
everyday Montanans who should
be the ones electing politicians
and holding them accountable.
Our best shot at taking our
democracy back is an American
constitutional amendment. That
battle will be a long one, and must
be won in three-quarters of the
states. Given our history, it makes
sense for us to lead in Montana.
Corporations are not people –
they don’t have kids, they don’t
fight in wars for our country, they
don’t go to jail when they commit
crimes.
A journey of a thousand miles
begins with a single step. Vote yes
on I-166 to make it the policy of
Montana that corporations are not
people and their billions of dollars
have no place in our politics.
– Svein Newman
The Plains Truth Summer Winter 2009 2012 Page 11 11

The owners of RX Gold and
Silver Inc., which operates the
underground gold and silver
mine near Marysville, announced in
mid-June its intention to merge with
the second largest silver producer in
the United States, U.S. Silver Corp.
U.S. Silver operates a number of
existing mines across central and
northern Idaho. The move, although
not unexpected, changes some aspects
of the proposed Drumlummon Mine
expansion at Marysville. With the
merger, U.S. Silver now controls 70
percent of the ownership of the mine,
and RX would retain the remaining
30 percent.
The Drumlummon,
once one of the richest
gold mines in Montana,
was purchased by RX in late 2008.
The company acquired an exploration
license from the state Department of
Environmental Quality (DEQ), and has
operated a producing mine under the
state’s Small Miners Exclusion Statement.
This winter, the company submitted
an application for a full operating
permit to the DEQ. The permitting
process was held up by a lengthy
deficiency response from the state
in March, and the company is still
in the process of responding to
those technical deficiencies before
resubmitting their application.
Marysville residents organized under
Sleeping Giant Citizens Council in
2011 in an effort to hold the mine
accountable to the community on
issues related to water quality and
quantity, dust, noise, and traffic.
land and water
Marysville mine merges with major silver company
With the merger, it is uncertain
whether the company will move
forward with plans to build a
processing mill near the mine. Recent
communications with the mine
appear to indicate that they will be
hauling the ore to existing processing
facilities at U.S. Silver’s Idaho mills.
The merger also comes as the operators
of the mine have been quietly expanding
their ownership of mining claims in
the Marysville area. The mine recently
bought the old Belmont mine at the
nearby Great Divide ski area. In a press
release, U.S. Silver boasts tremendous
growth potential from the expansion
at Drumlummon and
Belmont. Residents
are concerned about
sizeable impacts to the
surrounding aquifer from further mine
expansion.
Marysville residents continue to
push the DEQ for a thorough and
transparent review of the operating
permit application. In a recent letter to
the DEQ’s hard-rock mining program,
the group called for comprehensive
monitoring of water quality and
quantity by the state to commence
immediately rather than relying on the
company’s self-reported data until the
issuance of an operating permit.
– Clayton Elliott
Senator Max Baucus
511 Hart Senate Offi ce Building
Washington, DC 20510
Offi ce: (202) 224-2651
Fax: (202) 224-0515
Web mail: http://www.baucus.senate.gov/?p=contact
Take action: Bill to ‘streamline’ hard-rock
mine permits moving through U.S. House
Oversight of mines like
Drumlummon could be
weakened if legislation in Congress
advances.
The mining industry and its allies in
the U.S. House of Representatives
have introduced a bill to “streamline”
(that is, weaken) the permitting
process for new hard-rock mines on
federal lands. H.R. 4402, among
other things, would seriously weaken
protections for land, water, and
wildlife, and it would create numerous
loopholes for compliance with the
National Environmental Policy Act.
When you have a track record like
Senator Jon Tester
724 Hart Senate Offi ce Building
Washington, DC 20510
Offi ce: toll-free (866) 554-4403
Fax: (202) 224-8594
Web mail: http://tester.senate.gov/Contact
the mining industry, we cannot afford
to loosen the critical oversight that
protects our communities and natural
resources from the impacts of hardrock
mining.
The bill recently gained the support
of the House. Before consideration in
the Senate, call Senators Max Baucus
and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and urge
them to oppose H.R. 4402. Montana
just can't afford another Zortman-
Landusky, in which taxpayers are left
to clean up after the mining industry.
See contact information below.
– Clayton Elliott
Montana Delegation Information
Representative Denny Rehberg
2448 Rayburn House Offi ce Building
Washington, DC 20515
Offi ce: toll-free (888) 232-2626
Fax: (202) 225-5687
Web mail: https://rehbergforms.house.gov/e-mail-denny
Gridlocked Congress stalls bill to advance wind energy
With the existing
federal production tax
credit (PTC) for the
development of wind generation
set to expire at the end of the year,
congressional leaders are scrambling
to find ways to extend the measure
through 2013.
According to the American Wind
Energy Association (AWEA), the PTC
has been a tremendously effective tool
to encourage the new development of
a proven homegrown and renewable
energy source – American wind energy.
AWEA goes on to argue that in the
process, it has helped to cut the costs
of wind energy to consumers by more
than 90 percent and fostered economic
development in all 50 states.
Indeed, the production tax credit has
increased the production of wind
energy in Montana and surrounding
states markedly. Nationwide, the
average annual investment in wind
energy projects has increased to
more than $15 billion over the last
five years. In Montana alone, wind
energy production has grown from
less than 2 megawatts in 2005 to
627 megawatts by the end of 2012,
driven by Montana’s renewable energy
standard and the federal PTC.
Unfortunately, the legislation has
failed to gain much traction amidst a
deeply divided and partisan Congress,
despite bipartisan support for the
PTC’s extension. Proposals in both
the House and Senate have met
stiff opposition from the fossil fuel
industry and their allies in Congress.
A Democratic proposal introduced
recently in the House, H.R. 6031,
proposes to offset the costs of
extending the PTC by repealing a
provision that allows oil companies
to deduct foreign tax payments from
their domestic tax bills.
– Clayton Elliott
Take action!
Please call Representative
Dennis Rehberg (R-Mont.), and
ask him to co-sponsor H.R.
6031, which would renew the
federal production tax credit
on wind energy. It would also
help balance the budget by
paying for the renewal through
eliminating wasteful subsidies
for multinational oil companies.
Tell Rehberg that it is time to
invest in energy production here
in Montana, not overseas. See
contact information above.
Source: Miles Franklin Precious Metals Specialists (2012)
The Plains Truth Summer 2012 Page 12

Much work remains
on Farm Bill: Big Ag
trying to dominate
land and water
Popular headlines praise the
Senate’s bipartisanship in
passing the 1,000-page 2012
Farm Bill. Here’s what the Senate
and House Agriculture Committees’
versions of the Farm Bill mean for
Montana’s farmers, ranchers, and
consumers (so far).
Direct payments to farmers are
ended, though most of those funds
have merely been rechanneled
through other programs. The
House Ag Committee and full
Senate versions vary widely, with
the Senate’s version directed more
toward closing loopholes and limiting
commodity payments, and the
House Ag Committee version leaving
loopholes “that allow mega farms
with reasonably good accountants
and lawyers to collect unlimited
payments,” according to the National
Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.
The Environmental Quality
Incentives Program (EQIP), a
program seen as a target for budget
cuts, was re-funded and expanded.
This program provides
incentives to farmers and
ranchers making a living
on a family scale.
However, organic
farmers are eligible
for only a fraction of
the payments that other
farmers, and even confined
animal feeding operations, can
receive.
Very large cuts to the Supplemental
Nutritional Assistance Program
(SNAP, formerly the Food Stamp
program) in the House bill will cause
two to three million Americans to lose
food assistance in these hard times.
Meatpacker monopoly
Neither version of the Farm Bill
does much at all to address the
meatpacker monopoly in livestock
markets. Monopolistic conditions
leave ranchers with no real market for
selling and leave consumers with little
choice as to what they put into their
mouths. Whatever ranchers are paid,
What's next?
As this edition of The Plains
Truth is going to press, the
August recess approaches and
time ticks toward the Farm
Bill’s September 30 expiration
date. There are abundant
differences between the House
and Senate versions of the
bills that call for citizens to be
heard.
The Western Organization of
Resource Councils will send an
email Action Alert to help you
make your voice heard… watch
your In-box.
it is less than they would be paid in a
competitive marketplace.
Northern Plains’ Agriculture Task
Force members have fought for
years to loosen the stranglehold that
producers of technology, seed, and
institutional knowledge have over the
farmers and ranchers making a living
by producing food. A handful
of companies sell the inputs
farmers and ranchers need,
and a mere handful
buy what farmers
and ranchers
produce.
In an ongoing effort
to undermine familyscale
producers and to restrict
information available to consumers,
the House language pressures Ag
Secretary Vilsack to agree officially
with the World Trade Organization’s
declaration that country-of-origin
labeling for meat is a fair trade
impediment.
Additionally, GIPSA (Grain
Inspection, Packers and Stockyards
Administration) rules that address
contract fairness are also under attack.
And Big Ag is pushing for a rider in
the House bill to abolish the already
weak approval process for genetically
modified crops.
– Kelsey Miller
This radiant star could be yours!
Look for a color photograph of this quilt in your mailbox in September. This
handsome “radiant star” quilt was hand-sewn by Donna Yarger of Circle.
It will be raffl ed off to support the work of our Agriculture Task Force.
We will draw the winning ticket at the Northern Plains Annual Meeting in
November. Tickets will be available for $10 each or three for $25.
If you want to see it in person, stop by our Home on the Range, 220 South
27th Street, Billings. We will also display it at some of our upcomng events.
Montana’s Public Service
Commission (PSC) has
denied a NorthWestern
Energy petition for a three-year waiver
from the “community provision” of
the state’s renewable energy standard.
The Commission on June 1 instead
granted the utility a one-year waiver,
and reiterated its obligation to meet
the requirements by 2013.
The state’s renewable energy standard,
enacted by the Legislature in 2005,
requires all regulated public utilities
in the state to acquire at least 15% of
their retail electrical sales from new
renewable sources, such as wind and
solar, by the year 2015. It also requires
a certain portion of that energy come
from small projects that are at least
partially locally owned, community
renewable energy projects (CREPs).
This is the community provision.
NorthWestern is on track to meet the
overall target by 2015, but has fallen
short in its attempt to procure the
required 44 megawatts from CREPs.
In its findings, the PSC stated that
NorthWestern had not fully justified
that it had taken “all reasonable steps”
to acquire those energy projects into
– Kelsey Miller
Board grants NorthWestern
one-year ‘community’ waiver
2013 and 2014. It did, however,
acknowledge that the utility faced
circumstances beyond its control in
2011 when two projects it had sought
to bring on-line fell through. In its
ruling, the PSC said that, despite the
setbacks in 2011, the utility could have
been planning on compliance in 2013
and 2014. As some noted, planning
for compliance would have been far
more prudent for NorthWestern
than spending resources in a fruitless
attempt to have this section of the law
repealed by the 2011 Legislature.
“Planning for power generation is a
lengthy process,” said PSC Vice Chair
Gail Gutsche. “NorthWestern Energy
is responsible for taking all reasonable
steps and making adequate preparation
to comply with the CREPs standard.
The bar is high, and they failed to
meet it for 2013 and 2014.”
The utility now has until the end
of 2013 to fulfill its community
provision requirements. If it is not
able to comply, it will face a penalty
of $10 per megawatt-hour, paid for by
NorthWestern’s shareholders (rather
than its ratepayers).
– Clayton Elliott
The Plains Truth Summer 2012 Page 13

GAINING GROUND
Event highlights threat to East Rosebud Creek
Members of Stillwater
Protective Association
(SPA) made some new
friends and delivered an important
message as they co-hosted the
Celebrate the East Rosebud event on
June 30.
SPA partnered with the East
Rosebud Lake Association (ERLA),
American Rivers, and the Black
Butte Homeowners Association
to build community support for
protecting East Rosebud Creek from
hydroelectric development.
The day-long event kicked off with
bird-watching and wildflower tours,
highlighting the amazing diversity of
life at East Rosebud in its currently
non-industrialized state. More than
200 guests attended the barbecue
potluck and presentation on the
proposed development. Speakers from
the U.S. Forest Service; Montana
Fish, Wildlife and Parks; American
Rivers; Northern Plains Resource
Council, and area property owners
Dayle Hayes and Frank Annighofer
all raised concerns about having a
dam on the creek. Plant and fish life
would be threatened, and the area
surrounding the creek would be
forced to support new infrastructure
including a 42-inch penstock, power
lines, and a generating plant.
“ERLA members were delighted that
so many of our friends and neighbors
came together to celebrate on June
30,” said Hayes, East Rosebud Lake
Many of the 200 area residents and concerned citizens listen to speakers at the East Rosebud Lake Lodge on June 30. The
Celebrate the East Rosebud event raised awareness of potential damage to East Rosebud Creek if a hydro-electric project is
built and diverts the stream's water. Many want the waterway designated as Wild and Scenic.
Association President. “We look
forward to working with many
groups and individuals to prevent
unnecessary and inappropriate
development in the East Rosebud
watershed. We know that it will take
many organizations to preserve and
protect this unique valley."
Bozeman-based company
Hydrodynamics still plans to build
its project on the East Rosebud. If
the dam is built, the stream will lose
its eligibility for federal Wild and
SPA sponsors forum in Columbus on coal exports, trains
The Rev. John Sellers talks to Stillwater County residents about potential problems with an
increase in coal trains through Columbus if coal ports in Oregon and Washington are built to
move Montana and Wyoming coal to China and other Asian markets.
The Plains Truth Summer 2012 Page 14
Scenic designation, for which it is
currently deemed eligible by the U.S.
Forest Service. Wild and Scenic
designation would ensure that the East
Rosebud’s free flow and its scenic and
recreational values would be preserved.
In Montana, just two rivers – the
Flathead and the Missouri – have been
designated Wild and Scenic Rivers.
By the end of the day, attendees
had submitted nearly 200 postcards
to the owner of Hydrodynamics,
asking for the company to either
Stillwater Protective Association
sponsored the fifth Northern
Plains coal export forum in
Columbus in June. The coal
export plans would mean at least
an additional 40 trains every day
coming through town – each
more than a mile long.
The Rev. John Sellers, pastor
of Columbus Congregational
Church, was moderator for the
panel and gave a brief presentation
on the background of coal export
and pending export proposals.
Community members also heard
from Mayor Gary Wolterman,
realtor Joyce Kelley, and
landowner Gordon Williams, all
of whom have property in close
withdraw its permit or let it expire
before the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission. SPA will continue to
pressure the company to re-think
the project, while also considering a
campaign to have the East Rosebud
recognized – officially – as a Wild and
Scenic River.
Northern Plains is supportive of
hydropower development on existing
impoundments, but not existing freeflowing
waterways.
– Caleb Lande, Page Atcheson
proximity to the train tracks. All
three expressed particular concern
over the noise additional trains
would bring.
Community members raised
questions about the potential costs
of mitigating the effects of heavy
train traffic, such as implementing
a quiet zone or building an
overpass. Sellers encouraged the
audience to voice their concerns –
whether on noise, safety, cost, or
health – to the Stillwater County
Commission, and suggested
pushing for inclusion in an
area-wide Environmental Impact
Statement, which would include
public hearings.
– Page Atcheson

council roundup
GNA members study
long-awaited report
After 10 years of work, the U.S.
Forest Service and Montana
DEQ finally released a final version of
a single document encompassing the
Stillwater Mining Company Revised
Water Management Plans and the
Environmental Impact Statement
for the Boe Ranch Land Application
Disposal project.
Northern Plains and affiliates
Stillwater Protective Association
and Cottonwood Resource
Council actively participated in the
development of the document, and
members are glad to see it completed.
Next steps include a 45-day appeal
period (no appeals are expected), the
issuance of a final Record of Decision,
and the release of an updated
reclamation bond amount for SMC.
The East Boulder Oversight
Committee continues to work
with SMC and the State toward
minimizing the potential impact of
nitrogen on the East Boulder River.
Stillwater Oversight Committee
members have been participating,
both on-the-ground and in various
meetings to ensure that Stillwater
Mining’s proposed exploratory
developments in the Benbow area
have the smallest possible impact on
water quality and on area residents.
– Caleb Lande
CCRC acts to protect
water, reduce waste
Carbon County Resource
Council conducted another
round of outreach with information
about gathering baseline water data
for landowners living downstream
from the proposed gravel pit on the
West Bench outside of Red Lodge.
This baseline data is essential for
individuals looking to protect their
water rights if they are affected by
future mining.
CCRC was also involved in an
E-Waste recycling event in Red Lodge,
helping provide an opportunity for
Carbon County residents to bring
hazardous electronic products in
for recycling, saving them from
potentially polluting land and water
in landfills.
– Svein Newman
YOUNG SPROUTS: Before summer vacation, students at Lockwood School
plant a square-foot garden they designed and made on the school grounds.
The project was inspired by Yellowstone Valley Citizen Council's Garden in the
Schools program.
YVCC moves forward
on local foods club
Along with the Yellowstone Valley
Citizens Council’s work on coal
export, members have remained
active on other fronts as well. YVCC’s
revamped Food Buying Club had
its first drop on June 16. With over
30 participating families, the drop
generated roughly $3,400 dollars
for a dozen participating Montana
producers.
On June 28, the new Parmly Billings
Library held its groundbreaking
ceremony. YVCC worked to ensure
that, when the building is completed,
it will be a LEED (Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design)
Gold high-performance green
building.
– Svein Newman
FoodCorps member
speaks at DRC event
Nearly 40 members attended
Dawson Resource Council’s
annual meeting at Dena and Alvin
Hoffs’ riverside cabin on the bank
of the Yellowstone near Glendive on
June 17.
Along with the traditional potluck
and pie contest, Anne McHale
(a FoodCorps member living in
Glendive) spoke of her work to
integrate local food production and
preparation into the curriculum of
farm-to-school program.
At the DRC meeting July 19,
members began making plans for the
fall fundraiser, the Lindsay Benefit.
Beartooth Alliance
get-together nears
With summer returning to
the high country, Beartooth
Alliance plans to host a series of events
to celebrate the unique mountain
communities of Cooke City and Silver
Gate.
Most notably, BA’s annual meeting
will be held on August 9, beginning
at 7 p.m. Once again, the event will
take place at the Range Rider Lodge
in Silver Gate and will feature a guest
speaker in addition to the regular
business meeting. Mary Beth Marks,
a geologist with the Gallatin National
Forest, will provide updates and
reports regarding the current status of
the New World District reclamation
projects. For more information about
BA’s summer events, email clayton@
northernplains.org.
Like us on
Facebook
– Kelsey Miller
– Clayton Elliott
CRC picnic features
reading by author
Cottonwood Resource Council
will host its annual summer
picnic August 11 at 5 p.m. at Cindy
and Ed Webber’s place, 11.4 miles
south of Big Timber on the Boulder
Road.
Everyone is welcome! We will have a
silent auction, great food prepared by
member Susan Pauli, and a reading
from member William “Gatz”
Hjortsberg from his newest book,
Jubilee Hitchhiker: The Life and Times
of Richard Brautigan. Bring a friend
and a silent auction item, and we will
see you there.
– Becca Fischer
Bear Creek Council
eyes new campaigns
Bear Creek Council members
enjoyed each other’s company at
a potluck earlier this summer.
They then reconvened for some longterm
strategic planning, discussing
the value of a campaign on energy
efficiency in addition to BCC’s
traditional attention to wildlife work.
Bear Creek Council members look
forward to bringing in new members
and chalking up some victories!
– Olivia Stockman
SGCC turns focus on
internal structures
Sleeping Giant is moving forward
with plans to adopt a committee
structure this month, providing
additional leadership opportunities
for members and sharpening the
focus on each issue campaign. This
month, members will use the strategic
planning process to continue to refine
their new structure.
– Clayton Elliott
If you use Facebook, type “Northern Plains Resource
Council” into your search box and pay us a visit. Better
yet, “Like” us! We promise not to flood you with
constant posts, but we will post useful information and
ways for you to make a difference. And maybe we’ll
pass along something just for fun once in a while.
Enjoying this issue of The Plains Truth? Don’t toss
it, share it with friends and tell them it’s one of the
benefi ts of being a member of Northern Plains.
The Plains Truth Summer 2012 Page 15

220 S. 27th St., Suite A
Billings, MT 59101
For 40 Years Protecting
Montana’s Future!
Check the date at the upper right of your address label to
see when your membership is due for renewal. Remember,
we rely on your support!
☞
Landowners group negotiates agreement with TransCanada
During June, the 30-plus
landowner families
involved in the Northern
Plains Pipeline Landowners Group
(NPPLG), families who live along
the route of the proposed Keystone
XL pipeline, came to a negotiated
agreement with TransCanada
about safety, environmental,
compensation, liability, and other
concerns.
Landowners in the NPPLG
chose to negotiate with the
pipeline company rather than go
through condemnation because
the condemnation process only
addresses one issue – compensation.
Negotiating with TransCanada
directly, and as a bloc, was the best
way to gain necessary protections
over the variety of environmental,
operational, and legal issues at stake.
Hertha Lund served as legal
representation for the group,
Join, renew or become
a Monthly Sustainer
and complimented its process.
“Northern Plains provided a
great service to landowners when
they helped the landowners
organize and work together on the
easement negotiations,” Hertha
said. “This group of landowners
stuck together and, with Northern
Plains’ guidance, achieved a result
that was beneficial for all of the
landowners.”
– Olivia Stockman
What’s next for Keystone XL?
TransCanada has submitted a re-application
for its proposed Keystone XL pipeline to the
U.S. State Department.
The State of Nebraska is reviewing the slightly
altered route proposed by TransCanada, which
some argue still affects the Ogallala Aquifer.
President Obama and Secretary of State
Clinton are expected to make a decision on
the Keystone XL permit in early 2013.
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The Plains Truth Summer 2012 Page 16