BLM report: Improve antiquated coal fees and oversight

January 11, 2017 by Laura Lundquist

The Bureau of Land Management should not only require a better return on coal leases for U.S. taxpayers but also work harder to balance coal production against the growing threat of climate change, according to a new Department of the Interior report.

On Wednesday, the BLM released an exhaustive report on the federal coal program, which applies to the 570 million acres of coal mineral estate owned by the federal government. In short, it calls for both government and industry to use better business practices, both financial and technical, than those that were available or allowed more than 30 years ago.

Alternatives proposed in BLM mining ban to benefit sage grouse

January 02, 2017 by Laura Lundquist

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is moving ahead with a proposal to stop future mining development on more than 10 million acres of federal sage grouse habitat.

On Friday, the BLM released its draft environmental impact statement of the ramifications of freezing all future mining claims on federal land in six states, including Montana. That starts the clock on a comment period that will close on March 30. It’s the second chance for the public to comment, the first being the scoping period that occurred in late 2015.

Hunters to BLM: Protect the habitat, protect the economy

September 19, 2016 by Laura Lundquist

It’s no secret that public-land opportunities attract millions of in- and out-of-state visitors and dollars to Montana. Now, a new study shows that a subset of users – hunters – are critical to preserving businesses in sparsely populated parts of the state where few others stray. But they’ll keep coming back only if public land habitat is preserved.

On Monday, Bozeman-based Headwaters Economics released an economic analysis showing that deer and elk hunting in four districts north of Lewistown brought in almost $4 million in 2015. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks calculated the total for the four hunting districts – 410, 412, 417 and 426 - that sit just south of the Missouri River in Fergus and Petroleum counties.

O&G lease proposal adds threats to Teton, Milk rivers

May 23, 2016 by Laura Lundquist

The Bureau of Land Management is proposing a record-high number of parcels to be opened up to oil and gas leases along the Hi-Line. The problem is that many sit along important waterways.

The Montana-Dakotas BLM office just released an environmental assessment of 87 federal parcels covering almost 18,000 acres from Cut Bank to Glasgow that could be leased to oil and gas development. None of the parcels previously had leases.

Feds seeking comment on oil exploration south of Dillon

March 02, 2016 by Laura Lundquist

Even though U.S. oil prices have dropped to levels not seen in more than a decade, a Denver-based company is proposing a drilling project that could threaten prime wildlife habitat in southwest Montana.

The Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest and the Dillon Bureau of Land Management Office are conducting an environmental assessment of oil drilling in the Tendoy Mountains south of Dillon. They are accepting public comment until midnight on March 25.

In Wilks negotiations, BLM balanced access, public interest

February 01, 2016 by Laura Lundquist

Last week, to the relief of many Montana hunters and pilots, the Central Montana Bureau of Land Management rejected for a second time any land trade proposed by billionaire landowners Farris and Dan Wilks.

Mark Albers, manager of the BLM’s Hi-Line and Lewistown districts, told the Central Montana Resource Advisory Council on Jan. 26 that the BLM didn’t have the resources to properly review and manage such a trade. Land exchanges require a lot of time and resources, and the Wilks’ plan was particularly complex because it involved parcels in different counties, Albers said.

Albers isn’t lying.

BLM: Renew mining limits in the Sweet Grass Hills

January 08, 2016 by Laura Lundquist

Just a month or so after the Blackfeet successfully defended culturally valuable places along Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front from oil and gas development, they may have to do the same once again to preserve some mountains to the east.

On Thursday, the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Land and Minerals Management proposed extending for another 20 years an order that locks up undeveloped mineral rights on almost 20,000 acres of public land in the Sweet Grass Hills of north central Montana.

BLM considers mining ban to conserve sage grouse in Montana

October 09, 2015 by Laura Lundquist

The Department of the Interior would ban new mining operations to save the sage grouse on public land, but the public will be allowed to weigh in.

On Sept. 24, the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service announced the temporary ban on new mining claims on lands critical to sage grouse survival in six Western states.

BLM considers user fees for Wild and Scenic Missouri River

August 21, 2015 by Laura Lundquist

Popular boating areas always suffer from over-use and degradation, so the Bureau of Land Management is considering charging fees for float trips through Upper Missouri Breaks National Monument.

Friday is the start of a 30-day comment period to allow the public to weigh in on proposed user fees for camping and floating through the National Wild and Scenic portion of the Missouri River.

Survey of Durfee Hills boundaries published in BLM trespass case

August 04, 2015 by Laura Lundquist

The surveyors have finished their work, but it will be another month before it’s known to what extent the Wilks brothers trespassed on federal property in eastern Montana.

On Tuesday, a Federal Register notice announced that survey plats delineating Bureau of Land Management property in the Durfee Hills were finally available.