North Fork bill is back in Congress

Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester

reintroduced legislation Jan. 31 to prevent new oil and gas

development and mining in the North Fork watershed and portions of

the Haskill Basin.

The North Fork Watershed Protection Act

of 2011 calls for placing a moratorium on future federal land

leases on 382,000 acres in the North Fork and Middle Fork drainages

of the Flathead River, which border Glacier National Park and drain

into Flathead Lake.

S. 3075 passed committee review last

year and reached the Senate floor, but it didn’t go to a final

vote. The bill will not impede timber production, hunting or

fishing and has the support of a broad coalition of Montana

businesses, local officials and conservation groups.

The bill also calls for protecting land

on the west side of the Whitefish Range that forms the watershed of

the city of Whitefish’s drinking water reservoir.

“This protection has been a long time

coming, and we greatly appreciate our senators’ efforts and

perseverance,” Whitefish mayor Mike Jenson said.

The Congressional Budget Office

estimates S. 3075 will have no effect on the federal budget because

the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the Bureau of Land

Management in 1985 to suspend mineral leases on the affected

lands.

The 115 North Fork oil and gas leases

were issued between 1982 and 1985. Based on information from BLM

and the Forest Service, CBO expects the court’s decision will

remain in effect for another 10 years.

Faye Krueger, the Forest Service’s

acting associate deputy chief, told a Congressional subcommittee

last April that the Forest Service supports the bill.

She pointed out, however, that the bill

doesn’t affect the Forest Service’s right to remove surface

materials needed to maintain local roads.

Noting that the S. 3075 does not affect

valid, existing rights of current leaseholders in the North Fork

area, BLM deputy director Marcilynn Burke told a Congressional

subcommittee that the BLM is committed to protecting the

“ecological integrity” of Glacier Park and supports the bill.

Meanwhile, there is the question of how

to retire mineral leases in the North Fork drainage north of the

Canada border. British Columbia’s government has asked that private

corporations be paid about $17 million for retiring those Canadian

Flathead leases.

Last year, a minor furor arose over how

Sens. Baucus and Tester intended to secure the needed funds. The

solution could be private money.

“Retiring the leases in the North Fork

is moving along better than I thought it would,” Tester said.

“Corporations and citizens are stepping up.”