Protect the Future of the Big Hole and Beaverhead River Valleys
Author: Upper Missouri Waterkeeper
Protect the Future of the Big Hole and Beaverhead River Valleys Upper Missouri Waterkeeper Public lands in southwest Montana have been unnecessarily at risk from industrial oil and gas leasing and development under the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) public lands management plans for decades, threatening our wildlife, waterways, and way of life.
The outdated management plan that covers the Big Hole, Beaverhead, and Centennial Valleys allows speculative oil and gas leasing on 90% of public lands in the region. It was only a few years ago when an oil and gas company nominated 10,000 acres for leasing in the region. With wild trout numbers in the world-class cold water fisheries of the Big Hole, Beaverhead, and Ruby already at historic lows, protecting public lands and waterways from industrial oil and gas are more important than ever.
The Department of the Interior's BLM is now proposing a new public lands rule titled Conservation and Landscape Health. The proposal would adjust the bureau's multi-use mandate to better balance the importance of maintaining landscape health, big game and wildlife biodiversity, climate resilience, recreational access, cultural and historical value, and existing public land uses.
Under this new proposal, the BLM would refocus management efforts on conservation for the benefit of current and future generations, emphasizing and recognizing the cultural and natural value of public lands.
This is especially important in the Big Hole and Beaverhead Valleys, where industrial oil and gas development does not reflect the historical, cultural, and current public land uses in the region. As we know, this area offers world-class big game public hunting opportunities, is one of the only remaining intact cold water fisheries in the Lower 48 supporting native Westslope Cutthroat and the threatened fluvial Arctic Grayling, and hosts hundreds of family farms and ranching businesses. Hunting and fishing in Beaverhead County support over 1,400 local jobs and generate $167 million in revenue each year. This is the wrong place for fracking and industrial oil and gas development.
Supporting BLM's proposed rule can help lead to critical revisions for the Dillon Resource Management Plan (RMP). As it stands, the Dillon RMP unnecessarily exposes sensitive landscapes to development where fluid mineral recovery is highly unlikely and negligible; lacks adequate protections for fish, wildlife, and habitat; and by virtue of incentivizing speculative industrial development, jeopardizes major pillars of the region's economy. Therefore, we should support BLM adopting the proposed rule, which would level the playing field for protecting all resources equally, and we support BLM taking steps to amend the RMP to remove the availability of public lands for fluid mineral leasing in SW Montana. Doing both of these actions would close the door to the significant threat industrial oil and gas development poses to SW Montana's residents, businesses, and keynote waterways.
Issues with the Dillon area Resource Management Plan have been brought to the BLM by conservation organizations, local businesses, and community members, but the agency has failed to address nor respond to the concerns.
The new proposed Conservation and Landscape Health Rule will provide BLM a path for focusing on protecting the health of our public lands now and for future generations, including our special Big Hole and Beaverhead Rivers.
The BLM is accepting public comments on the proposed rule through June 20th.
Comment in support of BLM's new rule that will better balance the multiple uses of our public lands and protect the world-class Big Hole, Beaverhead, and Centennial Valleys.
