Billings Gazette Editorial - November 13, 2001
Opinion: Time to make Breaks work for all of us
Now that Gov. Judy Martz has finally stopped calling for the dissolution of the Missouri Breaks National Monument, it's time to look ahead to how this remarkable historic and natural area can benefit all of us Montanans.
Even Martz's task force, which was composed solely of monument opponents, got twice as many letters in support of the monument as opposed. Let the majority of voices be heard: The Upper Missouri Breaks should be managed as a national monument that protects its natural beauty as well as agriculture, hunting and other traditional uses. The use of this wild and scenic stretch of river has increased 42 percent in two years to over 138,000 visitors a year. We've got to be ready for the economic opportunities the crowds of Lewis and Clark bicentennial visitors will bring in coming years.
There is one piece of unfinished Breaks debate that should be discarded. At Martz's request, Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., has said he will draft legislation that allows private lands to be removed from the monument boundaries.
These private lands are not part of the monument now and the monument designation doesn't change what the private landowners can or can't do with their own land. But having those tracts within the boundaries gives the private owners a new option: If they ever want to sell their land, the federal government could purchase it and it would become part of the monument. If the private lands are not within monument boundaries, special legislation would be needed to change the boundaries to add each piece of land a private owner wanted to sell.
Congress already has a full plate of pressing legislation that will set a course for national security and economic recovery. Rehberg ought to work on urgent issues, such as the drought disaster afflicting agriculture and the airline security bill that he writes about in a column elsewhere on this page.
Martz's Breaks boundary changes ought to be shelved permanently.
