Billings Gazette Opinion - July 19, 2001
Breaks area can benefit from monument

As far east as Monticello, people are working to capitalize on the booming interest in the Lewis & Clark expedition generated by the upcoming bicentennial. Yet in Montana, where the Corps of Discovery actually moved into previously uncharted territory, there is no elected official championing the Missouri Breaks National Monument.

This monument encompasses a 149-mile stretch of wild and scenic river and adjoining federal lands for a total of 377,000 acres. This is arguably the biggest stretch of the Lewis & Clark trail that appears largely as it did in April 1805 when Meriwether Lewis and William Clark first described the Breaks and its abundant wildlife.

It's time for Montana leaders to embrace the monument designation. It's time to look for the good that can be derived for our state, and particularly for central Montana, from managing this unique area and tourism that will grow exponentially in the next several years.

The number of people visiting this stretch of the Upper Missouri increased 42 percent from 1997 to 2000 when the Bureau of Land Management estimates 138,589 people visited the area to float, fish or hunt. As more visitors arrive, management will be needed for safety and information.

The Lewistown City Commission went on record this month in support of the monument.

"It's time to get going, folks," Chairman Brad Parrish said after the 5-0 vote. Even one of the two commission members who abstained agreed that what we need to do is move ahead and make this positive.

We concur with the Lewistown leaders' endorsement.

Monument critics, including Rep. Denny Rehberg, are right in saying that agriculture, private property rights and gas leases must be continued. In fact, the monument declaration states that grazing leases and gas leases will continue.

According to the BLM, 46,338 acres within the designated monument are covered by 47 gas leases, although the area has generated little production. Over 80 years, 175 gas wells have been drilled, but only 19 have ever produced gas and only eight are producing now.

Most of the land in the monument is leased for grazing. Even without the monument designation, there are rules for drilling and grazing on BLM land. Those rules still apply.

The monument designation in January followed a year and a half of public debate. Back in August 1999, then-Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt asked the BLM Resource Advisory Council, composed of 15 Montana volunteers, to gather public comment on the idea of a Missouri Breaks monument. The RAC spent hundreds of hours, holding public meetings and receiving more than 500 letters over five months. Most people who commented wanted the Breaks preserved as a natural area, but Montanans were pretty evenly split on whether the monument designation was the right step.

The next step for the Missouri Breaks must be careful development of a management plan. The final plan must include the recommendations of the RAC, which its chairman restated in a letter to Interior Secretary Gale Norton:

1. BLM will remain the managing agency.
2. Hunting and fishing will be recognized as historic and traditional uses.
3. Purchase of conservation easements from willing sellers would be encouraged.
4. Livestock grazing would continue in accordance with existing BLM standards and guidelines.
5. Riparian cottonwood bottoms would be cooperatively restored.
6. Additional management funds would be necessary.
7. People management for protection of the area would be necessary.
8. A policy for preserving the wildness and special character of the area is necessary.

To fulfill these recommendations, the BLM needs funding. That's where our congressional delegation and Gov. Martz must be leaders in obtaining federal funds.

We call on all interested parties to look for middle ground in this contentious debate. Conservationists must appreciate the concerns of ranchers and gas developers. Business people must recognize the monument's economic development potential for border communities, such as Lewistown. A monumental success on the Upper Missouri will benefit Montana.