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Undersecretary of Agriculture Mark Rey to hold public meeting in Missoula on Monday, April 28, to discuss closed-door negotiations between Plum Creek and the USFS:Join the Clark Fork Coalition at this meeting to protect our streams by supporting fair agreements on our public lands!(Missoula, Mont.) - Did you know that Plum Creek Timber Company is one of the largest private landowners in Montana, with over 1.2 million acres? In fact, Plum Creek owns over half of the private land in Missoula County, right here in our backyard. Historically, Plum Creek has used its lands for timber production—land that includes the headwaters of our celebrated rivers and streams in the Clark Fork basin, and provides habitat for grizzly bear, elk, and bull trout. But in the last decade or so, Plum Creek has undertaken a massive effort to sell its lands for real estate development. This wholesale conversion of forest land to residential homes threatens not only the fish, wildlife, streams, and rivers that make the Clark Fork watershed special, it will also set a precedent for how private development overlaps with our public lands. First, though, Plum Creek needs legal access from the U.S. Forest Service to develop its land. Basically, new homes will need a “driveway,” and the Forest Service owns the roads that will create many of these driveways. Though the Forest Service has historically granted access to the company, the road easements were only for logging activities. Recently, Missoula County Commissioners discovered that the Forest Service has been secretly meeting with Plum Creek to “clarify” its road-use agreements by planning to change the easements to allow all-inclusive access for residential subdivision. To date, the Forest Service has included no public review for this change, nor undergone the process for complying with laws such as the Endangered Species Act. The change would amount to a gift worth tens of millions of dollars to Plum Creek, at the expense of the public and its treasured natural resources. These new homes and their “driveways,” flung far from services such as firefighting and road maintenance, could cost taxpayers exorbitant sums in the coming decades. As one of the largest private landowners in the nation with 8 million acres of forest land, Plum Creek is hoping to replicate these closed-door agreements to create unfettered access for real estate development in other states, too. Fortunately, US Senator Jon Tester and the Missoula County Commissioners have learned about the Forest Service and Plum Creek’s plans, and requested that Undersecretary of Agriculture Mark Rey include local officials and the public before signing a potentially catastrophic change in Forest Service access agreements. Missoula County Commissioners and Senator Jon Tester, as well as commissioners from seven other counties where Plum Creek owns land, will hold a public meeting with Undersecretary of Agriculture Mark Rey on Monday, April 28, at 1 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Parkside in downtown Missoula. Join the Clark Fork Coalition in supporting Missoula County’s efforts to make sure that the Forest Service deals with Plum Creek’s land transfers fairly—using a public process, according to the law. Please attend this important public meeting on Monday. *** Please contact our Senators today and ask them to pass a meaningful reform of the 1872 Mining Law:Senator Tester: (202) 224-2644Senator Baucus: (202) 224-2651
The Senate is currently drafting its own reform bill, but allies of the mining industries are dragging their feet. For details on how reforming this bill would affect the Clark Fork watershed, contact us at
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*** Stay tuned for details on how to support local counties' streamside setback efforts, which will buffer our rivers and creeks from too-close development. |