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Burns adds money for Rocky Mountain
Front easements
June 10, 2005
The Associated Press (no author given at originating website URL)
The Helena Independent Record
Helena, Montana
To submit a Letter to the Editor: irstaff@helenair.com
Helena, Montana - The Interior appropriations bill advancing
in the U.S. Senate now includes $1.5 million for
conservation easements that would restrict development of
land along Montana's Rocky Mountain Front, Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont.,
said Thursday.
The money is intended for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to
buy more easements on private land important
for fish and wildlife.
USFWS already has easements on nearly 16,000 acres of ranchland
along the Front.
The agency is interested in arranging easements on up to
170,000 acres if landowners are
willing, Matt Kales, congressional liaison at Fish and
Wildlife's Denver office, said Thursday.
The Front, where the mountains meet the plains south of Glacier
National Park, contains extraordinary
wildlife habitat.
Private organizations, including The Nature Conservancy, have
been active for some time in arranging Front easements.
The agreements typically
restrict the subdividing of land. Financial benefits for the landowner
may include tax breaks.
The Fish and Wildlife Service held meetings in three communities to
gather public comment on its easement program.
Burns proposed the $1.5 million appropriation for 2006 after finding
easements drew considerable support
from landowners in the Front area.
Earlier this year, the Montana Republican refused to sign a letter in
which Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., told owners of Front petroleum leases
that compensation would be sought if they surrendered those leases, to
prevent disturbing the area's natural environment.
Burns said that ‘‘the decision to transfer leases should be made
by the leaseholders. Congress has no business interfering in this,
especially from a financial aspect.''
He said that if opponents of petroleum development along the Front
want to protect the
area, then they should buy out the leaseholders.
Copyright 2005, The Helena Independent Record. |