Front finally comes to the fore
Inter Lake editorial
It was typical Washington, D.C., politics: It's not who you know; it's what they know about getting things done that matters.
Sen. Max Baucus knew how to get it done, and so after a couple of decades of wrangling, the Rocky Mountain Front region of Montana will finally be protected from oil and gas drilling.
Baucus attached the drilling ban to a bill that involved tax breaks for businesses and school teachers, trade benefits for developing countries, and protection for doctors from a big cut in Medicare payments. It was one of the last bills being shuttled through the closing days of the 109th congressional session, and Baucus - who will chair the Finance Committee starting in January - definitely knew how to get things done.
Thus, the Senate and House both passed the legislation to make permanent a 1997 moratorium on Rocky Mountain Front exploration and establish a way to retire existing leases. President Bush is expected to sign the legislation any day.
The moratorium may seem ill-timed in light of the nation's increasing insistence on energy-independence, but the amount of energy in the region is very small compared to what is available elsewhere. Meanwhile, because of the unique nature of the outdoors experience in the region, a broad coalition has arisen over the last 20 years to protect the Front, which has a long history as a mecca for hunters, anglers and others who value the experience of unspoiled nature.
The Front is home to 290 species of wildlife, including the country's second-largest elk herd and its largest population of bighorn sheep. It is the only place in the lower 48 states where grizzly bears still range between the mountains and the plains. A case can easily be made that the long-term economic value of an untainted resource like the Front, with its drawing power among hunters and anglers alone, will outstrip the benefit of potential gas extraction in any case.
As we have said before, the country has a responsibility to develop a sound energy policy that includes new domestic sources of oil and gas, but it also has an obligation to protect other natural resources at the same time. In the view of many Montanans, the Rocky Mountain Front is a natural resource that is singular and irreplaceable.
It may seem somehow unusual that a ban on drilling should be included in a bill on tax breaks, but actually the ban includes provisions for companies with existing leases to get a tax break if they sell their leases to non-profits with conservation protections. So it fits in with the bill just fine.
In any case, it has been noted before that the process of making law is somewhat similar to making sausage. In both cases, you don't necessarily want to see what went into the sausage, but you do want an invitation to dinner.
Sen. Baucus and Sen. Conrad Burns, who joined him in supporting this legislation, should be complimented on their recipe for a better Montana.