No monument plan for state - yet

BLM Director Bob Abbey's pitch at the Sept. 16 Malta monument meeting fell on skeptical ears when he emphatically stated that "there is no plan for a national monument in Montana." So why the doubts and why did the unscientific telephone survey by the Great Falls Tribune confirm that 79 percent of those calling in don't trust Abbey's statement about designation? First, we've been misled before. Back in 1999, the Montana state BLM director sent a letter to Montana legislators, saying: "The secretary of the Interior will support designation in the Missouri Breaks if there is widespread local/regional favor." Of course there was mostly widespread opposition. Then Sen. Baucus wrote letters to a number of his constituents who opposed designation telling them he contacted the White House and Secretary Babbitt and told them not to create a new national park or establish some other designation in the Breaks. Sen. Baucus further stated in his letter that Secretary Babbitt was withdrawing the proposal for designation. Two years later the Breaks Monument was declared...more