Take Action > Talking Points and Writing Letters
Below are lists of points to raise in letters to the editor, organized by topic, as well as addresses for Montana newspapers. The most effective letters reflect personal experience, are shorter than 250 words and composed in a civil tone.
Lease retirement agreements
- Now that the BLM has suspended efforts to drill the Front, the next step is a buyout, swap, or trade of leases along Montana’s Front so that the controversy over drilling can be put to rest once and for all. Montanans strongly support a lease swap or buy-out. A statewide newspaper poll in 2004 demonstrated that Montanans, by more than 2-to-1, support swapping out the energy leases. More broadly, last summer the BLM received more than 49,000 comments concerning the Rocky Mountain Front, and far more than 90 percent of them urged the agency to protect the Front and halt the drilling proposal.
- A buyout of leases along the Front will help increase certainty for energy companies and for future energy development in Montana. Not much energy exists under Montana’s Front and overwhelming public support for protecting the Front leaves future drilling doubtful at best. Extinguishing the public land leases along the Front is the best way to resolve conflicts and avoid costly and protracted legal battles.
- Lease swaps and buy-outs have occurred in other parts of the country through a wide variety of methods. Now it’s time for the Front.
Values:
- The Front’s beauty and natural values are essential to the enjoyment and economic security of local families, Front communities, and all of Montana.
- The Front is where we work, hunt, and live, and many Montanans depend on the Front for their recreation or economic well being.
- It defies common sense to drill for – at most – two days worth of energy at the expense of clear streams, hunting, wildlife habitat, and other great recreation opportunities that we enjoy along the Front.
- The Front contains some of the best wildlife habitat in the United States. It would be a shame to ruin that for, at best, a few days worth of natural gas. It represents the tradition and heritage of Montana – a heritage that many of us would like to see protected for our grandchildren.
- It makes no sense to discard the 100-year tradition that Montanans have of working together to protect the Front for future generations. Keeping it the way it is will provide a better future and more long-term jobs for Montana communities than any energy exploration.
Economic issues:
- Besides supporting our enviable quality of life, Montana’s natural landscapes such as the Rocky Mountain Front serve as a magnet for new investment and entrepreneurial people, which helps drive economic development.
- Some claim that tax and mineral royalties could bring huge revenue to local counties. A detailed analysis, however, shows that drilling Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front will likely cost counties more than they would gain. Instead, Teton and other counties would likely pay more for road maintenance, weed control and other services than they would ever see from increased tax revenues associated with drilling.
- Locals, who know the economy best, want the Front protected. The Coalition to Protect the Rocky Mountain Front, an organization of local ranchers, hunters, anglers, outfitters, local business owners, public officials, conservationists, and other Montanans is working to protect the Front.
Energy security:
- Drilling would provide, at best, only a few days worth of natural gas and only a few jobs while the profits would go to Canada where the company that wants to drill is based.
- At a time when more than 85 percent of BLM land already is available for energy exploration, it goes against common sense to drill the Front in return for so little energy. There is a better way. Keeping the Front the way it is will provide more long-term jobs for Montana communities than any energy exploration and will protect the Front for future generations.
- With the BLM’s decision to put aside drilling along the Front, the agency now can take resources that would have been wasted studying the Front and focus them instead on the West Hi Line region of Montana. America needs natural gas and it makes the most sense to locate development in places that have more energy reserves and less controversy.
- The West Hi Line already has roughly 850 authorized energy leases. Shifting resources to this part of Montana will allow the agency to utilize its resources efficiently while better meeting the energy needs of the nation.
Solutions:
- Let’s make the decision to halt drilling permanent, while also providing lasting benefits to those of us who live along the Front as well as all Montanans. This can be accomplished by retiring existing leases, combined with targeted economic development assistance for communities along the Front to help Montana families preserve their heritage and traditional way of life.
- Many of the West’s more prosperous communities are located near protected natural landscapes. Recent studies suggest that Montana towns like Choteau and Augusta are most likely to prosper if they foster and take advantage of their nearby natural assets and high quality of life.
- The Montana traditions of family ranches, rural businesses, and small towns should not be lost for our grandchildren. Targeted economic assistance -- whether planning grants, agricultural development loans, federal payment in lieu of taxes, education support, starter funds or other creative ideas -- will help Montana families preserve this legacy.
- We should put an end to recurring disputes over drilling and instead permanently safeguard the Front’s wildlife, clean water, scenery, hunting, outdoor opportunities and traditional Native American activities through wilderness or other congressional designations.
Addresses for some Montana newspapers:
Billings Gazette
P.O. Box 36300
Billings, MT 59107
speakup@billingsgazette.com
Bozeman Chronicle
PO Box 1188
Bozeman, MT 59771
citydesk@dailychronicle.com
Great Falls Tribune
PO Box 5468
Great Falls, MT 59403
tribletters@sofast.net
The Independent Record
PO Box 4249
Helena, MT 59624
irstaff@helenair.com
The Daily Interlake (Flathead)
PO Box 7610
Kalispell, MT 59904
edit@dailyinterlake.com
The Missoulian
PO Box 8029
Missoula, MT 59807
oped@missoulian.com
Weeklies along the Rocky Mountain Front:
Acantha
acantha@3rivers.net
216 1st Ave NW
Choteau, MT 59422
Cut Bank Pioneer Press
cbpress@northerntel.net
Glacier Promoter
glacrptr@3rivers.net