Past Campaigns:
BLM Oil and Gas Leasing

The largest landowner in Park County is the federal government.

That includes the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Often, the BLM leases the land for development, such as oil and gas extraction.

In 2018, the BLM planned to auction off 63,496 acres of public and private lands in Montana to oil and gas companies on March 13th, 2018. Some of these leases are particularly troubling — they border the community of Livingston, the Yellowstone River, and would have been within in our viewshed of the iconic Livingston Peak. 

Eventually, the leases were dropped after PCEC  and local landowners filed an administrative appeal to protest the March 13, 2018 competitive oil and gas lease sale proposed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)’s Butte Field Office because these leases could open the door for the oil and gas industry to frack and drill on the edge of our community.

While that lease has been stopped, future development is always possible, and PCEC is keeping an eye on BLM oil and gas leasing. We are concerned about these leases because they initiate a process that could lead to oil and gas development on the edge of Livingston. We don’t think these parcels are appropriate places for development – not now, in 10 years, or ever. But to be clear, leasing does not green light exploration or development. If leases are purchased, the leasing company will have to apply for a permit for exploration. This is only the first step in a long process, but as the saying goes – the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.

Mill Creek Tire Dump

THE PARADISE VALLEY, WHERE THE YELLOWSTONE RIVER RUNS BETWEEN THE GALLATIN AND ABSAROKA MOUNTAINS, waS NO PLACE FOR A TIRE DUMP.

For almost a decade, Mike Adkins had been attempting to develop a tire dump on his 11.7-acre property near Pray. The facility would have had the capacity to hold up to 28 million tires. Though Michael Adkins claimed that the project will be a recycling facility, there was no proposal for recycling of any kind in the application.

The proposed tire dump carried with it a number of risks to human health and the environment. These included the risk of a tire fire and pollution of groundwater.

 Adkins’ attempts were twice been thwarted by the community. The facility, which can receive up to 5,000 tires per day, was originally proposed in 2011 and approved by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality in 2012. In 2013, as a result of a legal challenge brought by Protecting Paradise, Park County District Court Judge Brenda Gilbert ruled that the approval of the facility was unlawful because the environmental assessment did not meet the required standards.  

As a result of that ruling, when Adkins decided to move forward with the tire pit in 2019, the DEQ required a more rigorous Environmental Impact Statement. Adkins declined to pay a $50,000 deposit for a third-party contractor.

In Sept. 2019, Adkins announced his intention to donate the land to the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians, of which he is a member.

The Paradise Valley, where the Yellowstone River runs between the Gallatin and Absaroka mountains, is no place for a tire dump, and PCEC will continue to monitor the project.