Private Lands

Our goal is to ensure that human development patterns and use are compatible with fish and wildlife habitat needs, preserve open space and scenic vistas, and enhance the quality of life for residents and visitors.

We are working to…

- Insure that subdivision regulations preserve open space, scenic vistas and important habitat.

- Identify and prioritize critical private lands in the county and advocate for easement acquisition and /or purchase where appropriate.

- Reduce or eliminate the possibility of coal bed methane development in Park County; insure at a minimum, the implementation of environmentally sensitive coal bed methane policies.

Areas of Special Concern:

Burlington Northern Pollution Cleanup

PCEC was awarded an EPA Technical Assistance Grant that we administer as part of our ongoing effort to oversee the cleanup of a polluted aquifer beneath the Burlington Northern Rail Yard, which lies adjacent to the Yellowstone River in Livingston.

Volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, and petroleum by-products have contaminated the soil and groundwater at this site (which has been designated as a Superfund Site). PCEC’s technical consultant monitors the activities of BNSF and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality to insure that they are adhering to cleanup protocols and notifies us of violations so that we can alert the public as well as the agencies involved.

Information from the State Department of Environmental Quality on the Cleanup

Information from the EPA: EPA- BN Cleanup in Livingston, MT

Invasive Species Education

The PCEC Board is currently working to compile and coordinate the components of an Invasive Species Education program in local classrooms for the 2015-2016 school year. The prospective program would include a multi-year, multi-science curriculum path from middle to high school that would include weed management and invasive species as hands-on field work topics; allocation of an area north of Livingston (about 100 acres) for test plots and hands-on weed management; and culminating the student experiences with the best students assigned to “Weed Management Teams” of students and an advisor that would respond to farmer/rancher requests to analyze a property for weed problems and make suggestions for treatments.

The program would be similar in scope to the Whitehall Noxious Weed Program.