For members of Bull Mountain Land Alliance, the impacts of underground coal mining cut right to the core of their livelihoods and identity. Since longwall mining started in the Bull Mountains decades ago, large subsidence cracks have opened up across grazing lands, once-reliable springs have been choked to a trickle, and the local economy has been handcuffed to an industry in decline. Despite this, Signal Peak Energy, the current owner of the Bull Mountains Mine, has managed to continue growing its operation thanks to a patchwork permitting process and a Department of Environmental Quality that has shown little interest in preserving environmental quality. But when Signal Peak received another permit expansion allowing it to mine federallyowned coal in the Bull Mountains, a federal judge intervened, finding that the Office of Surface Mining’s Environmental Assessment was seriously deficient. T he result: the permit expansion was vacated, and the federal coal could not be mined until a more thorough Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was completed.
Enter Senator Steve Daines. When a criminally-convicted, scandal-ridden corporation needed a lifeline to keep its mining operation running full steam ahead, Daines did not hesitate to throw it one. The Senator introduced three bills – S.4431, S.4432, and S.4444 – that each sought to throw out the need for an EIS and enable Signal Peak to mine the federal coal without first analyzing the impacts it might have on local ranchers, property owners, and wildlife. S.4431 and S.4432 are pretty straightforward: one would reinstate the vacated permit expansion, while the other would mandate the approval of Signal Peak’s request to mine federal coal.
It is S.4444, though, that is Daines’ sneakiest and most convoluted proposal. This bill, which he has coined as the “Crow Revenue Act,” would initiate a three-way land and mineral swap between Signal Peak, a private wealthy family, and the Crow Tribe. With this maneuver, Daines seeks to privatize federal coal and our public lands so that they are no longer subject to the same environmental protections. At the same time, the bill would strip away much-needed royalty revenue from the state and county governments. Members of the Crow community are skeptical the deal would actually benefit the Tribe, publicly saying it would be a “grave injustice to allow this bill to pass.”
Northern Plains and Bull Mountain Land Alliance members were also not fooled by this political maneuvering. In July, BMLA members held a Rally to Protect the Bulls complete with a cowhide billboard inspired by Northern Plains’ history highlighting the importance of preserving the Bull Mountains’ ranching legacy and natural beauty from bad corporate actors and their friends in congress. Since then, members have been busy meeting with the offices of Senators Daines and Tester as well as the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs to tell them why these environmental protections are so critical. Coal mining communities and the Crow Tribe deserve better than being used as political pawns to the benefit of corporations like Signal Peak. The fate of these bills remains to be seen, so it is crucial that we let our decision-makers know: the Bull Mountains will not be sacrificed!
The Plains Truth Fall 2024 Page 12
