Baucus champions the North Fork

On a hot August morning, Sen. Max Baucus was hard at work in the landscape he’s championed for more than 40 years — the North Fork of the Flathead River.

The 71-year-old Democrat was on his 96th work day, side-by-side with Montana Conservation Corps crews as they improved Glacier View Trail No. 318.

Baucus started his conservation efforts in the North Fork in 1974 while in the House fighting coal mine proposals just north of Canada border. It took nearly 40 years for British Columbia and Montana to agree to ban mining and drilling in the region. Now Baucus wants to seal the deal on the U.S. side with passage of the North Fork Watershed Protection Act.

The act would ban new mining and energy leases on federal lands in the North Fork and Middle Fork of the Flathead River, from the Canada border to Marias Pass. Congress has been in near gridlock the past few years, but Baucus was optimistic he could get the bill passed, possibly by the end of the year.

“We’re going to be successful,” he said as he swung his pulaski into the dirt.

Baucus likened passing laws to working on trails.

“Anything worth doing takes work,” he said.

The senator will retire at the end of 2014, and getting the North Fork act passed is one of his top priorities. He said it would likely be packaged with another piece of legislation. It has the support of Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, and Rep. Steve Daines, a Republican.

Most companies had voluntarily relinquished their existing leases in the area, Baucus noted, including energy giant Chevron. About 20 percent of the leases are left, Baucus said, and most of those are held by Devon Energy. Baucus claimed the company was looking for some sort of trade to give up its leases.

Baucus is also hoping to see passage of the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act before he retires. The act would add about 60,000 acres to the Bob Marshall Wilderness and create a 200,000-plus acre conservation area limiting road development along the Front.

Unlike the North Fork legislation, the bill doesn’t have complete support from Montana’s congressional delegation — Daines remains uncommitted to the legislation. Baucus said it’s up to Montanans to make it clear to Daines that they support the Front and its value to the state.

Baucus noted that there once was strong opposition to designating the North Fork and Middle Fork of the Flathead under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, but he was able to change minds and get that legislation passed as well.