Alexis Bonogofsky Subscribe to Feed
The Tongue River Railroad Tries Again: The Little Engine That Couldn’t, Part 1
For my entire life, the Tongue River Railroad Company has been trying – and failing – to build a single purpose rail line to haul coal along the scenic Tongue River in southeastern Montana. Earlier this year, their permit to… Read more >
Arch Coal’s Otter Creek Mine Permit Application called “Deficient”
In what could be the largest understatement of the year coming from a Montana state agency, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) declared Arch Coal’s permit application to mine in the Otter Creek valley “deficient.” Quick background On March 8, 2010,… Read more >
2,000-year-old Bison Bone Bed Destroyed on Crow Reservation
Last summer, a 2,000-year-old national treasure was dug up with a backhoe. The Sarpy Creek Bison Kill site, as it is now known, is located on the Crow Reservation in southeastern Montana.Why was this site, a probable candidate for a… Read more >
Will a Coal Train Kill the Last Dinosaur?
On Wednesday, those of us who are working to protect the wildlife in southeastern Montana were surprised to learn that the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) Commission was planning to vote on an easement agreement that FWP staff attorneys had negotiated with… Read more >
Northern Cheyenne Tribe at a Crossroads: To Develop Coal or Not?
On Sunday, over 100 people assembled for a Way of Life Gathering (Hestana Vestotse) in Lame Deer, Montana. Yellow Bird, a Northern Cheyenne non-profit group and Sierra Club, organized the event with assistance from a number of conservation and community development organizations,… Read more >
Protecting Wildlife from Toxic Coal Ash in Montana and Beyond
For decades, the coal-ash sludge ponds at the Colstrip power plant in southeastern Montana have been leaking harmful chemicals into groundwater, a blatant and well-documented violation of state and federal laws. Four years ago, nearby ranchers and residents won a… Read more >
Mr. Peabody’s Coal Train Has Hauled It Away…
This week, Peabody Energy—the world’s biggest coal company—will be hauling away a massive taxpayer subsidy when they secure the rights to mine the North Porcupine Coal Tract in the Powder River Basin from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). This… Read more >
Happy Birthday Mission Mountains Tribal Wilderness!
First tribally designated wilderness in the country is 30 years old! You talk to any Montanan about the most beautiful, breathtaking view in the state, and most would put the Mission Mountains in the top 10. It is… Read more >
Montana economic report pushes Big Coal’s agenda; ignores environmental, social and taxpayer costs
Yesterday, the University of Montana’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) released a study of the potential economic impacts of developing the Otter Creek coal mine in southeastern Montana entitled, “The Impact of Otter Creek Coal Development on the Montana Economy.”… Read more >
Protecting the cultural and historic values of the Powder River Basin
Yesterday, in the beautiful Rosebud valley in southeastern Montana, hundreds gathered to celebrate and honor an important and sacred place, Deer Medicine Rocks, as a National Historic Landmark. Northern Cheyenne, Oglala Lakota, ranchers, historians, and others came to this… Read more >
