Obama Blasts Plum Creek Land Swindles

Posted by Jeffrey St. Clair on July 10th, 2008 | Link

Obama lambastes closed-door Plum Creek land talks
By JENNIFER McKEE Missoulian State Bureau

http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/07/10/news/local/znews04.txt

HELENA - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Tuesday blasted closed-door talks between Plum Creek Timber Co. and the U.S. Forest Service that would allow the timber giant to use Forest Service logging roads for real estate development.

“At a time when Montana’s sportsmen are finding it increasingly hard to access lands, it is outrageous that the Bush administration would exacerbate the problem by encouraging prime hunting and fishing lands to be carved up and closed off,” Obama said in a written statement. “We should be working to conserve these lands permanently so that future generations of Americans can enjoy them to hunt, fish, hike and camp.”

As first reported by the Missoulian in April, Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey has been meeting with Plum Creek officials behind closed doors to redefine the timber company’s future use of easements across Forest Service lands.

Those easements were thought to be limited for use by loggers - so the timber company could drive across public land en route to its own timber stands.

Now, though, Plum Creek has reorganized itself as a real estate investment trust. So the negotiations are looking at whether the company can use the easements for other purposes, such as accessing subdivisions and backcountry homes.

Plum Creek is the largest private landowner in Montana. The vast majority of the easements involve company timberland in western Montana.

Rey, whose duties include oversight of the Forest Service, told the Washington Post last week that he expects to finalize the deal next month.

Some state and county political leaders and others have come out against the negotiations, arguing they should have been conducted in public, for they deal with how vast acreages of western Montana will be used in the future.

Some sportsmen also have come out against the change, saying they fear that placing homes on lands that were used temporarily for logging would harm fish and wildlife habitat and close public access to hunting and fishing grounds.

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., has asked the investigative arm of Congress to examine the negotiations to make sure they are legal.

On Tuesday, Obama said he would support the use of tax incentives and other mechanisms to encourage private landowners to restore and protect wildlife habitat.

About 320,000 acres of Plum Creek land will be protected through a provision that U.S. Sen. Max Baucus included in the latest farm bill, which has $250 million to back bonds to buy Plum Creek lands eyed for development.

So far, the company has sold only 3,000 acres in Montana over the past five years.

Also on Tuesday, Montana members of Sportsmen for Obama, a group of hunters and anglers supporting Obama for president, criticized the closed-door dealings.

“We want more and we should get more from our federal government,” said Steve Doherty in a conference call with Montana reporters.

Doherty, a former Democratic state senator from Great Falls, is a member of Sportsmen for Obama and also chairs the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission.
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