Senator Baucus Doubles Down on Passing North Fork Bill Before Term Ends

Senator Urges Lawmakers to Join his Nearly 40 Year Effort to Protect the North Fork,

Tells Panel: "This bill is our chance to leave one of the most special places on earth in better shape than we found it."

(Washington, D.C.) – Montana U.S. Senator Max Baucus began work right away this week to achieve one of his top legislative priorities before he completes his final term at the end of 2014.

Baucus testified before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee today regarding his bill http://www.baucus.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1308 to permanently protect the American side of the North Fork watershed http://baucus.senate.gov/01312011_North_Fork_Federal_Lands_Withdrawal_Area_June_9_2010.pdf from new oil and gas development and mining. Baucus has spent nearly 40 years working to protect the North Fork – beginning with his successful 1975 proposal to designate the Flathead as a Wild and Scenic River.

Baucus’ North Fork Watershed Protection Act of 2013 does not impede timber production, hunting or fishing and continues to have the broad support of Montana businesses and conservation groups.

"I was drawn to public service by the belief that each of us has a responsibility to leave this place in better shape than we found it. I believe many of you are here for that very same reason," Baucus told the Energy and Natural Resources Committee today.

"In my 40 years in public office, I have found no place like the North Fork. When I leave the Senate, I want it to stay that way. This bill is our chance to leave one of the most special places on earth in better shape than we found it. I ask you to join me and all Montanans in that effort."

Baucus’ North Fork bill is co-sponsored by Senator Jon Tester and endorsed by local chambers of commerce and individual businesses, along with multiple energy companies. Baucus and Tester have successfully worked with energy companies such as ConocoPhillips, Chevron, and Exxon subsidiary XTO Energy to voluntarily relinquish more than 200,000 acres of energy leases in the North Fork.

In March 2013, Congressman Steve Daines announced plans http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/daines_announces_support_for_north_fork_watershed_protection/32609 to support Baucus’ legislation and introduce a companion bill in the U.S. House.

Baucus’s 40-year legacy fighting to protect the North Fork:

· For nearly 40 years, Baucus has been a steady and strong voice to protect the North Fork of the Flathead River, beginning with his successful 1975 proposal to designate the Flathead as a Wild and Scenic River.

· To date, Baucus, with the help of Senator Jon Tester, has successfully negotiated the return of more than 200,000 acres held by energy companies near Montana’s North Fork of the Flathead River.

· Together the Senators have secured http://baucus.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=263 the return of the primary interest in more than 80 percent of the total leased acreage. Baucus and Tester vowed to continue these efforts in addition to fighting for passage of the North Fork Watershed Protection Act introduced today.

After a 40 year career in public office, beginning in the Montana State House of Representative in 1973, Baucus announced Tuesday he is not seeking re-election in 2014. He will serve out his term focused on accomplishing several legislative priorities http://www.baucus.senate.gov/?p=video&id=1306 for Montana, including passing the North Fork legislation.

Complete Text of Baucus’ remarks, as prepared for delivery follows below:

Senator Max Baucus, Montana

U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

On the North Fork Watershed Protection Act – S. 255

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

April 25, 2013

Thank you, Chairman Manchin, for the opportunity to testify in support of S. 255, the North Fork Watershed Protection Act of 2013.

John Muir, that great defender of our national parks, said it best: "Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike."

Today I feel like I am coming full circle to one of those places.

Thirty-eight years ago, as a freshman pup in the House of Representatives, I cut my teeth on public land issues by introducing a bill to designate the Flathead River in Montana as a wild and scenic river.

I am amazed to be retreading the same beautiful ground four decades later. Let me tell you a little about that ground.

I know that every state has its special places. We all have lakes or mountains or beaches that are close to our hearts.

But the North Fork of the Flathead River is more than that. It is an international treasure.

The North Fork is the most intact ecosystem in the contiguous United States. It is a wide gravel-bed river that flows under tall peaks from British Columbia into Montana and feeds into the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi.

The North Fork drains snowmelt from places like Kintla Peak and Weasel Collar Glacier in Glacier National Park to the east. It collects runoff from the larch, lodgepole, and spruce forests of the Whitefish Range to the west.

It has the highest vascular plant diversity and the highest density of large carnivores in the lower forty-eight.

In the North Fork, silvertip grizzly bears feed on huckleberries and buffaloberries in the same pristine valley. Native bull trout find cold water and clean gravel for their redds.

The North Fork is the most important wildlife corridor along the Canadian border between the Great Plains and the Cascades. And Montanans have always enjoyed hiking, rafting, fishing, and hunting in it.

Today, about 2 million people visit Glacier National Park each year, injecting $100 million into the local economy and supporting 1,400 jobs.

I remember one particular day when the natural wealth of the North Fork really dawned on me.

It was October 8, 1976, in the Remington Room at the Outlaw Inn in Kalispell. A group of scientists that have become my friends and hiking partners joined me to talk about their research.

Scientists like Jack Stanford and Ric Hauer with the University of Montana explained that a proposed coal mine just a few miles over the border in British Columbia would ruin the North Fork.

I joined them and many others to fight it. We have revisited that fight multiple times.

All you have to do is look one ridgeline over to know how close the North Fork has come to being ruined. Just last week, the Kootenai River was declared one of America’s Most Endangered Rivers because of heavy metal runoff from Canadian mines into Montana.

The only reason we know about that pollution is because of research the Congress has funded comparing the Kootenai to the North Fork. I am pressing our Canadian neighbors to apply the lessons of the Flathead to the Kootenai.

But today, we are at a historic moment.

First, as of eighteen months ago, at the state, provincial, and national levels, Americans and Canadians have committed to reciprocal conservation of the North Fork.

This level of international agreement is in keeping with the grand history of cooperation in Glacier and Waterton National Parks.

Second, after months of phone calls and meetings with me, oil and gas companies have voluntarily relinquished four out of five leased acres in the U.S. portion of the watershed. I commend them, especially ConocoPhillips, for leading the way.

My bill is the missing piece. It is time for Congress to follow suit and withdraw the North Fork permanently from future mineral development.

Montanans of all stripes have endorsed this bill, including the local chambers of commerce, energy companies, and our whole Congressional delegation.

I was drawn to public service by the belief that each of us has a responsibility to leave this place in better shape than we found it. I believe many of you are here for that very same reason.

In my 40 years in public office, I have found no place like the North Fork. When I leave the Senate, I want it to stay that way.

This bill is our chance to leave one of the most special places on earth in better shape than we found it. I ask you to join me and all Montanans in that effort.

Thank you.

Max