HELENA – The Montana Land Board is accepting a resolution that is part of a bigger plan to protect the North Fork of the Flathead River from oil and gas development.
Thursday’s move is part of the agreement Gov. Brian Schweitzer sighed with British Columbia last month to protect the valley from industrial scale mineral development.
The State of Montana owns approximately 17,000 acres in the area that includes the Coal Creek State Forest. None of the parcels is currently leased for mineral development.
The Land Board move also limits the size of any future gravel pits on the land.
Earlier in the week, Schweitzer asked the federal Department of the Interior cancel old oil and gas leases on more than 200,000 acres.