The Glasgow Courier - Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913

When did the sage grouse become a national priority surpassing energy independence, and does this fowl really require millions of acres of energy-rich land to survive? Those are the obvious questions that arise when reading the Bureau of Land Management’s recent 812-page Resource Management Plan for the Hi-Line.

The document, released this Spring and currently out for public comment, is a good example of the unfortunate trend toward declaring Montana off-limits to development. It contains a few bright points, but mostly the plan deprives the Hi Line of prospects for natural gas, oil, and...