Landowner members of the Northern Plains Resource Council filed a petition asking the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to permanently close the file on the Tongue River Railroad (TRR). For 38 years the TRR has prevented landowners from making investments and plans while they await possible condemnation for a railroad that could bisect prime hay pastures and block livestock from river access.
The Northern Plains petition came in response to a TRR request in November asking the STB to indefinitely freeze its permit application for the proposed Tongue River Railroad. If permitted, the railroad could condemn up to 90 miles of working family farm and ranch land in southeastern Montana to build a new rail line to ship coal from the proposed Otter Creek coal mine to proposed Pacific Northwest coal export facilities and then on to Asia.
In an op-ed that ran December 23, 2015 in The Billings Gazette, ranchers Clint McRae of Colstrip and Mark Fix of Miles City wrote:
“As landowners whose property could be condemned by the rail line, you might guess that we would be happy to see the permit application frozen. The truth, though, is that we and our neighbors have faced the threat of condemnation by this project for 38 years. An indefinite suspension will keep us in limbo even longer. As long as this project remains suspended, so will our plans for the future.
“Enough is enough. Instead of dangling eminent domain over our properties for an untold number of years to come, it’s time to put this thing to bed and deny the railroad’s permit.”
You can read their opinion here.
Arch Minerals, owner of 33% of the TRR and the developer of the proposed Otter Creek Mine, which would be the source of coal for the TRR, declared bankruptcy Jan. 11, 2016. Ranchers in the Tongue River want to be able to move forward with their business plans and put this chapter behind them.