Action for the Month of March 2010 Take a second to see ideas from Don Kronenberger (SSJVC) of what to do this month. Issues to be addressed in Letters From Don Kronenberger: (This message is from Save Scenic Jefferson Valley Coalition, which is working closely with Concerned Citizens of the Boulder Valley.) SUMMARY: 1) You are INVITED to contact us if you want to join in organizing efforts. 2) You are urged to TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION to send out letters to public agency representatives who met on March 3 and 4 to decide upon the "agency-preferrred" route for MSTI. Everything helps before the Draft EIS is public on April 2nd. 3) Please FORWARD this message to anyone who may be interested in helping this effort. Copy SSJVC back on who you forward the message to because we must build and organize our contact list. DETAILS: This is what we know on the status of the MSTI process. On March 3 and 4, various agencies (Montana DEQ, BLM, and Forest Service) held a non-public meeting to review the "draft" of the draft environmental impact statement (from their consultants) and come up with the "agency preferrred route." This decision will go up through the agencies then back to MT DEQ to complete the Draft EIS. In early April, the Draft EIS with "agency preferred route" will be released to the public. There will be a 90-day period for public comment. Obviously, we are entering a critical time in the process. The ball is in our court to send strong messages of our own for protecting greater Whitehall, Jefferson Valley, and Boulder Valley. We must make it clear that condemnation of pristine open land in greater Whitehall, Jefferson, and Boulder Valleys remains non-negotiable. Despite our concerns, the meeting was clearly constructive. I believe we all came away reminded that a united approach remained the most effective for all. One current option under consideration by the agencies does reasonably approach the goal of "public land for public benefit." That is the BPA or northern route (1A) combined with the true "public land route" that lies in the east Pioneers (i.e., west of I-15 on public land.) MoveMSTI supports selection of that route. As always for more details visit: www.ConcernedCitizensMontana.net For details on routes, go to Montana DEQ's
|
|