Historic land-use bill is top outdoors story

The top outdoors story of 2014 came during the December session of the lame duck Congress, when Montana lawmakers joined to help pass both the North Fork Watershed Protection Act and the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act.

The North Fork act bans all future energy leases on 430,000 acres of federal land in the North Fork and Middle Fork of the Flathead. The Rocky Front act adds 67,000 acres to the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex and protects 208,000 acres along the Rocky Front from further development, while preserving traditional uses like grazing.

The passage marked the first new wilderness designation in Montana in 31 years. The big bill included 80 land-use provisions nationwide. The land use bills were rolled into one package and placed as amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act.

Other top outdoors stories included:

• Flathead National Forest officials continued to work on a new Forest Plan, hosting field trips and public meetings. The Forest is expected to release drafts of its plan in 2015, with a final decision in 2016.

The Whitefish Range Partnership meanwhile held meetings of its own, bringing together a diverse group of interests to draft recommendations for the North Fork region. Their plan called for a mix of timber, motorized, recreation and wilderness uses.

• With several high-profile oil train derailments in 2013 and 2014 that resulted in fires and spills, federal regulators began pushing for new rules for tanker cars and haulers. Land managers and fire department personnel were worried it could happen here, and BNSF Railway released a report detailing how it would respond to an oil spill on the Middle Fork of the Flathead River.

Avalanches in March covered BNSF tracks near Essex and along Glacier National Park, but no trains derailed. The Park for the first time in decades allowed the use of explosives to trigger avalanches on steep mountain slopes above the tracks in the John Stevens Canyon.

• State and federal officials continued to keep a watchful eye out for aquatic invasive species. Mandatory road stops were required for boats passing an inspection station set up on U.S. 2 in Coram, and boat inspections continued at Glacier Park.

• The 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act was celebrated across the nation and Montana. Many wilderness pioneers were recognized in the media and elsewhere.