According to Courthouse News, four environmental groups have sued the Bureau of Land Management in Federal Court.
Friends of the Missouri Breaks Monument, The Wilderness Society and two others say a federal management plan for the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument permits recreation that will "destroy and degrade" the "solitude and splendor" of the monument.
The 377,000-acre site that includes 149 miles of the Upper Missouri River was declared a national landmark by President Bill Clinton in 2001. It has gone largely unchanged since 1805, when Lewis and Clark explored the monument. Habitat such as elk, prairie dogs and fish call it home.
The complaint states that two major issues are the bureau's approval of six airstrips that were never subject to official review and 43 oil and gas leases on the monument are set to remain open. The plan also sets no limits to where recreational boating can occur.
The environmental groups, represented by James Angell with Earthjustice, ask the court to set aside the 2008resource management plan and close primitive roads in the monument. |
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