Stopped a $550 Million Dollar Coal Railroad Project in Southeast Montana
December 29, 2011
For nearly 30 years, the farmers and ranchers of the remote and stunning Tongue River Valley in southeastern Montana struggled against the proposed Tongue River Railroad. On December 29, 2011, after more than twenty years of court battles, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals finally rejected plans to allow construction of the $550 Million dollar project. If built, the railroad would have had grave consequences.
The Powder River Basin contains some of the largest coal reserves in the world. The Tongue River Railroad Company, owned by a multinational corporation, proposed building a railroad across numerous Montana ranches to develop new coal mines in the reserves. If built, the train would have been the first link in a transportation system that would have hauled millions of tons of coal per year to coal-fired power plants in China where there are few environmental laws in place to safeguard the public from toxic air emissions or climate change.
In addition to the devastating global impacts of the coal railroad project, local farmers and ranchers feared the Impending ruin of their farms, ranches, and livelihoods. The Tongue River Valley retains a traditional Western culture, where cows outnumber people, ranches are passed down through families for generations, and the landscape remains relatively unchanged since the area was homesteaded in the late nineteenth century.
If the coal railroad had been built, the pristine air and water in the Valley would have been fouled. Numerous wildlife species such as pronghorn would have been killed, and their migratory patterns would have been permanently disrupted. The area contains a rich palate of flora and fauna, supporting over 250 species of birds, 76 species of mammals, 9 species of amphibians, 14 species of reptiles, and 20 species of rare plants. Cottonwood is proud to have helped protect the people, air, water, and wildlife in the Tongue River Valley from highly consequential development.
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