The Beartooth Front Coalition (BFC) is a group of landowners in the southern portion of Stillwater County requesting that Stillwater County create a Zoned district with its own separate Zoning Commission independent of the Stillwater Planning Board to regulate any potential exploration, development or extraction of oil and gas within the District. BFC has stated that its concerns are strictly with land surface rights and that holders of mineral rights within the proposed District are unaffected and therefore should not be considered in the creation of the District. When the County introduced the concept that mineral right holders should be consulted, BFC initiated a lawsuit against Stillwater County.
We, the undersigned residents of Stillwater County, understand that surface rights and mineral rights are BOTH real property and that the holders of mineral rights must be considered in any regulation of the surface. We are concerned that should the county establish such a Zoning District without inclusion of input from mineral rights holders, a dangerous and unconstitutional erosion of Personal Property Rights will have occurred. We believe that it is NEVER in the public interest to allow regulation without representation of all concerned parties.
We also believe that it is not in the best interests of the County to establish another zoning board independent of the Stillwater Planning Board. We believe that a separate District with its own regulatory board constitutes exemption of that District from normal and consistent County government actions.
Finally, we know that it is against the Montana Constitution to prohibit the extraction of ANY mineral. We believe that creating a Zoning District within Stillwater County where the extraction of oil and gas is extremely difficult or impossible due to over-regulation is unconstitutional and potentially economically disastrous for Stillwater County.
We, therefore, urge the Stillwater County Commission to REJECT any request to create the proposed Stillwater County Beartooth Front District.
Commissioner: Dennis Shupak [email protected]
Commissioner: Tyrel Hamilton [email protected]
Commissioner: Mark Crago [email protected]
Updates
August 30, 2019
i have been talking to a bunch of neighbors lately and its clear that everyone is worried about these zoning rules being pushed through without talking to the actual owners. we are working on getting a meeting set up with the county commissioners to make sure they hear the other side of this story.
August 30, 2019
the momentum behind this is honestly pretty wild right now. its clear that a whole lot of people agree that property rights matter and we arent going to just sit back and watch this happen.
6 Comments
The beartooth coalition and others are going too far to gain authority so they can regulate all mineral rights. They are not the ones to do this. They do not represent the citizens of Stillwater county or Montana
Its not broken dont fix it, more rules means more misinterpretation. Stop unnecessary infringement on our rights
I believe it is wrong for these people to dictate how we Montanan’s live our lives. If you think California is so great you should move back to it.
Landowners who reside primarily out of state should not get to make decisions that effect people who reside locally
The beartooth coalition and others are going too far to gain authority so they can regulate all mineral rights. They are not the ones to do this. They do not represent the citizens of Stillwater county or Montana
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The Beartooth Front Coalition (BFC) is a group of landowners in the southern portion of Stillwater County requesting that Stillwater County create a Zoned district with its own separate Zoning Commission independent of the Stillwater Planning Board to regulate any potential exploration, development or extraction of oil and gas within the District. BFC has stated that its concerns are strictly with land surface rights and that holders of mineral rights within the proposed District are unaffected and therefore should not be considered in the creation of the District. When the County introduced the concept that mineral right holders should be consulted, BFC initiated a lawsuit against Stillwater County.
We, the undersigned residents of Stillwater County, understand that surface rights and mineral rights are BOTH real property and that the holders of mineral rights must be considered in any regulation of the surface. We are concerned that should the county establish such a Zoning District without inclusion of input from mineral rights holders, a dangerous and unconstitutional erosion of Personal Property Rights will have occurred. We believe that it is NEVER in the public interest to allow regulation without representation of all concerned parties.
We also believe that it is not in the best interests of the County to establish another zoning board independent of the Stillwater Planning Board. We believe that a separate District with its own regulatory board constitutes exemption of that District from normal and consistent County government actions.
Finally, we know that it is against the Montana Constitution to prohibit the extraction of ANY mineral. We believe that creating a Zoning District within Stillwater County where the extraction of oil and gas is extremely difficult or impossible due to over-regulation is unconstitutional and potentially economically disastrous for Stillwater County.
We, therefore, urge the Stillwater County Commission to REJECT any request to create the proposed Stillwater County Beartooth Front District.
Commissioner: Dennis Shupak [email protected]
Commissioner: Tyrel Hamilton [email protected]
Commissioner: Mark Crago [email protected]
Updates
August 30, 2019
i have been talking to a bunch of neighbors lately and its clear that everyone is worried about these zoning rules being pushed through without talking to the actual owners. we are working on getting a meeting set up with the county commissioners to make sure they hear the other side of this story.
August 30, 2019
the momentum behind this is honestly pretty wild right now. its clear that a whole lot of people agree that property rights matter and we arent going to just sit back and watch this happen.
6 Comments
The zoning proposal is nothing more then an attempt to regulate and control the valley by the BFC. They want to drive out the blue collar workers and turn it into a large gated community for rich out of staters, and vacationers.
The beartooth coalition and others are going too far to gain authority so they can regulate all mineral rights. They are not the ones to do this. They do not represent the citizens of Stillwater county or Montana
Its not broken dont fix it, more rules means more misinterpretation. Stop unnecessary infringement on our rights
I believe it is wrong for these people to dictate how we Montanan’s live our lives. If you think California is so great you should move back to it.
Landowners who reside primarily out of state should not get to make decisions that effect people who reside locally
The beartooth coalition and others are going too far to gain authority so they can regulate all mineral rights. They are not the ones to do this. They do not represent the citizens of Stillwater county or Montana
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The zoning proposal is nothing more then an attempt to regulate and control the valley by the BFC. They want to drive out the blue collar workers and turn it into a large gated community for rich out of staters, and vacationers.