The Front is too precious to drill

That's why we and others want to make sure it is not sullied simply to improve the profit margin for some corporation that doesn't care about Montana or Montanans.

The Department of Interior deserves applause for realizing that oil and gas companies should not just be able to drill wherever they want to, just because they want to.

This week, the department said the Rocky Mountain Front in Montana will be off limits to oil and gas development for the next four years while a study is done to look at the region as a whole.

That makes sense.

The Forest Service had already said, several years ago, that it would not allow drilling in the area, but the Bureau of Land Management meanwhile had decided to consider several requests for drilling in the Blackleaf and other areas.

Now, the federal government will conduct a comprehensive "landscape level" study of the Rocky Mountain Front to consider how drilling would change the lifestyle, environment and ethos of the region. This will presumably assure that the area's history as a mecca for hunters, anglers and others who value the experience of unspoiled nature will be taken into account along with the economic advantages of drilling.

The Front is home to 290 species of wildlife, including the country's second-largest elk herd and its largest population of bighorn sheep. It is the only place in the lower 48 states where grizzly bears still range between the mountains and the plains. The long-term economic value of an untainted resource like the Front, with its drawing power among hunters and anglers alone, will arguably outstrip the short-term benefit of gas extraction.

It would be nice if Montana's representatives in Washington would consider working together in the next few years to pursue protection for the Front. Sen. Max Baucus has tried to foster a plan that would allow the region's current leaseholders to swap for leases elsewhere. That makes sense, and would avoid a punitive effect on businesses that are, after all, just doing business.

The country has a responsibility to develop a sound energy policy that includes new domestic sources of oil and gas, but it also has an obligation to protect other natural resources at the same time. In the view of many Montanans, the Rocky Mountain Front is a natural resource that is singular and irreplaceable.

That's why we and others want to make sure it is not sullied simply to improve the profit margin for some corporation that doesn't care about Montana or Montanans.