Eminent domain as seen from the landowner's perspective

I would like to offer my opinion on HB198 as a landowner affected by the line.

Approximately two years age, Tonbridge Power out of Canada proposed and was granted the rights of a transmission line across the state of Montana. They [Tonbridge] got in touch with DEQ and after looking at the line on paper it was approved. The proposed route crossed our property east of Cut Bank.

The man hired by Tonbridge to do preliminary route approval was Dave Ferguson. After looking at our property he suggested an alternate route. On his first trip across our place Dave Ferguson marked on his GPS the location of the spring and the tepee rings we were fully aware of — approximately six of them. On his second visit he not only found and GPS’d 12-16 more tepee rings but also a pit where buffalo meat was boiled by the presence of heat fractured rocks next to a wallow area. The area was clearly used by the Blackfeet as they were the only ones around at that time. This shows an historic use going back hundreds of years.

 The Montana Alberta Tie Line (MATL) had looked like a win-win for the state because they wanted to tie into the wind transmission projects being built in the immediate area. None of the affected landowners objected to the project — only placement of some poles.

As construction began and they marked exactly where the poles were being placed, it became apparent that two poles should be relocated on our property so as to avoid a natural spring and some tepee rings. Instead of working with us on the placement of the two poles, MATL took us to court and lost.

District Judge McKinnon ruled in our favor and said that a private “for profit” company cannot claim eminent domain under these conditions. Instead of “working with us” as MATL claims, they went to our Montana Legislature and helped write HB198.

Hertha Lund has been hired as legal counsel by a group of landowners, including us, to try and get this matter resolved without changing existing laws. It is in any PRIVATE company’s best interest to get this bill passed. It gives them a lot more power over your private property for their private profit. This line is not for the “public good” as they claim, just private profit.

At a meeting in Helena with DEQ, none of the landowners involved in the lawsuit objected to the line, only placement of some poles. Most of the land around Great Falls that the line crosses is still active farm land and the farmers in the area wanted the pole placement to be a little more user friendly. That was not in the best interest, profit wise, of MATL so one more reason to change the eminent domain laws.

We have never been against this line and we are all for green energy and supporting the Montana lifestyle. When this line crosses our property (and we know it will) we can enjoy the view of the transmission poles as we look east to the rising sun and know that our representatives in the Montana Legislature did the right thing in selling out our property rights.

My only question to Gov Schweitzer: if we sunset HB198, can I sunset the poles?

P.S.  Another issue involving this line is the use of federal stimulus dollars to build it. If I understand that right, that’s my tax dollars being used by a foreign company to “take” my property. This is wrong on so many levels!

Jeff Salois is a resident of Bigfork.