Fires top 2015 headlines

Fires burning across Montana and throughout the western United States dominated this summer’s headlines, making it the top story of 2015.

Other stories making the top 10 list for the year involved crime, Libby city politics, changes in the local business environment and honors awarded to Troy schools.

FIRES: Wildland fires swept across Montana and throughout much of the western United States during 2015. The fires prompted pre-evacuation alerts as well as full evacuations in parts of Lincoln County.

Three complexes were formed to manage fires on the Kootenai National Forest, the Northeast Kootenai Complex, the Goat Rock Complex and the Clark Fork Complex.

The Northest Kootenai Complex was dominated by the Marston fire near Eureka, which consumed more than 7,100 acres of forest land. 

The Clark Fork Complex included the Sawtooth and Napoleon fires, and threatened homes and buildings along the Highway 56 corridor near Bull Lake. The Goat Rock Complex, which included the Klatawa Fire, prompted evacuations from the south Libby area. The two complexes were later combined under one incident management team, after consuming nearly 22,000 acres.

In total, fires in northwest Montana burned more than 225,000 acres of wildland and firefighting efforts cost taxpayers more than $45 million.

CAMPAIGN PRACTICE VIOLATIONS: Montana’s Commissioner of Political Practices, Jonathan Motl, issued a finding of sufficient facts to charge Libby Mayor Doug Roll, former City Attorney James Reintsma and five current and former members of the Libby City Council with improper use of municipal resources for the purposes of influencing an election.

In the sufficiency finding, Motl ruled Roll and Reintsma, along with former council members Bill Bischoff, Vicky Lawrence and Robin Benson, along with current council members Barb Desch and Peggy Williams, used city resources in violation of the express advocacy prohibitions of Montana’s campaign practice laws.

“The commissioner determines there are sufficient facts to show that city attorney, James Reintsma, acted in violation of Montana’s campaign practice laws when he, while on the job, engaged in use of public resources for the express advocacy purpose of opposing the election of mayoral candidate Olsen,” Motl wrote in his ruling.

“The commissioner determines that there are sufficient facts to show that the city, including its mayor and City Council members, acted in violation of Montana’s campaign practice laws when they engaged in unreported and undisclosed use of public resources for the express advocacy purpose of opposing the election of mayoral candidate Olsen,” Motl ruled in his second finding.

The case was referred to Lincoln County Attorney Bernard Cassidy, who declined to prosecute and waived it back to the commissioner’s officer. The commissioner has confirmed that settlement offers have been made, but not accepted as of Dec. 15, 2015. 

HECLA ACQUIRES REVETT: Hecla Mining Company announced its intention to acquire Revett Mining Inc. on March 27, 2015. 

The acquisition came shortly after Revett placed the Troy Mine on care and maintenance status, following a precipitous drop in copper prices. At the time of the market issues, Revett was working to reopen the mine following a voluntary closure to dig a new adit due to unforeseen seismic issues.

“It was like the perfect storm for us,” said Revett board of directors chairman Tim Lindsey. “We had the seismic activity and then just as we started to rebound from that the bottom fell out of the metals market. We just couldn’t weather that storm, even though the summit was in sight.”

Hecla, the oldest precious metals mining company in North America, immediately announced the Troy Mine would be placed on reclamation status and closed permanently. The company’s intent, according to vice president of external affairs Luke Russell, is a long-term commitment to the Rock Creek project.

“We are going to sit down with the Forest Service to better understand their timeline and status,” Russell said. “We’re looking forward to working with them on this project.”

EPA PROPOSED PLAN: Another milestone was reached in the ongoing saga of the Libby Superfund cleanup. The Environmental Protection agency released a proposed plan for the cleanup May 4, 2015, more than 15 years after the agency began active operations in the area.

The proposed plan mirrored the current cleanup activities in and around Libby.

“The Libby Asbestos Site is unusual in that so much removal work has already been completed to minimize exposure and risk. The most significant Libby Amphibole sources were removed while the remedial investigation, feasibility study and risk assessment were being conducted,” read a press release issued with the proposed plan.

The proposed plan included a list of vague institutional controls to be implemented to manage the contaminated material left behind.

“Institutional controls are an important part of the remedy and are required with all alternatives to manage future releases of Libby Amphibole Asbestos or waste ‘left in place,’” the proposal reads. “LA will remain at the Site and could become a new source of exposure after the construction portion of the remedy described above is implemented. It is not practical to remove all LA that is sealed behind indoor walls or to excavate all LA that is in soil. Contaminated soil may be left beneath the surface after contaminated soil is removed. LA may also remain in wall cavities and other interior locations that are inaccessible.”

TROY SCHOOLS HONORED: Troy Public Schools received two statewide honors in 2015. The district was honored for its high school principal and for its board.

Dr. Jacob Francom, principal of Troy Junior and Senior High School, was named the 2015-2016 Principal of the Year by the Montana Association of Secondary School Principals at a ceremony held April 16.

Francom, who has been principal in Troy for five years and assumed the role of superintendent of the school district two years ago. In that short time, Francom has made significant positive impacts in both the schools and the broader community.

“I think we’re really lucky to have him,” said Troy Mayor Darren Coldwell. “He brings a new, young energy not just to the school but also to the community.”

The Troy Public Schools Board of Trustees was recognized by the Montana Association of School Superintendents as the 2015 School Board of the Year at the association’s annual conference Oct. 15.

The purpose of the award, according to an announcement from the association’s president, Randy Kline, “is to recognize and focus attention on the dedicated and ethical service rendered by school boards to the children of Montana.”

The board was nominated for the award by Francom, who serves as superintendent as well as middle and high school principal.

“Troy Public Schools Board of Trustees is a board that works cohesively, professionally and effectively,” Francom wrote in his nomination. “The students and community of Troy are well served by the work of our board of trustees. The board has strengthened and shored up the educational foundation of Troy Public Schools that will continue to be built on with the goals and direction that the district is heading.”

VELOZ KILLED IN SHOOTING: Libby resident Thomas Veloz was shot and killed at a residence in Libby Jan. 31.

Henry Carl Schroeder, a 74-year-old Libby man, was arrested Feb. 1, 2015, and charged with negligent homicide and tampering with evidence in the shooting. The murder charge was later upgraded to deliberate homicide.

Based upon a plea agreement with the Lincoln County Attorney, Schroeder entered a plea of guilty to a single misdemeanor charge of obstructing a peace officer or public servant. The felony charges were all dismissed and Schroeder was sentenced to 180 days in the Lincoln County jail. All but 44 of those days were suspended, and Schroeder was given 44 days credit for time served between the time of his arrest and the time he was released on $100,000 property bond.

RASH OF VEHICLE BREAK-INS PLAGUE LIBBY: A rash of vehicle break-ins has police in Libby and Lincoln County stepping up patrols and requesting public assistance. Since May 1, more than 100 vehicle break-ins have been reported in Libby and the surrounding unincorporated areas of the county.

“We have a problem right now,” said Lincoln County Sheriff Sergeant Brandon Holzer. “It’s an epidemic. It isn’t just one individual, it’s more than one Mines Management Inc., the owner of the mine, owed nothing to Arnold Bakie, Frank Duval and Optima Inc. for a previously-awarded condemnation action.

Financially, Mines Management has experienced difficult times in 2015, as the company was forced to sell off construction assets valued at more than $1.6 million in order to sustain operations. The sell-off, according to Mines Management CEO Glenn Dobbs, provided the company with enough cash to sustain operations into the first quarter of 2016.

WEYERAEUSER ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF PLUM CREEK: Two of the largest owners of timber land in the United States have announced a merger they say will create a $23 billion timber, land and forest products company. Weyerhauser Company will acquire Plum Creek Timber Company Inc. in a deal the companies say will create the largest timber company in the United States.

Plum Creek is the single largest private landholder in Montana, with approximately 770,000 acres of forest and timber land in its portfolio of assets. Plum Creek owns a total of 6.2 million total acres of land in 19 states. The new company, which will operate under the Weyerhauser name, will manage more than 13 million acres of timber land in the United States and Canada. The merger, the company said in a press release, will allow the company to capitalize on the recovering American housing construction market and drive economies of scale moving forward.

FOREST STAKEHOLDERS ADOPT GUIDELINES: A project more than seven years in the making took a major step forward Wednesday, as the board of the Kootenai Forest Stakeholders Coalition adopted forest management guidelines they hope will serve as a model for collaborative land management practices on the forest.

The coalition, comprised of representatives from industry, conservation groups, recreation enthusiasts, business owners, ecologists, fire management professionals and government agencies, set out more than seven years ago with a goal of defining areas of common ground with relation to the Kootenai National Forest and to develop guidelines under which the entire group would endorse projects on the forest.

“We’ve come a long way since the early days of this group,” said Lincoln County Forester and coalition member Ed Levert. “Originally, our objective was to try and reduce the number of appeals and litigation on timber sales, but we realized that we’d be much more effective as a diverse group if we reached an agreement on vegetative guidelines for the forest, motorized and non-motorized areas and wilderness. I see the agreement as a culmination of all that we’ve been building up to over the years.”