When President Clinton announced a $65 million land
swap with Crown Butte Resources Inc. to stop development of a gold
mine on the boundary of Yellowstone National Park, it sounded like
a done deal. But federal officials have only six months to come up
with property that Crown Butte must agree to accept; if not, the
mining company can nix the deal.
The agreement
has only a 50-50 chance of success, estimates Paul Pritchard,
president of the National Parks and Conservation Association. The
reason: Congressional delegations from the states involved had no
say in the deal, and only congressional approval can close it.
Montana’s Repubican Sen. Conrad Burns has
already said in an open letter to Montanans that he thought the
land swap came at a high cost to his state’s taxpayers. But
Montana’s Democratic Sen. Max Baucus has endorsed the deal, as has
the state’s lone representative, Democrat Pat
Williams.
The land swap deal was a bomb with
Crown Butte board members; four of seven directors resigned during
the company’s negotiations with the government. The Toronto-based
company was forced to elect a new member before it could approve
the deal Aug. 9.
Crown Butte can back out of the
deal in February if it is not satisfied with the properties the
government offers for trade. But company president Joe Bayless told
AP he wouldn’t have pushed for the agreement if he didn’t think it
could be closed.
*Mark
Matthews
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline It ain’t over till it’s over.
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