Business in brief: Mine under Cabinet wilderness gets OK

The Forest Service says a company seeking to develop a copper and silver mine beneath the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness in northwestern Montana can begin digging this winter, now that the agency has reviewed its decision to allow the project.

Mine developer Revett Minerals said Thursday it is ready to begin in 60 days, but critics are skeptical it will happen that soon.

In a letter this week, Kootenai National Forest officials told Revett the company is authorized to start work under terms of a 2003 decision by the Forest Service and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. A review, in the wake of a court ruling, found no new issues affecting the decision, the Forest Service said. Consequently, it need not be revised nor is a supplemental environmental study required, the agency said.

Although the mine would be beneath the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness, Revett has said disturbance of the ground would be outside of wilderness boundaries.

Critics of the mine have included jeweler Tiffany & Co., which in 2004 bought a full-page ad in the Washington Post declaring the area more valuable for wildlife than for minerals.

Last year, however, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said grizzly bears stood to benefit if mining proceeds, noting Revett’s mitigation measures – such as buying land to protect as grizzly habitat – would leave the bears in better condition than if the mine was not developed. The agency also endorsed Revett’s plans for protection of sensitive bull trout.

Tim Preso with Earthjustice said this week’s decision was based on a flawed analysis of likely environmental effects, including effects on grizzlies and bull trout. Two lawsuits challenging the mine are pending, he said. Matt Clifford of the Clark Fork Coalition in Missoula described the mine as “not going anywhere fast.”

SEATTLE

GE subsidiary buying 55 Boeing jets

General Electric Co.’s aviation subsidiary has ordered 55 passenger jets from Boeing Co., the companies said Thursday.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Boeing said the list price for 53 single-aisle 737-800s and two extended-range versions of the widebody 777-300 is $4.5 billion, but customers typically negotiate steep discounts.

The order, which Boeing added to its online tally last week, was previously attributed to an unidentified customer.

GE Commercial Aviation Services, GE’s U.S. and Irish commercial aircraft financing and leasing business, owns more 737s than anyone in the world. It currently has 309 of the single-aisle planes on order.

OLYMPIA

Group wants agency to oversee family leave

The Employment Security Department should administer the state’s new paid family leave law, a state task force has suggested.

The 13-member committee had its final meeting Thursday. The committee has been studying the price and potential ways to pay for the new program, which will give parents up to $250 a week of paid time off to be with a new child.

Last month, the task force suggested that the program’s first few years should be paid by the state’s general fund.

The recommendations go to the Legislature, which begins its legislative session Jan. 14.