Deal lets railroad cut across hatchery

BILLINGS – Montana fisheries officials say they’ve tentatively agreed to give the proposed Tongue River Railroad a 25-acre easement through a major fish hatchery near the Yellowstone River.

State Hatcheries Bureau Chief Bob Snyder said he’d rather not have the railroad cut through the Miles City Hatchery. But he said the state has little choice because federal law gives railroads broad powers of condemnation.

The proposed agreement includes a $25 million insurance policy maintained by the Tongue River Railroad Co. to cover any damage to the hatchery. That would be enough money to replace the hatchery.

“Nobody wants a railroad in their backyard,” Snyder said. “If we say no, we’re not going to enter this agreement, the Tongue River Railroad Co. can enter into condemnation, where they are only required to give the state fair value for that property, which probably isn’t going to be all that much.”

Snyder said the state is worried about possible accidents. Also, it is feared that vibrations from coal trains that would use the line could disrupt breeding of pallid sturgeon and other fish.

The U.S. Surface Transportation Board approved the final section of the 130-mile railroad on Oct. 9. The $341 million project, proposed in 1983, is designed to tap into the region’s vast but largely undeveloped coal reserves.

The line also would create a more efficient route for coal coming out of Wyoming.

Railroad developer Mike Gustafson has been prodding Montana officials to develop vast tracts of state-owned coal along the railroad to make his enterprise economically feasible.

A preliminary appraisal on the Otter Creek tracts is expected by the end of the year.