Living Inside a National Monument?

During the later stages of the Bush 43 administration, Jim Caswell served as Bureau of Land Management Director under Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne. Mr. Caswell was the Targhee National Forest supervisor in the 1990s.  During his tenure as BLM director he developed a proposal to create a national monument out of the entire Island Park Caldera.

I began searching for the rationale behind such a move other than allowing a politician or interest group to establish a legacy. The best one I could find deals with geothermal energy. Energy companies have previously expressed interest in tapping into the Yellowstone’s geothermal system by drilling from the Island Park Caldera.

In Kamchatka (former Soviet Union), a geothermal electric plant was constructed in the middle of an active fumarole/mud pot area in 1966. The underground energy was directed into the plant and the various geothermal features became inactive. 

That documented case has been cited when arguing against any substantial harvesting of geothermal energy from the Island Park side of the Yellowstone caldera. I am sure that if someone constructed a power plant next to Old Faithful Inn there would be a severe damage to the geyser basin features. While I am not sure that anyone knows what would happen if geothermal power was tapped from Island Park, the potential damage to Yellowstone’s geysers does not seem worth the risk. I wouldn’t bet on power plant construction. The area is under the supervision of the Forest Service. It would make no sense for the USFS to say yes to a power plant while they are currently eliminating trails for 4 wheelers because of the potential eco-damage. A few large private property owners “could” allow construction of such a facility on their land but that should require Forest Service approval (if not, make it so).

The other reason for such a designation is more about limiting access and activities. There are always competing interests when it comes to the use of public lands. Example: The cross country skiers and snow shoe hikers disliked the snowmobiles’ noise and President Clinton’s administration severely limited their access. That worked out really well for West Yellowstone!

The question is who wants to limit what? I don’t have any idea. Once the national monument designation is made, the initial reason doesn’t matter. There is the rule of unintended consequences.

There is always some bustard who is indignant that you can harvest firewood, hunt, operate ATVs, or build an addition on your cabin (remember that you would be living within the boundaries of a national monument). What are the chances that an attorney and sympathetic court will decide that his feelings are more important than your lifestyle.

The Forest Service has some great employees in Island Park and the residents have proven to be great stewards of this wonderful area. Unless someone can demonstrate what is broken, what are they trying to fix?