Comment EI-19805
Received or sent (printed as 1/10/2013)
River Ranch of Montana, LLC is an agricultural entity located 2.5 miles north of Ashland. The property is bound on the West side by Tongue River and on the East side by National Forest. The length of property from the Southern boundary to the Northern boundary is approximately 4 miles. The attached map shows the boundaries. The proposed Railroad will have devastating effect on the operation and the value of the ranch. 1. Due to the fact that in several locations the riverbank is a high bluff carved out of the hills (see attached map) the 200’ Railroad will cut off access and create a series of five isolated farmland along the River. Additionally the Railroad will separate the East side of the ranch from the West side. In summary the Ranch will be split into six separate pieces. 2. The proposed Railroad goes right through the Ranch headquarters separating house and shop from other house and structures. 3. The Railroad will go through two pivot irrigation systems. For obvious reasons the pivots cannot go across the Railroad and the 220 acre hay production grounds cannot be irrigated. Without hay production, which provides feed for the cattle in winter months, the whole ranching operation is destroyed. 4. The current daily migration of the Wildlife is to come down from the hills every afternoon and feed in the fields along the River and go back to the shelter of the pine covered hills in the morning. The proposed Railroad will separate the hills from the fields and totally disrupt the wild life feeding. 5. The water shed from the hills on the East side of the Railroad thru the fields on the West side is in the form of sheet flow from the face of the hills across the fields on to the River. The Railroad berm acts as a dike channeling the storm water into the few culverts where Railroad crosses existing Coulees, causing huge increase in the Coulee flows. This concentration of flow will result in severe erosion in the hay fields and the spill points into the River. The erosion ruts will disrupt the pivot irrigation (the pivot wheels cannot go across the erosion ruts) and other haying practices currently in use will be totally disrupted. 6. The very close proximity of the Railroad to banks of Tongue River in four areas creates a real potential for derailment of a train load of coal into Tongue River. 7. It is a known fact that Rail operations create grass fires, which in this case could grow into a large forest fire. This past June 26th the fire that swept through the River Ranch demonstrated that not a single Fire Crew will risk fighting that kind of fire. The fire fighting responsibility would then unduly fall on River Ranch, which it lack adequate resources. 8. The Railroad operation would introduce noxious weed seeds from other areas. River Ranch is currently free of such weeds and cannot afford the responsibility of weed control when the problem is caused by the Railroad. 9. The fugitive coal dust pollution will contaminate the air over an area much wider than the 200’ Rail Corridor. The farms along the River are where most area residents live. An alternative route away from the heavily populated area might cost more but it is the right choice to make. 10. The pristine riparian corridor along the Tongue River is the only unspoiled one in South Eastern Montana. Why does it have to be ruined to maximize profit for a few large companies? Current and future generations enjoy aesthetics and recreational value of this undisturbed natural resource. What is the impact value of losing this recreational opportunity for the current and all future generations? The construction and operation of the proposed Railroad will have cataclysmic economical effect on River Ranch and I strongly urge you to choose the No Action Alternative. The public will be grateful to those decision makers who saw the negative impact of this ill-conceived project on lives of all who work and live along Tongue River.
Submitted by: Siamak Samsam · River Ranch of Montana, LLC · Tucson, Arizona
The Board publishes this comment in its environmental-comment table for this proceeding. It is quoted here as printed; nothing is inferred from it, and it states the commenter's own position in their own words, not this record's.
Permanent address docketyard.org/d/FD-30186/comment/EI-19805
File docketyard.org/document/ce500a668c91796a6b933283c0e71a882428f6bebf919eaffb97652a839278f6.pdf · back to the docket sheet