Phil Taylor of the New York Times writes about an ensuing battle between a Montana wind power transmission project, backed by eminent domain rights, and Montana landowners, fighting for cultural conservation of their land.
Phil Taylor reports on the conflict between Larry Salois, a Montana native who owns property on a Blackfeet Indian Reservation, and Tonbridge Power Inc., with its 215-mile Montana-Alberta Tie Line project: a $209 million power line project to stretch all the way to Canada, and possibly the West Coast.
"The company, backed by a new state law passed in spring that allows private power line developers to condemn property, is asking state judges to grant easement rights across more than 30 miles of land so it can continue construction of the high-voltage line, which would run from Great Falls to Lethbridge, Alberta."
Salois, however, and other landowners like him who oppose the project, are fighting the state's new eminent domain law and condemnation practices. However, "their opposition illustrates a major challenge transmission projects face across the West in finding suitable pathways for new lines that can connect remote renewable energy resources to burgeoning populations in the Southwest and West Coast."
Read the full story: Conservation Concerns, Landowner Opposition Stifle Mont. Transmission Project
TxDOT Wages Quiet Battle to Acquire Properties for I-35 Expansion
TxDOT has filed “takings lawsuits” against holdout property owners along the eight-mile stretch of I-35 slated for widening in Austin, but property owners say the agency isn't offering just compensation.
Why is Missouri Holding Up a High-Voltage Transmission Line for Wind Energy?
The 'Show Me State' nixed a 780-mile high voltage transmission line to carry wind energy generated in western Kansas through Missouri to Indiana, where it would transmitted to the East Coast.
5 New England states march closer to 800 megawatt wind energy project
Securing federal approval for the project may be complicated under the Trump administration, which has historically been hostile towards domestic wind power.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.
Boston has spent millions making the Green Line more accessible — and there’s no end in sight
While the city has invested millions into expanding and adding platforms to the Green Line to make it more accessible, new train cars set to arrive next year will be too tall for disabled passengers to board without raising the current platforms.
Idaho may see an 18% drop in federal surface transit funding — the largest estimated cut in the US
Transit systems in rural communities are much more reliant on federal funding to provide their services.
How ‘post-disaster gentrification’ alters neighborhoods after natural calamities
After hurricanes, fires or other calamities, the original residents of a community are often replaced by younger, wealthier residents.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
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