Should the Federal Government Pay to Destroy a National Historic Landmark?

There appears to be a difference of opinion within the federal government over the appropriate site for the Highwood plant. Years ago SME decided the build the plant on a parcel of agricultural land outside of Great Falls. Part of that property is within the boundaries of the Great Falls Portage National Historic Landmark, the location where the Lewis and Clark Expedition faced its most challenging obstacle, the month-long portage around the Great Falls of the Missouri River.
 

Photo courtesy of the Montana Preservation Alliance.

According to the National Park Service (NPS) SME plans on putting the following within the landmark boundary: “a tall smokestack and coal chute, four wind turbines, water and waste water mains, transmission lines, service roads, segments of rail line, and additional service buildings and maintenance yards….”

This is one of the only remaining locations along the Lewis and Clark Trail that is still largely intact. The importance of this legacy, and the impact that the coal plant would have on a national historic treasure, has raised the ire of NPS. Even though RUS rubber-stamped SME’s proposal, NPS took a much more careful look.

The Lewis & Clark portage site historic marker. The National Park Service does not want a coal plant sited next to this historic landmark. For more information see the "Proceeding On" newsletetr and click on "Portage Route Impact Study."

RUS only informed NPS of the proposed location one year ago. National historic preservation laws require notification and consultation with NPS if one of its historic sites may be impaired by a project. An honest attempt to mitigate impacts is also required. RUS ignored its duty to consult with NPS and other historic preservation advocates until after deciding to locate Highwood within the historic site’s boundaries. Now RUS claims that it is too late in the process to make any change in the location, and that the only mitigation to be considered is minor visual changes (such as the choice of paint color for the 400+ foot high smoke stack that will loom over the landmark).

This attitude has raised the hackles of NPS and the National Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. In June, a report issued by NPS said the plant would have significant impacts that could not be mitigated: “No other site along the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail so aptly represents the extreme hardships of the expedition while being so geographically accessible to the general visiting public.” The report further said that the Highwood plant “would have profound and adverse impacts on the national historic landmark and would require a critical review of its integrity, a process that would likely lead to the loss of national historic landmark status for most, if not all, of the route.”

Other groups that are concerned about the impacts Highwood would have on the historic site include: the National Trust for Historic Preservation; the National Lewis & Clark Trail Heritage Foundation; the Montana Preservation Alliance; the Great Falls-Cascade Historic Preservation Commission; and many members of the local Lewis & Clark Trail chapters.

RUS has not formally responded to the NPS report, even though its decision to fund Highwood is conditioned upon resolution of the historic site issue. Further discussions between NPS and RUS are expected to occur in the next several months.