This has been a major controversy in the state for a long time and I just hope I don't have to hear about it any more. We're not talking about any huge gas deposits here; at best there would be regionally significant production but it wouldn't change things on a national scale. I also disagree with those who claim drilling would have been some kind of environmental catastrophe. The really pretty areas with grizzly bears and such are to the west of the proposed drilling area and are locked up in huge Wilderness Areas already. A bear or two might wander through but they can easily survive the sight of a drill rig a couple of miles away. I've seen gas rigs in similar places in southwest Montana and never saw any significant ill effects from them. They are not objects of great beauty but I heat my home with natural gas and understand it has to come from somewhere.

My biggest fear about this is that the local Montana extremist environmental community will now begin whining about something else.