Northern Plains Resource Council


The Northern Plains Resource Council is an American grassroots conservation and family agriculture group. The organization was established in 1972 by ranchers in Montana who united in opposition to coal industry efforts to strip mine in the Powder River Basin.

Background

The Fort Union Formation, situated largely under the Powder River Basin, is the richest known coal deposit in the world, with 100 billion tons of coal recoverable by strip mining. In October 1971, one year after the passage of the Clean Water Act, the North Central Power Study was published. The study was written jointly by 35 utilities from Oregon to Illinois along with the United States Bureau of Reclamation. It called for the exploitation of coal reserves west of the Mississippi River and included plans for strip mining and power generation.

History

The Northern Plains Resouce Council was formed on April 27, 1972 with the goal of providing a "unified, more powerful counterforce in public 'discussions' with the users of non-renewable resources, particularly including the coal strip-miners." The foundation was spearheaded by the Rosebud Protective Association and the Bull Mountain Landowners Association with the assistance of environmentalists from the Montana Wildlife Federation and the Sierra Club.

Northern Plains programs

As of 2020, Northern Plains has member task forces that address issues in the following areas:
Northern Plains is governed by a Board of Directors, composed of delegates representing its affiliate groups, along with at-large delegates and officers elected annually by the membership.
Northern Plains includes 13 affiliate groups in 10 Montana counties. They include:
In 1979, Northern Plains co-founded the Western Organization of Resource Councils, a regional network of community organizations that now has member groups in seven Western states.