Chief Cliff group continues fight

ELMO - While most attendees at the 32nd annual Mansfield-Metcalf Dinner came to mingle with Montana's democratic political elite, two Kootenai tribal members came to talk about a very specific and personal issue: the future of Chief Cliff.

Jason Smith and Caryn Kallay, board members of the recently-formed Chief Cliff Organization, traveled to the Helena fairgrounds to attend the annual fundraiser and draw attention to the rock mining going on at Chief Cliff, a rock formation near Elmo.

Chief Cliff holds prehistoric significance to both the Salish and Kootenai tribes. Hundreds of stories revolve around this rock formation, said Peter Auld, a board member of the Chief Cliff Organization.

Although Kallay and Smith focused their efforts on state representatives during the three-hour fundraiser dinner, their group also focuses on educating citizens, many of whom are unaware of the ongoing rock mining operation at Chief Cliff, which they say began in 2005.

"It has always been a concern, but no on knew how to go about finding a solution," Auld said.

Auld and several other Kootnai tribal members formed the Chief Cliff Organization in February.

The organization consists of 10 board members and about a dozen adviser members. There are also 12 elder members that give counsel to the younger members when making decisions.

"Our ultimate goal is to preserve Chief Cliff and make sure it is here for future generations, which might entail stopping the mining, but we want to come to a solution with the owners of the rock mine," Smith said.

The operation at the cliff is currently operated by Western Stone, LLC a Lakeside company that, according to its Web site, sells the cliff's angular stones by the ton to "landscapers, stone masons, homeowners, architects and contractors for residential and business projects nationwide."

Western Stone LLC referred questions about the rock mining to land owner Leif Jensen, who could not be contacted for an interview.

The Chief Cliff Organization has so far responded to what they see as the cliff's destruction by sending letters to senators and representatives on both the state and federal levels and leading a fundraising initiative to pay for billboard and T-shirts designed to draw attention to the cliff's importance as a tribal cultural icon.

"Legally there is nothing we can do," Auld said of the quarry, which is operated on privately owned land.

Richard Opper, director of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, said his office is looking into the matter. Depending on their findings, it is possible that a permit could be required for future mining, and that permit would be granted following a resource inventory.

Meanwhile, the Chief Cliff organization continues to try to raise public awareness, attempt to place Chief Cliff on the state's endangered list and try to get the land owners to agree to a conservation easement, which would prevent any further development or mining at the base of chief cliff. Such an agreement would require that the landowner agree with the easement. Another option is buying or trading the land.

The organization has created a Facebook page to promote awareness. Their group, which has only been up a month, has generated nearly 500 supporters.

"So far the community response has been really good," Kallay said. "The people seem interested enough about this issue to listen to what we have to say."