Sep. 25--Developers of a new exclusive residential resort near Big Sky, Montana were caught abusing state and federal laws Sept. 13. The developers and landowners of the new community must immediately stop releasing sediment into tributaries of the Gallatin River and stop filling nearby wetlands, state and federal officials have ordered. 

The parties required to respond to the order are: Tim Blixseth; Yellowstone Mountain Club; Yellowstone Development, LLC; Blixseth Group, Inc.; The Ranches at Yellowstone Club, LLC; and Boyne USA, Inc. They are building the Yellowstone Club, a private recreation community at Pioneer Mountain, a resort area 40 miles north of Yellowstone National Park. 

The violations are related to the construction of a golf course, ski runs and roads at the 13,400 acre development. The developers also failed to fully implement stormwater controls required under the federal Clean Water Act and the Montana Water Quality Act, according to a compliance order issued Sept. 13. 

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality have inspected the site repeatedly, and say the visits revealed several Clean Water Act violations. The Clean Water Act provides for civil penalties up to $27,500 per day, per violation. 

Meanwhile, the EPA and the Department of Environmental Quality will seek civil penalties in a separate action. 

"EPA is taking this action to protect the Gallatin River, its tributaries and adjacent wetlands from pollution, flow alteration and destruction of fish habitat by soil and sedimentation in the river. This action will also prevent further harm to water quality and fisheries habitat," said John Wardell, EPA Montana Office director. 

Blixseth and his partners must implement erosion control measures, delineate the wetlands, perform corrective measures on the ski hill, roads and golf course, and submit a long-term site restoration and monitoring plan. They must also obtain prior written authorization from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for any activity requiring a Corps permit, and comply with all requirements of the stormwater general permit. 

The Yellowstone Club is planned to grow to 864 dwellings and lots, offered at a total well over $1.5 billion. Membership in the club is by invitation only. Blixseth told reporters. "What we're selling is privacy and exclusivity. And limited growth," he said. 

The Yellowstone Club will have seven ski lifts on four mountains, hiking and biking trails, 16 miles of private fishing streams, a golf course, swimming pool and tennis courts, facilities for riding horses, a health spa and fitness center, a fly fishing lake, remote cabins, private jet service, a chapel. In the process the resort will create a new town called Big Springs. 

Other partners in the Yellowstone Club are ski film producer Warren Miller, master planned residential community builder David Marriner, ski resort manager Jon Reveal, U.S. Secret Service veteran Bruce Bales, who will guarantee the members' privacy and security, former football quarterback and congressman Jack Kemp, golf pro Annika Sorenstam, and sports medicine surgeon Richard Steadman. 

The Yellowstone Club's website claims that "[Blixseth's] early years as a songwriter and producer instilled a respect for nature, and he is dedicated to keeping the environment within this area unspoiled." 

But George Draffan and Janine Blaeloch, in a January 2000 article for the Western Land Exchange Project, point out that, "exclusive private access across national forest land" has been granted to Big Sky Lumber, a joint venture in which Blixseth is partner. 

Local activists claim that the area to be developed includes critical grizzly bear habitat. American Wildlands, a Bozeman, Montana group, is heading the petition drive to preserve the Gallatin River by designating it as an Outstanding Water Resource under the Clean Water Act of 1972. 

Trout Unlimited and 11 other conservation groups are supporting the petition, along with about 1,400 individuals and 46 businesses, according to American Wildlands. 

If approved, the designation would apply from the Yellowstone National Park boundary down to Spanish Creek's confluence with the river, near the mouth of Gallatin Canyon. The designation, never before applied in Montana, would affect activities along the river as well as its tributaries, which stretch a dozen miles east and west of the river, including the Big Sky area and the Pioneer Mountain area where the Yellowstone Club is under construction. 

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