Amdist contrary appeals from the right and the left, the state Land Board Monday gave the go-ahead to appraise the market value of state-owned coal in southeast Montana’s Otter Creek Valley, with an eye toward possible development.

“We owe the people of Montana the opportunity to do an assessment of the value of the Otter Creek (coal) tracts,” said Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who chairs the Land Board.

The unanimous vote by the board, composed of the state’s top five elected officials, OKs an appraisal of the state’s 550 million tons of coal later this year.

Once that appraisal is complete, the Land Board — in cooperation with the coal’s co-owner, Great Northern Properties — will consider whether and how to lease the coal to potential developers.

Before Monday’s vote at the Capitol, two of the state’s leading environmental groups spoke out against the appraisal, calling it a waste of time and money.

Julia Page, a Northern Plains Resource Council member from Gardiner, said promoting development of Otter Creek coal is “perpetuating old technology” that will lead to burning more coal and thus accelerating global warming.

“We’re looking backwards instead of moving forward,” she said. The Montana Environmental Information Center also opposed the idea.

Also, in recent weeks, Republicans running for statewide office this year have used Otter Creek coal as a campaign issue, saying if they were elected, they’d push harder for its development. Attorney general candidate Tim Fox, gubernatorial candidate Roy Brown and state auditor candidate Duane Grimes are among those who’ve said Otter Creek should be developed.

They’ve said leasing and developing Otter Creek coal will lead to millions of dollars deposited in the state school trust, creating more money for public schools.

Just last week, Brown took a swipe at the Schweitzer administration, saying it should be doing more to promote Otter Creek and move faster on a possible lease.

Schweitzer, a Democrat, took on those critics Monday, saying members of the Land Board rarely disagree and have been working with Great Northern Properties to ensure any lease gets the maximum return for both owners.

“It’s interesting to me when people say ‘I’m running for office because I want to change the direction of the Land Board,’ ” he said. “What is it exactly they want to change?”

“We are moving forward in a deliberate fashion,” he said later in an interview. “But you can’t put a minimum bid on (the coal) until you know what the actual value is, and this is complicated. (Many) things have to be considered. We don’t have to rush into this.”

Schweitzer noted that the market value of Powder River coal has nearly doubled in the past two years, so any so-called delays haven’t hurt the state’s position.

The Otter Creek Valley, just east of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, contains about 1.1 billion tons of coal, yet has no railroad access or other infrastructure. The state and Great Northern Properties own the coal in a checkerboard pattern.

Any lease of the coal for development would create income for the state school trust, whose interest can be used to finance public schools. The trust stands at about $400 million, so leasing the coal could greatly increase it.

However, Schweitzer and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Linda McCulloch, also a Democrat, said increasing the school trust doesn’t guarantee more funding for schools. The final decision remains with the state Legislature, they said.

Secretary of State Brad Johnson, a Republican who favors Otter Creek development, said Monday he fully expects the Legislature would use “at least some” of increased revenue from Otter Creek coal to finance schools. He also said it’s “unrealistic to assume that coal is not going to be a significant part of our energy future for this country.”

Opponents of Otter Creek development, however, said it would threaten water quality in the nearby Tongue River Valley, which supports hundreds of farmers and ranchers.

Mark Fix, who farms south of Miles City on the Tongue River, said it’s a “get-rich scheme for a few individuals,” and vowed to fight the construction of a railroad accessing Otter Creek “every step of the way.”