The new ‘Rape of the West’

By: George Ochenski

Outlets: Daily Montanan

Published: June 12, 2026

Words: 608

Last Updated: 1 month, 1 week ago

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Exactly 50 years ago lauded University of Montana professor and historian K. Ross Toole published “The Rape of the Great Plains — Northwest America, Cattle and Coal.” As he wrote: “A pitched battle is being fought over the fate of 250,000 square miles of unspoiled wilderness in Montana, Wyoming, and North Dakota. In pursuit of “Project Independence” (American energy self sufficiency), powerful coal-mining and utility interests are preparing to strip mine the Northern Great Plains …

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