Bozeman lawyer’s string of failed lawsuits continues against Big Sky entities; Judge calls racketeering claims ‘tenuous at best’
By Jack Reaney SENIOR EDITOR
In October and November, the Montana district of U.S. District Court handed a pair of unfavorable decisions to Cottonwood Environmental Law Center, a Bozeman-based firm with a history of lawsuits against Big Sky entities. The first of two lawsuits involved racketeering claims against multiple Big Sky companies, business leaders and public officers. Separately, the latter resolved a five-year dispute against Big Sky Resort’s parent company, Boyne Resorts.
In July, U.S. District Judge Brian Morris ordered sanctions on Cottonwood for “pushing a baseless fraud theory” including “reckless misstatements” and “disregard of facts,” against Big Sky’s water and sewer utility despite the theory of fraudulent activity being “debunked multiple times,” according to the July ruling.
Despite the Big Sky County Water and Sewer District now having won each of the four judgements in suits initiated by Cottonwood since 2020, legal defense fees have now reached $3.4 million with burden affecting roughly 3,500 Big Sky ratepayers—approximately $1,000 per customer, according to BSCWSD board chair Brian Wheeler—forcing the district to raise rates and dig into cash reserves amid other costly infrastructure needs.
Rate increases formed the basis of Cottonwood’s argument in the 2025 lawsuit, in which Big Sky resident, plaintiff, class representative and Cottonwood supporter Monroe Cameron claimed personal injury for “utility bills to cover costs associated with defendants’ unlawful racketeering.” The court found those costs to be partially caused, if at all, “by Cottonwood’s own actions” which triggered numerous costly and unsuccessful lawsuits.
“The court does not see how Cameron has plausibly proven that the alleged increase in his utility bills causally connects, proximately or directly, to defendants’ act of sending allegedly fraudulent data to EPA and DEQ,” the Oct. 9 ruling stated, echoing the defendants’ claim that rates increased due to inflation and other external factors. “The chain of causation between utility rates and the allegedly fraudulent data appears tenuous at best.”
Cottonwood’s complaint, filed on March 21, 2025, alleged that defendants violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) act, claiming, “defendants engaged in wire/mail fraud by sending fraudulent data to state and federal investigators” regarding the volume of effluent exported by BSCWSD to the Spanish Peaks and Yellowstone clubs for lawful disposal. The intention, Cottonwood claimed, was to create “an enterprise with the common purpose of developing unnecessary luxury houses in Big Sky, Montana.”
The fraudulent data allegations in the RICO suit mirror those made in the prior case which Judge Morris found to be “disproven.”
“This lawsuit is exceptionally difficult for me because it named valuable community members personally. For me, this crossed a line given the character of these individuals.”
Brian Wheeler, board chair, Big Sky County Water and Sewer District
“Cameron’s RICO allegation depends upon a finding that the data shared by defendants was fraudulent… The court already assessed in depth the allegations of fraudulent data. The court held in its order in July of 2025 on Cottonwood’s motion to vacate, that the ‘BSWSD did not falsify data,’” the Oct. 9 ruling from Judge Morris stated.
“The Court scrutinizes each of Cottonwood’s assertions and concludes no evidence exists that anyone ‘falsified the data contained in the spreadsheets,’” Morris concluded.
Cottonwood listed the following defendants in the RICO suit: former BSCWSD general manager Ron Edwards; Yellowstone Mountain Club; Spanish Peaks Mountain Club; Lone Mountain Land Company and its parent company CrossHarbor Capital Partners; LMLC representatives Matt Kidd, president, Mike DuCuennois, executive VP of development—DuCuennois also served on the BSCWSD board until 2024—and Rich Chandler, VP of environmental operations. Judge Morris referred to the list of LMLC-associated individuals as “YC Defendants” in the ruling.
The filing argued—without sufficient evidence to convince the court—that DuCuennois was “at the center of the scheme to continue unlawfully approving sewer connections at the Sewer District,” in his roles between LMLC and the BSCWSD board, and that he intended for alleged fraudulent data “to thwart agency investigations” for the benefit of his employer.
Morris stated, “The alleged facts… fail to plausibly allege a RICO violation under either asserted pleading standard. The alleged facts provide no evidence any of the YC Defendants participated in fabricating or sharing fraudulent data.”
BSCWSD board chair Brian Wheeler expressed his disappointment with the accusations against defendants including DuCuennois, calling him an “absolutely incredible” public servant.
“This lawsuit is exceptionally difficult for me because it named valuable community members personally,” Wheeler stated in an email to EBS. “For me, this crossed a line given the character of these individuals.”
In conclusion, Judge Morris granted dismissals to Edwards and the YC Defendants. He dismissed Cameron’s complaint and closed the case.
Wheeler noted that BSCWSD has not contacted Cameron to understand his position, and that Cameron’s complaint is not representative of sentiments held by most district customers. “Instead of funding a new water tank or drilling wells, reserves are allocated to defending Mr. Cameron’s groundless claims,” Wheeler stated.
Case dismissed against Boyne, Big Sky Resort
Separately, on Nov. 20, a jury ruled unanimously against Cottonwood in a lawsuit stretching back to 2020 which claimed Big Sky Resort over-irrigated its golf course using treated wastewater, resulting in pollution to the Gallatin River.
Initially dismissed in 2022 by U.S. District Court based on lack of proper notice by Cottonwood to Boyne, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the dismissal in November 2023, reviving Cottonwood’s complaint against Boyne.
As with the water and sewer district, Boyne and Big Sky Resort remain undefeated against Cottonwood lawsuits—including an unrelated 2018 lawsuit following a 2015 ski accident involving John Meyer, who separately serves as Cottonwood’s executive director.
Big Sky Resort President and COO Troy Nedved shared a statement reaffirming the resort’s longstanding pledge to support Big Sky’s status as a community that does not discharge directly into the Gallatin River.
“With the help of the community, Big Sky is now the largest zero discharge community in Montana,” Nedved stated. “The reclaimed water used to irrigate the golf course is significantly cleaner than the water that Bozeman and many other Montana cities discharge directly into Montana’s rivers. Big Sky Resort thanks the jury for recognizing the resort’s water stewardship efforts and rejecting Cottonwood’s claims.”
Wheeler, who worked for Big Sky Resort for 36 years and still provides consulting, noted the symbiotic partnership between the resort and the district—the district provides services that support the resort and associated community, and the resort helps the district properly recycle treated wastewater through golf course irrigation and, most recently, snowmaking.
“Big Sky Resort and the Big Sky Water and Sewer District have prevailed in every frivolous lawsuit,” Wheeler stated. “… I’m proud of the community commitment, funding and teamwork necessary to maintain or history as zero-discharge community.”
EBS reached out via email to Meyer for comment on both results. While he did not respond to the three questions asked—including whether he intends to continue suing Big Sky entities in light of recent defeats—he did share an unprompted statement.
“We believe we would have prevailed had the Gallatin River Task Force not taken donations from the defendants and actually stood up for science,” Meyer stated.
In response, GRTF Chief Executive and Science Officer Kristin Gardner emphasized that GRTF has spent the past 15 years working to understand and address harmful nutrients in the West Fork of the Gallatin River.
She explained recent groundwater assessments by the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology and long-term monitoring by the Gallatin Local Water Quality District, which are providing a better understanding of nutrient sources affecting the Gallatin River, particularly septic infrastructure used in various pockets of the community.
“Independent science and long-term monitoring data guide the work of the Gallatin River Task Force—not donors or litigation,” Gardner stated.
