It took a U.S. senator and the Montana Highway Patrol to ensure the pipes, the pipes were calling during the St. Patrick's Day celebration this year in Butte.

The Pipe and Drum Band of the Edmonton Police Service was forced to leave behind two sets of bagpipes at the Sweetgrass border checkpoint because the instruments were made in part with elephant ivory.

That was a problem since one set belongs to James McKee, who is the band's pipe major and acts as the conductor.

"The band can't play without that one person giving the cues and the leads," said Jana Richards of the Friends of the Pipers, a Butte nonprofit group that raises money to pay for the volunteer pipers' meals, lodging and transportation to Butte.

The band spent nearly three hours March 15 trying to cut through red tape at the border, north of Great Falls, before opting to leave the bagpipes behind with Canadian customs.

"They didn't want to let us down in Butte, so they left the pipes at the border," Richards said.

She contacted U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and asked for help bringing the bagpipes to Butte before the St. Patrick's Day parade March 17.

Baucus' office contacted the highway patrol and a trooper went to the border for the pipes, which were taken to Great Falls. Employees from Baucus' Helena office picked up the instruments and brought them to Butte by 6:30 p.m. March 16.

"Max, of all people, knows that it wouldn't be St. Patrick's Day in Butte without bagpipes," said Barrett Kaiser, a Baucus spokesman. "Max wasn't about to let a little international red tape get in the way of St. Patrick's Day in Butte."

The Edmonton pipers were elated when their two sets of pipes arrived after using bagpipes on loan from the Shining Thistle Pipe Band in Helena, McKee said.

"I was very impressed," he said. "They did a lot of work behind the scenes. We really appreciate what they did.

Richards agreed.

"They went above and beyond the call of duty," she said.

The pipers had a separate incident with a wildlife inspector while crossing the border in July and were told they needed documents detailing the history of the instruments, Richards said.

They acquired letters from an anthropologist stating their instruments were antiques made before federal laws required permitting for the ivory, she said.

Although Canadian authorities recently said McKee and piper Ted Soltys had compiled the proper documents, the wildlife inspector still requested more paperwork when the band returned for St. Patrick's Day.

A fish and wildlife supervisor did not return a message seeking comment Thursday.

Band members were surprised to learn the inspector needed more paperwork during their recent trip to Butte since Canadian authorities OK'd their documents.

"We had what we thought we needed," McKee said.

He said the inspector is requiring them to purchase a CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) permit.

The permit is an effort to ensure plants and animals are not threatened by unregulated international trade, according to the fish and wildlife service.

McKee said the band is reviewing the issue and plans to have the appropriate permits before returning to Montana in July.

"There's no hard feelings," he said. "It's just an inconvenience."

The pipers have been coming to Butte's celebrations for 24 years, and last July was the first time they have had problems at the border, according to the band.

JUSTIN POST may be reached via e-mail at justin.post@lee.net or by telephone, 496-5572.