Secretary of State Bob Brown will board a soy-powered bus in Helena today and embark on a three-day tour of Southwestern Montana to discuss, and possibly begin, a new chapter of alternative energy use in Montana.

The "Energy from the Farm Bus Tour" marks the first time Brown's office has publicly hosted an alternative energy forum.

Gayle Shirley, Brown's public information officer, said the tour demonstrates a new initiative by Brown's office to examine the economic impact that bio-fuels could have on Montana's economy.

"This is a first for our office," Shirley said. "If we keep harping on alternative energy, the hope is that someday we'll get there. We're moving in the right direction."

Shirley said that Brown, a member of the state Land Board, hopes to boost school revenues by finding new ways to use state trust lands. Wind energy could provide new revenues while still allowing grazing and crop growing operations.

"You increase revenue from that land without displacing other revenues," Shirley said. "That led to an interest in other alternative energies."

Brown's tour bus is powered by soy-based bio-diesel, a cleaner-burning alternative fuel made from renewable resources like soybean oil.

Yellowstone National Park also runs a fleet of soy-powered buses. But while Montana grows many bio-fuel products, such as soy, canola and switch grass, the fuels are still being imported from other states.

"Our rural residents deserve to benefit economically from the development of these resources," Shirley said. "This tour will help explore how we can make that happen."

Once in Bozeman, Drs. Jerald Bergman and Charles Flynn of the Montana Eastern Agricultural Center will discuss oilseed crop research and growing requirements, among other topics. At Yellowstone, Jim Evenoff will discuss the park's fleet of bio-diesel buses and ethanol fuels.

Other speakers will include Paul Miller of Missoula's Pikes to Prairie Cooperative, Larry Flowers of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Shirley Ball from Ethanol Producers and Consumers.

The tour will also stop at the Foot Creek Wind Production Facility before heading back to Bozeman for a discussion on fuel cell development projects.

"I think it would be accurate to say that of the top elected officials, Brown has shown the most interest and initiative in looking at alternative energy," Shirley said. "Montana ranks fifth in the nation for wind-energy potential and we have a climate and land base ideal for the cultivation of oilseeds."

Reporter Martin Kidston can be reached at 447-4086, or by e-mail at mkidston@helenair.com.