Pressure mounting to end Badger-Two Med leases

Political pressure to protect the Badger-Two Medicine area is ramping up, with the Blackfeet Tribe asking for President Barack Obama to get involved.

Chief Earl Old Person of the Blackfeet Tribe recently asked Obama for his support in ending oil leases in the area south of Glacier National Park and Marias Pass on the Lewis and Clark National Forest.

“This area is part of who we are. It’s a part of our creation story,” Old Person said. “We go to the Badger-Two Medicine to gather medicines and food, and to be closer to our Creator.”

The Reagan administration permitted leases to oil companies in the area in 1982 for $1 an acre. Eighteen of the 47 original leases remain. The tribe has pursued the cancellation of these leases.

In 2013, leaseholder Sidney Longwell of Solenex filed a lawsuit in U.S. district court so the company could begin drilling near Hall Creek. No ruling has been made on Longwell’s case. Longwell claims the Forest Service denied his right to a lease through administrative stalling for decades.

Last week, Sen. Jon Tester sent a letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack urging them to cancel existing oil and gas leases in the Badger-Two Medicine.

Tester’s letter is supported by the Blackfeet Tribe and follows up on a letter the tribe sent to the departments last year contending that the tribe was never consulted and the environmental assessment was inadequate when the leases were granted years ago.

Political pressure to protect the Badger-Two Medicine area is ramping up, with the Blackfeet Tribe asking for President Barack Obama to get involved.

Chief Earl Old Person of the Blackfeet Tribe recently asked Obama for his support in ending oil leases in the area south of Glacier National Park and Marias Pass on the Lewis and Clark National Forest.

“This area is part of who we are. It’s a part of our creation story,” Old Person said. “We go to the Badger-Two Medicine to gather medicines and food, and to be closer to our Creator.”

The Reagan administration permitted leases to oil companies in the area in 1982 for $1 an acre. Eighteen of the 47 original leases remain. The tribe has pursued the cancellation of these leases.

In 2013, leaseholder Sidney Longwell of Solenex filed a lawsuit in U.S. district court so the company could begin drilling near Hall Creek. No ruling has been made on Longwell’s case. Longwell claims the Forest Service denied his right to a lease through administrative stalling for decades.

Last week, Sen. Jon Tester sent a letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack urging them to cancel existing oil and gas leases in the Badger-Two Medicine.

Tester’s letter is supported by the Blackfeet Tribe and follows up on a letter the tribe sent to the departments last year contending that the tribe was never consulted and the environmental assessment was inadequate when the leases were granted years ago.