BLM, DOI cancel oil, gas lease just south of Glacier National Park

Under a 24-hour deadline from a federal judge, the Department of Interior and the Bureau of Land Management Thursday canceled a 6,000-plus acre oil and gas lease in the Badger Two Medicine Region of the Lewis and Clark National Forest.

The 162,000 roadless Badger-Two Medicine is just south of Glacier National Park and is home to grizzly bears, lynx, and a host of other rare creatures as well as a large elk herd. The Solonex Corp., owned by Louisiana oilman Sydney Longwell, has been in a 33-year-long battle with the Forest Service, BLM and DOI over the lease, which have been held in a legal limbo shortly after they were granted back in 1981.

Longwell sued the DOI in 2013 in an attempt to get the lease released so he could drill exploratory wells there. Federal Judge Richard Leon admonished the government for years of inaction on the lease and on March 23, he gave the DOI 24 hours to make a decision.

In the end, the DOI and BLM opted to cancel the lease entirely, refunding the $31,235 Solonex had paid for the lease from 1982 to 1985. In briefs supporting their decision to cancel, the agencies claim the leases were issued in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act and the national Historic Preservation Act, as full environmental impact statement was never completed prior to the lease being issued.

The Blackfeet Tribe has fought the lease from the onset and considers the Badger-Two Medicine Region sacred ground.

The decision to cancel the lease brought praise from the tribe.

“The Blackfeet Nation has been fighting this battle since 1982 being led by Chief Earl Old Person. Today, Tyson Running Wolf, Joe McKay, John Murray, and other tribal members have taken up the fight. Throughout this fight, Sen. Jon Tester has been at our side taking a courageous stand. This fight has been about more that the Blackfeet. All of Montana and our country win. This pristine area so special to us and special to all who fight in this fight,” Harry Barnes of the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council said in an email to the Hungry Horse News.

“The Badger-Two Medicine has unique cultural, historical, spiritual, and recreational significance to the Blackfeet Nation and outdoor enthusiasts in Montana,” Tester said.  “For generations Blackfeet families and outdoorsmen have enjoyed this treasured place and today’s decision will help ensure that this area remains pristine for years to come.  There are special places in this world where we just shouldn’t drill, and the Badger-Two Medicine is one of them.”

Tester, a Democrat, originally called for the leases to be canceled back in March of last year.

Solonex is represented by the Mountain States Legal Foundation. A call for comment to their offices was not immediately returned. Mountain States was formed by former Department of Interior Secretary James Watt, who held his post during the Reagan Administration — the same year the lease was granted to Solonex.