Badger--Two Medicine

The Blackfeet Nation along with the Wilderness Society have struggled for decades to protect an important wildlife habitat and sacred area along the eastern flank of the Rocky Mountains.  For forty years conservationists fought to retire existing oil and gas leases.  In 2006 Congress passed a law prohibiting new leases on the land.  One final lease remained, owned by a company called Solenex LLC.  The hold-out finally agreed to a settlement filed in federal court Friday to end protracted litigation. [photo credit: Wilderness Society]

The 130,000 acre region is an ecologically important piece of habitat connecting adjacent preserves: Glacier National Park, Bob Marshall Wilderness, and the Blackfeet Reservation.  It is home to elk, bear, wolves and trout.  Badger--Two Medicine area within the Helena--Lewis and Clark National Forest  has been a sacred place to the Blackfeet since before European colonization, and in their view was wrongly leased to energy developers during the Regan Administration. The tribe with bipartisan supporters were able to negotiate voluntary relinquishment of oil and gas leases over the years. Now, with the final lease gone and legal protection from new development, Badger--Two Medicine can be at peace. Green Kudos! go to the Blackfeet for their success.