Montana hunters and anglers are celebrating today’s announcement of the cancellation of additional oil and gas leases in the Badger-Two Medicine Area. U.S. Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell joined U.S. Senator Jon Tester, Blackfeet Nation Chairman Harry Barnes and Devon Energy Corporation President and CEO David Hager to announce that, through a collaborative agreement, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has canceled 15 additional oil and gas leases in the Badger-Two Medicine area of the Lewis and Clark National Forest in northwestern Montana. Devon Energy owns an interest in these federal leases.
The Montana Wildlife Federation (MWF) has been working cooperatively with the Badger Two Medicine Alliance and other partners to help protect the unique array of fish, wildlife, habitat, and related hunting and fishing opportunities in the area.
“We fully support responsible gas and oil development in appropriate places,” says David Chadwick, the Executive Director of MWF, “But this is one place that is too wild, too special, and too important to drill. With a tremendous diversity of wildlife — including elk, bighorns, mule deer, mountain goats and grizzlies – and one of the last strongholds for native westslope cutthroat trout, the Badger-Two Medicine area offers some of the best hunting and fishing in Montana. We plan to keep it that way.”
