The fight isn’t over, but a major battle has been won in permanently protecting the tremendous wildlife, and public hunting and fishing within the Badger-Two Medicine area on the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, between Glacier National Park and the Blackfeet Nation. On Tuesday, January 2, 2017, the U.S. Department of Interior retired the last two remaining gas and oil leases in the Badger-Two Medicine Area – the last two of many leases issued 35 years ago.
Some places are too wild, too special, to develop and drill; the Badger-Two Medicine area is one of those places. For more than 35 years a unique coalition of hunters, anglers, tribal leaders, county commissioners, ranchers, outfitters, local businessmen and even several gas and oil companies have worked cooperatively to protect the abundance and diversity of wildlife and habitat within the Badger-Two, along with the hunting and fishing opportunities they provide. Today marks a major victory in that effort.
The clean, clear waters within the Badger-Two Medicine Area sustain some of the last strongholds for threatened Westslope cutthroat trout, as well as healthy populations of elk, mule deer, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, grizzly bears and other wildlife. The area also provides some of the best backcountry hunting and angling in Montana. The hunters and anglers of the Montana Wildlife Federation have worked with the Glacier-Two Medicine Alliance, the Montana Wilderness Association, the Blackfeet Nation and others in a locally-led, grassroots efforts to protect the Badger-Two.
There is one energy company challenging the legality of the canceled leases, so the fight isn’t over – but it’s a major victory for those of us who hunt, fish and cherish the wildlife and wild places of Montana.
David Stalling is Montana Wildlife Federation’s western field rep. You can reach him at dstalling@mtwf.org
