News

Collaborative conservation takes many hands, and we’re all about partnering with other organizations, groups, and individuals to push good work forward. Our North-Central Field Representative, Morgan Marks, has a unique role as she is MWF’s first dual hire with our partner and an affiliated organization, @National Wildlife Federation (NWF). For the past two summers, she has been coordinating, recruiting, and managing volunteers, and we’re excited to share her newest blog written for NWF with all of you so we’ve included part of it below!

Conservation Work Benefits from Many Hands

By Morgan Marks

We’ve been at it again! A summer spent in the field carrying out focused restoration work to retain water on the landscape for longer. Together with volunteers, we’ve covered a lot of ground, putting the building blocks in place to restore critical wildlife habitat in riparian areas.

What might surprise many people is that beavers are our mentors. And we’re not alone. Folks across the nation are learning lessons from beavers, including a rancher in Nevada, who was featured in the New York Times. We’ll own it: We’re proud to be among the crowd taking lessons from one of nature’s wisest creatures.

Nature knows the way, and we’re learning to listen. If we pay close attention, we’ve discovered she’ll tell us which direction to take and how we can restore places to benefit both wildlife and communities. It’s all about using low-tech restoration practices, and working with natural elements such as rocks, willows, logs, and sticks to build dams, like beavers would.

Surprised? You shouldn’t be. These practices are tried, tested, and monitored over time.

Bureau of Land Management staff securing willows in trucks and a trailer. Credit: Morgan Marks

Written by North-Central and Eastern Field Representative, Morgan Marks, with edits by Peter Metcalf, Executive Director of Glacier Two Medicine Alliance.

We wanted to make sure you saw the news about the recent federal court decision reinstating the last oil and gas lease in the Badger-Two Medicine portion of the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest. This long-contested lease, owned by Solenex LLC of Louisiana, had originally been canceled in 2016 when the Department of Interior determined its development would have unacceptable impacts on the outstanding wildlife habitat and Blackfeet cultural values and uses of the area. Solenex challenged this decision and initially prevailed, only to be overturned in Circuit Court in 2020. The case was remanded to the lower court and this month that court again reinstated the lease. In his Sept. 9 opinion, Judge Richard Leon determined the lease had been properly issued back in 1982 and therefore could not be subject to cancellation.  

For decades various conservation groups – including at different stages the Montana Wildlife Federation and the National Wildlife Federation – and the Blackfeet Nation have fought to prevent oil and gas development in the Badger-Two Medicine. These efforts have led to the voluntary retirement of 46 of the original 47 leases issued in the early 1980s without any development whatsoever occurring. The conservation and tribal groups involved in the current litigation – which does not include Montana Wildlife Federation – have vowed to fight on until the Solenex lease is likewise eliminated. 

We’re sharing this news because Montana Wildlife Federation believes in informing our supporters and members about such issues because it is paramount for us to keep our wild places just that – wild, and to keep a strong focus on attacks occurring throughout the state impacting public access and our public lands. Montana Wildlife Federation has been a part of a coalition of diverse organizations and community members working together to protect the Badger-Two Medicine, all with different missions and different values, but each intentionally coming together to stay informed and work to advocate for this ecologically and culturally important landscape. The Badger-Two Medicine is far too critical for wildlife habitat, migration, and connectivity and to allow drilling to ever take place.

Coverage has been extensive, including articles shared from Montana Public Radio, Hungry Horse News, and Earthjustice. 

The landscape is sacred to the Blackfeet Nation and has long been a space for hunting, gathering plants, and holding ceremonies. The Badger-Two-Medicine is the homeland of the Pikuni (Blackfeet) and Ktunaxa ɁamakɁis (Kootenai). Snowmelt flows from mountain peaks which provides drinking water to the reservation and communities further east. The landscape is home to outstanding wildlife habitat that includes meadows and forests along with many incredible opportunities for recreation and getting outdoors, including hunting and fishing. 

MWF believes the landscape must not only be protected for recreation and wildlife habitat but that it is also paramount to recognize the importance of this place for wildlife migration and connectivity. Many species of wildlife rely on the Badger-Two Medicine as a migration corridor between Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, including elk and Grizzly bears. 

In the Hungry Horse News article, Peter Metcalf, the Executive Director of Glacier Two Medicine Alliance, was quoted as stating: “We have had to overcome many setbacks throughout this nearly forty-year effort to prevent irresponsible energy development from these ecologically and culturally vital lands. Yet despite the immense obstacles, we’ve managed to prevent any development and retire 46 other leases. The narrative is clearly trending toward protecting the Badger-Two Medicine and I’m confident we will ultimately eliminate this final lease too.”

MWF is in full support of our partner organizations who have funded, advocated for, and been involved in the lawsuit against reinstating the Solenex LLC oil and gas lease, each of which has worked hard for decades to remove all oil and gas leases in the Badger-Two-Medicine. MWF wants to see a Badger-Two-Medicine with zero oil and gas leases and we will continue to advocate and be a part of the coalition working to make this vision a reality. 

Please check out our partner’s websites for more information, sign up for their newsletters, and sign up for MWF’s newsletter to stay up to date on news, volunteer opportunities, and work in the Badger-Two-Medicine.

Montana Wildlife Federation

Wild Montana

Glacier Two Medicine Alliance

The Wilderness Society

Pikuni/Blackfeet Nation

The featured photo above was taken by Peter Metcalf/Glacier-Two Medicine Alliance. A backpacker looks over the Solenex lease site in the Badger-Two Medicine area with Glacier National Park in the background. The proposed energy development in this area of Blackfeet sacred land threatens vital wildlife habitat and connectivity, clean water, Blackfeet archaeological sites and cultural practices, and the outdoor heritage and way of life important to our local communities. 

Montana Hunting and Conservation Groups Solidify Court Standing in Legal Defense of Elk Management

District court judge grants coalition’s motion to intervene by demonstrating a ‘direct, substantial, legally protectable interest’ in suit brought by United Property Owners of Montana

MISSOULA, Mont. – A District Court judge has ruled that a coalition of Montana hunting and conservation groups can intervene in a lawsuit that attempts to upend game management in Montana.

Tenth Judicial District Court Judge Heather Perry granted the groups’ motion to intervene on Wednesday afternoon, acknowledging the coalition’s standing in the suit filed in May by the United Property Owners of Montana against Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the Fish & Wildlife Commission.

Composed of Helena Hunters and Anglers, Hellgate Hunters and Anglers, Montana Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, Montana Bowhunters Association, Montana Wildlife Federation, Public Land Water Access Association and Skyline Sportsmen, the coalition called the lawsuit “an attack on wildlife management and Montana’s egalitarian hunting traditions” and filed the motion to intervene on behalf of FWP and the citizens of Montana.

The groups represent a broad array of interests and are committed to maintaining long-term, proven management that benefits all Montanans. All have a strong record of public participation in decisions affecting Montana’s natural resources and hunting heritage. Learn more at KeepElkPublic.org.

Conversely, UPOM is an organization with a history of opposing the great Montana tradition and law guaranteeing wildlife are equally owned by the public, not just the wealthy and well-connected. UPOM alleges in its suit that the public process for managing elk and setting hunting regulations in Montana is unconstitutional. It attempts to force FWP to act to reduce elk numbers in the state substantially by killing upwards of 50,000 animals and giving politicians and private landowners management authority of the public’s wildlife. Similar attempts by UPOM at the legislative and commission levels have been strenuously opposed and largely defeated.

Judge Perry ruled that the coalition has met criteria establishing its grounds for intervening: that the motion is timely, that it shows an interest in the subject matter of the suit, that it shows that protection of the interest may be impaired by the disposition of the action, and that the interest is not adequately represented by an existing party.

Coalition members voiced appreciation for the court recognizing their role in defending the public’s interest and vowed to keep fighting in the name of responsive wildlife management and public hunting opportunity. The groups look forward to making their case in front of the Court.

“Elk belong to the people of Montana,” said Steve Platt, president of Helena Hunters and Anglers. “We intend to keep it that way.”

“The abjectly partisan decisions of our elected officials – and their appointees – on elk management dictate that Montana hunters must now bear the responsibility of ensuring abundant, accessible elk populations on public land,” said Walker Conyngham, president of Hellgate Hunters & Anglers. “UPOM’s lawsuit threatens serious consequences for how we manage our elk and public hunting opportunities going forward. We welcome the opportunity to defend our state’s wildlife managers and our historic wildlife management principles against this troubling suit.”

“I am proud of the hard work we have done over the last year, engaging with the state, public hunters and landowners, in a sincere and transparent effort to solve these wildlife management issues,” said John Sullivan, chair of the Montana chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. “We are grateful the court has acknowledged the public’s role in wildlife management and allowed us to intervene on the public’s behalf. We look forward to making our case in front of the court and in the light of day for all to watch.”

“Montana Wildlife Federation appreciates that the court has recognized our standing as intervenors in this important case,” said Montana Wildlife Federation President and Board Chair Dr. Chris Servheen. “This case is about the public’s role in the management of elk and other wildlife in Montana. Elk are a public resource and should be managed using science in a fair and balanced public process. MWF is an organization made up of all kinds of Montanans, including hunters and landowners, so it makes sense for us to be involved. We look forward to working with our partner organizations in representing the interests of the public before the court in this important case.”

Contact: Katie McKalip, BHA, 406-240-9262, mckalip@backcountryhunters.org

Sonya Smith, MWF, 406-417-9909, sonya@mtwf.org