In a surprising turn of events the Department
of Interior announced on Tuesday, Oct 5 that it would
be shelving plans to drill in the BLM’s Blindhorse
Outstanding Natural Area (ONA) located 25 miles northwest
of Choteau. Assistant Secretary of the Interior Rebecca
Watson stated, “The Rocky Mountain Front is
important to wildlife and is of great interest to
the hunting community.” Watson also acknowledged
that the current administration had heard the complaints
of hunters and anglers. “We listen when they
talk to us,” she added.
Leading up to the decision, MWF, working
with the Coalition to Protect the Rocky Mountain Front
(CPRMF), commissioned an analysis of the 49,180 comments
submitted to the BLM regarding natural gas development
in the Blindhorse ONA. Nearly all of the 49,180 comments
– an overwhelming 99.76 percent of those who
wrote – demanded the BLM halt any plans to drill
for natural gas along the Rocky Mountain Front.
Replacing the original environmental
impact study will be a much larger “landscape
level analysis” and is slated to begin towards
the end of 2007. At the end of this larger analysis
Watson said that the BLM and Interior Department will
make a decision regarding “…what we want
to do with the Rocky Mountain Front.”
Watson explained that the BLM will now
turn their focus to more available and proven reserves
of natural gas along the highline west of Havre. She
added that halting work on the Blackleaf EIS, which
was studying the potential impacts of natural gas
exploration in the Blindhorse ONA and adjacent lands,
would allow more time for all parties involved to
explore alternatives that could resolve the complex
issues associated with energy development along the
Front. She added that interested parties now have
“…an opportunity for folks to weigh in,
whether it’s a land exchange, an exchange of
leases, purchase [of the leases] by the federal government
or by other parties that are interested.”
Over 50 Natural
Gas Leases Totaling Over 112,000 Acres
A crucial component of long-term permanent protection
for public lands along the Front is the extinguishing
of all natural gas leases on public lands. Currently
MWF is working with the CPRMF to encourage Montana’s
congressional delegation and state leaders to work
towards some kind of fair compensation for lease holders
in the area.
The leasing history of the Front is a long and convoluted
one, but the current situation is as follows: For
the 133,000 acre Badger Two Medicine area of the Lewis
and Clark National Forest, located immediately south
of Glacier National Park and west of the Blackfeet
Reservation, there remain 47 leases totaling about
106,000 acres. To the best of our knowledge these
leases are held by 15 different leaseholders, some
companies and some individuals. The top three leaseholders
by acreage in the area are Devon Energy, the Kohlman
family partnership and British Petroleum.
For the Blackleaf area there remain 7 leases encompassing
nearly 6000 acres, 4 of which are owned by Startech-Impact
Energy of Calgary, Alberta Canada who had originally
applied for a permit to perform exploratory drilling
pursuant to their leases, which began the now halted
Blackleaf EIS.
With the amount of public lands currently under lease
for natural gas exploration being well over 100,000
acres, coupled with the fact that the leased areas
are all considered to be critical wildlife habitat
for one of the most biologically intact landscapes
in the lower forty-eight states, it is easy to see
why there is enormous concern on the part of many
Montanans.
Solid, permanent protection for the Front will not
be achieved until these leases are dealt with. MWF
is committed to finding creative ways to encourage
our elected leaders, concerned members of the public,
as well as interested lease holders, to once and for
all bring closure to the debate over whether or not
a world class wildlife landscape should be harmed
for short term gain.
In order for this to happen Montana’s congressional
delegation, as well as state leaders, need to hear
from the hunting and angling public that there is
indeed support for swift action. The halting of the
Blackleaf EIS on the part of the current administration
proves that the atmosphere and political understanding
of what is at stake for Montanans is ripe for proactive
protective measures.
USFWS Announces
RMF Conservation Easement Program
The good news about the Blackleaf EIS was coupled
with the announcement that USFWS plans to begin an
analysis of nearly 500,000 acres of ranch land along
the Front in order to identify up to 170,000 acres
that may be eligible for federally funded conservation
easements. The study should be underway by the end
of this year.
“We believe that this Rocky Mountain Front
conservation easement program provides landowners
an incentive based approach to conserve their land,”
said USFWS Director Steve Williams.
The wildlife agency plans to work closely with landowners,
local elected officials and other organizations to
seek protection of critical wildlife habitat along
the Front. Conservation easements are a way for interested
ranchers to continue with traditional ranching while
protecting habitat from being developed. Easements
have already proven to be an effective way for landowners
to protect open space, wildlife habitat and traditional
agriculture on many pieces of land along the Front.
Lewis and
Clark National Forest Travel Planning Underway
The Lewis and Clark National Forest Plans on releasing
to the public five alternatives for a comprehensive
travel plan for the Rocky Mountain Ranger District
some time in late January or early February 2005.
The alternatives are said to range from a no motorized
access alternative to one with extensive motorized
access. Once the alternatives are formally released
the public will be asked to comment regarding which
alternative they prefer. MWF plans to study the alternatives
and prepare an analysis for our members and any interested
people detailing which alternative will be the best
for the protection of wildlife habitat and high quality
backcountry hunting and fishing experiences.
If you are interesting in becoming a member of our
MWF, Rocky Mountain Front citizens working group please
contact Nathan Birkeland by calling or emailing: (800)517-7256,
nbirkeland@mtwf.org.
