Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Rocky Mountain Front Environment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Environmental activists urge protection of Blackleaf Canyon on Rocky Mountain Front
Summary
An activist working on Blackleaf Canyon urged Missoula listeners to oppose proposed drilling and infrastructure on the Rocky Mountain Front, citing wildlife, cultural sites and intact ecosystems.
Gabby Barrett, an environmental activist, told a Jan. 15 Missoula gathering that Blackleaf Canyon on the Rocky Mountain Front is home to intact ecosystems, cultural sites and numerous species and that Bureau of Land Management plans for drilling and related infrastructure threaten the area.
“The place I'm working on, Black Leaf Canyon, is on the Rocky Mountain Front just south of the Badger-Two Medicine, and bordering the Bob Marshall Wilderness,” Barrett said. She listed species she said remain in the area — wolves, grizzlies, peregrines, bald eagles, lynx, wolverine, pine marten, bighorn sheep, and large elk herds — and said the BLM planned as many as 18 gas wells, roads, pipelines and power lines for the area as presented in her remarks.
Barrett tied the issue to broader concerns about national-security rationales being used to open remaining roadless and intact ecosystems to development. She called the Rocky Mountain Front buffers “the last wild places on the planet” in the regional sense and urged practical engagement: write appeals, contact local chapters of conservation groups, and support campaigns opposing the wells and roads.
Barrett invited attendees to contact her and local organizers to help with campaigns to protect Blackleaf Canyon and adjacent roadless areas.
