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Blackfeet leaders and conservationists denounce Forest Service drilling plans for Badger Two Medicine
Summary
Speakers on a Missoula radio program said proposed oil and gas development in the 103,000-acre Badger Two Medicine would harm Blackfeet sacred uses and wildlife; guests urged administrative appeals and public comment on Lewis and Clark National Forest decisions.
Speakers on the Missoula Peace Network radio program said proposed oil and gas development in the Badger Two Medicine — about 103,000 acres of Lewis and Clark National Forest land — would damage sites the Blackfeet consider sacred and threaten wildlife, including grizzly bears.
The program reported that on March 1 the Forest Service issued the first two proposed drilling permits for the area, one to Fina Oil and Chemical Company and a second permit that was in the appeals process. Guests on the program urged listeners to file comments and administrative appeals with the Lewis and Clark National Forest.
Why it matters: guests tied the issue to competing legal and cultural claims. They said treaty-era reserved rights and long-standing Blackfeet cultural uses conflict with the Forest Serviceand federal energy policy that favors development. Guests also argued that drilling would set a precedent for opening other sensitive public lands to oil and gas activity.
On-air participants described the Badger Two Medicine as both an important wildlife landscape within the Greater Glacier/Bob Marshall ecosystem and as a living cultural landscape used for Sundance, vision quests and other rites. A…
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