The U.S. Interior Department announced a settlement this week with Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy over the cancellation of 15 leases the company had to drill for oil and gas on Montana land considered sacred by the Blackfeet Tribe.
The company’s leases covered parts of the Badger-Two Medicine area of the Lewis and Clark National Forest in northwest Montana. The area covers 130,000 acres surrounded by Glacier National Park, the Bob Marshall Wilderness and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.
Devon is getting a refund for all bids and other payments totaling $206,058, half coming from the Treasury Department and the other half from the state of Montana.
“This is the right action to take on behalf of current and future generations,” said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell in making the announcement.
“There aren’t many places like this left in the lower 48. It is a tremendously important ecosystem,” said Michael Jamison, a senior program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association.
The settlement drew support from the Blackfeet Tribe where Harry Barnes is chairman of the Tribal Business council.
“A victory for not only the Blackfeet people, but for all of America. It’s such a beautiful area. It’s Mother Earth and it needs to be enjoyed by everybody,” he told the Washington Post.
