U.S. cancels oil and gas lease on Montana land sacred to tribe

BILLINGS, Mont. — The Obama administration on Thursday canceled a disputed oil and gas lease just outside Glacier National Park that is on land considered sacred to the Blackfoot tribes of the U.S. and Canada.

The move came after U.S. District Judge Richard Leon criticized the government over its decades-long delay in resolving the matter. He accused the government of trying to “run out the clock” on a lawsuit from Solenex LLC, a Louisiana company that wants to drill for oil and gas on the 6,200-acre site.

Left unresolved is the fate of 17 remaining leases in northwest Montana’s Badger-Two Medicine area, site of the Blackfoot creation story. Blackfoot leaders say the leases were illegally issued in 1982.

Solenex sued the government in 2013 to force a decision after the dispute dragged on for decades. Attorneys for the company said they would challenge any cancellation in court. They point out that the lease went through multiple environmental reviews over the years and was never said to be invalid until recently.

“I can’t even imagine how many thousands of man-hours went into all these studies, and now the government is saying every one of these people was wrong,” said William Perry Pendley with the Mountain States Legal Foundation, the law firm for Solenex. “It doesn’t even pass the red-face test. It’s ridiculous.”

Dozens more oil and gas leases were originally sold in the area. Over the years, most were retired or surrendered by their owners.

Most of the 17 remaining leases in the area are held by Devon Energy of Oklahoma, federal officials said.

“We’re pushing to have all the leases terminated,” Blackfeet Tribal Chairman Harry Barnes said. “It’s considered a very spiritual place, a base for spirituality from whence a lot of power comes for the Blackfeet people.”