The Interior Department brought the curtain down on oil and natural gas drilling at a national forest Wednesday over concerns it would harm sacred tribal lands.
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced the agency would cancel 15 drilling leases near the Blackfeet Nation’s land in Montana, where the large independent oil and gas company Devon Energy has held drilling rights in the Badger-Two Medicine Area of the Lewis and Clark National Forest.
At a press conference, Jewell and Devon officials announced that the company would release its leases over environmental and cultural concerns. The tribe has been pressing Congress to remove leases from the Badger-Two Medicine site, which is considers a sanctuary of religious-like significance.
Blackfeet Nation Chairman Harry Barnes said the “pursuit to protect the Badger-Two Medicine has lasted more than three decades, and it will continue until all the illegal oil and gas leases are cancelled and the area is permanently protected.”
“This area is sacred to the Blackfeet people, and we appreciate that others are starting to recognize it as well,” he said.
Devon will be refunded $200,000 in lease fees. The company’s CEO praised the collaborative agreement that was worked out.
The announcement follows a decision by the Army Corps of Engineers earlier this week not to approve an easement for the Dakota Access oil pipeline in North Dakota, citing the need to further investigate tribal claims that the project would harm water supplies and sacred sites.
