The Blackfeet Nation on Wednesday launched a campaign aimed to block oil and gas drilling on the Badger-Two Medicine area west of its reservation, where federal leases held by energy companies conflict with the cultural and spiritual significance the land holds for the tribes.

In a press conference Wednesday morning, John Murray, a historical preservation officer with the tribe, said the campaign will include billboards and other media buys, along with endorsements from the National Council of American Indians, a range of environmental organizations and Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament, who grew up in nearby Big Sandy.

Located in the Lewis and Clark National Forest and sharing borders with Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, the more than 165,000-acre area is central to the Blackfeet religion and is the site of the creation story of four tribes in the United States and Canada. 

About 93,000 acres are considered eligible for designation as a traditional cultural district by the National Register of Historic Places.

“The Badger-Two Medicine is our land, it is something we are trying to protect,” Blackfeet Chief Earl Old Person said. “It’s everything to us. They prayed, they hunted, they camped, they sought provisions.”

The most recent fight over the land began in 1982 when the Bureau of Land Management issued 47 leases to energy companies to drill for oil and gas in approximately two thirds of the area, although over time all but 18 of those leases have been retired or withdrawn. 

The Blackfeet Nation contests the validity of those leases, which they say should have required consultation with the tribes and an environmental assessment before being issued.

In 1993, the Department of the Interior suspended drilling activities and the suspension was continued indefinitely in 1998 until a cultural resources inventory could be completed.

The remaining leases are held by several energy companies, including Solenex, owned by Sidney Longwell. 

After waiting more than 30 years for the government to approve drilling activities under the leases, Longwell filed suit against the U.S. Department of the Interior in 2013. He alleged that the permitting action had been unreasonably delayed and that the federal government was failing to live up to the terms of the contract.

Beyond the cultural significance of the area, environmental groups, including the National Parks Conservation Association, have lined up in support of the lease’s cancellation.

“When you get into the fragmentation of the landscape, it’s very difficult for critters to move through it, when you build a protective core and then a moat of industry around it,” said Michael Jamison, the association’s Crown of the Continent program manager. “You have a tremendous natural resource that is connected to a park that is a driver of a whole region’s economy, and on top of that it’s as special as it gets to a whole culture of people.”

Montana’s federal delegation is split on the issue. 

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., has supported the tribes’ request, urging the Obama administration to cancel the leases, while Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., said in a statement from his office that he supports upholding the lease holders’ rights “while also working to ensure the unique heritage of the Badger-Two Medicine area is protected.”

Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., said in an interview Tuesday that he wants to work on an agreement that would satisfy both parties.

“I don’t support arbitrarily canceling leases, because that’s a contract,” he said. “I understand the tribe and the sensitivity of that area, and if the government is going to pull out of the leases, they would have to either provide compensation or make other leases available with similar prospects.” 

Tribal leaders did not rule out the possibility of an agreement to buy out or trade the leases for similar leases on reservation land, but were firm that they would not accept drilling in the Badger-Two Medicine. 

Old Person relayed the warning of tribal elders who had seen generations of intrusions into the tribes’ traditional lands:

“Watch out for those people that are going to come in from the back door and continue taking what they have been taking.”

Reporter Samuel Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com