Obama administration cancels oil and gas leases on Blackfeet tribes sacred grounds
Source: The Washington Post
By Steven Mufson and Brady Dennis November 16 at 12:40 PM
The Interior Department on Wednesday announced a settlement with Devon Energy for the cancellation of leases in Montana for oil and gas drilling on lands considered sacred by the Blackfeet Tribe.
“This is the right action to take on behalf of current and future generations,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said on the department’s Web site. She said it would protect the region’s “rich cultural and natural resources and recognizes the irreparable impacts that oil and gas development would have on them.”
The settlement comes as the Obama administration seeks to wrap up outstanding issues and as Native Americans in nearby North Dakota are protesting to block the construction of an oil pipeline just north of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation. The exploration leases in Montana covered parts of the Badger-Two Medicine area of the Lewis and Clark National Forest in northwest Montana, an expanse that covers a 130,000 acres surrounded by Glacier National Park, the Bob Marshall Wilderness and the Blackfeet Indian reservation.
“There aren’t many places like this left in the lower 48,” said Michael Jamison, a senior program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association, noting that the area is home to grizzly bears, elk, wolves and an array of other wildlife. “It is a tremendously important ecosystem.” The area also is home to the creation story of the Blackfeet, said Chase Huntley, senior director of energy and climate at The Wilderness Society. Huntley said many of the leases were sold for less than $1 an acre and he alleged there was “no effort to reach out to the tribe.”
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/11/16/obama-administration-reaches-deal-to-cancel-oil-leases-on-lands-tied-to-tribe/?utm_term=.3c1fe8fae8f7&wpisrc=nl_evening&wpmm=1
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Go, Obama, Go! 
I really hope that the orange one doesn't try change this after....
