The Huckleberry Hiker: Badger-Two Medicine Protection Act Would Protect 127,000 Acres Near Glacier National Park

Thursday, August 6, 2020

Badger-Two Medicine Protection Act Would Protect 127,000 Acres Near Glacier National Park

In the wake of a federal court decision upholding the cancellation of the final oil and gas lease in the Badger-Two Medicine, U.S. Senator Jon Tester of Montana recently took the final step in his years-long push to permanently protect the sacred area by introducing legislation to designate the 127,000 acres in the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest as the Badger-Two Medicine Cultural Area.

The Badger-Two Medicine is located at the intersection of the Blackfeet Reservation, Glacier National Park, and the Bob Marshall Wilderness.

“A few weeks ago, the Blackfeet Tribe and the people of Montana won a huge victory for our public lands when the last oil and gas lease in the Badger-Two Medicine was remanded to a lower court,” said Tester. “Now it’s time we build on this momentum and continue the fight to safeguard this sacred area, which is why I am introducing legislation that honors the will of the Blackfeet Tribe and of public lands owners across our state by permanently protecting the Badger-Two Medicine for future generations.”

“The Blackfeet Nation has maintained a profound connection to the Badger-Two Medicine since time immemorial,” said Timothy Davis, Chairman of the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council. “It is our last cultural refuge, home to many of our origin stories, a stronghold for our ceremonies and traditions, and until it is permanently protected, we cannot rest. This bill ensures the teaching of our Pikuni ancestors will be fulfilled and we can always be connected with the sacred. We are extremely grateful to Senator Tester for his support and leadership in our effort to protect these sacred lands.”

Tester’s Badger-Two Medicine Protection Act designates 127,000 acres in the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest in Glacier and Pondera counties as the Badger-Two Medicine Cultural Heritage Area. This legislation would build upon existing protections by prohibiting commercial timber harvest, excluding vegetation management; making permanent the existing road construction ban; banning the use of motorized vehicles and mountain bikes; and prohibiting new structures including water facilities, pipelines, or buildings of any kind. Maintenance of existing structures, grazing allotments, and current activities would still be permitted.

The designated area includes no private property, and only one active grazing lease, which would be grandfathered in.

In addition to the management restrictions, the legislation also requires the Forest Service to consider new management proposals put forward by the Tribe, to consult with the Tribe on management twice a year, and it gives the Tribe two 30-day veto windows on proposed new uses at the beginning and end of the environmental review process.

“For decades, the spectacular lands of the Badger-Two Medicine have been overshadowed by a cloud of uncertainty. Now that cloud is lifting,” said Michael Jamison, Crown of the Continent Senior Program Manager for the National Parks Conservation Association. “This legislation is especially powerful, as it not only protects our wild heritage but also gives voice to those who, throughout too much of our history, have not been heard. It’s time to permanently protect the Badger-Two Medicine’s wildlands and wildlife, and to honor forever the Blackfeet Nation’s last cultural refuge.”

The Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service granted 47 oil and gas leases in the sacred Badger-Two Medicine area in 1982 without consulting with the Blackfeet Tribe. The final lease is still pending in the courts, with a strong rebuke and remand to the District Court last month.

Tester has long supported protecting the Badger-Two Medicine, and has repeatedly called on the Department of the Interior to cancel the remaining leases in the area, citing the area's importance to the Blackfeet Tribe and Montana's sportsmen and women.