Obama cancels oil/gas leases on Blackfeet tribe sacredground

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Obama administration cancels oil and gas leases on Blackfeet tribe’s sacred grounds
By Steven Mufson and Brady Dennis November 16 at 12:40 PM

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell speaks at a gathering in 2015. (AP/Brennan Linsley)
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.”

Under the terms of the cancellation, Devon is entitled to a refund for all bids and other payments totaling $206,058. Half of that amount will come from a Treasury Department account that receives royalties from onshore oil and gas development and half will come from the state of Montana, which also receives royalty payments. Because the land was never developed and the area remains undisturbed, Devon does not need to pay for any reclamation.

Harry Barnes, chairman of the Blackfeet Nation Tribal Business Council, said in an interview that area has been long been a sacred spot for the tribe.

“A lot of our creation stories emanate from this area. It’s a significant area, it always has been for thousands of years,” Barnes said. “While we’re not opposed to oil and gas exploration, we are opposed to oil and gas exploration in that area.”

He called Wednesday’s settlement a “victory for not only the Blackfeet people, but for all of America. It’s such a beautiful area. It’s Mother Earth, and it needs to be enjoyed by everybody.”

[Showdown over North Dakota pipeline provides lesson in powre and perils of protest]

In March, Jewell announced the cancellation of a lease held by Solonex. Solonex, a Louisiana company, sued for permission to drill on land tied to the leases, which date back to 1982. The department said the lease was improperly issued in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historical Preservation Act.

The Interior Department under President Reagan issued 47 oil and gas drilling leases in Badger-Two Medicine. Later, nearly two thirds of the original leaseholders, including BP and Occidental Petroleum, took advantage of tax incentives established by Congress in exchange for relinquishing the leases in the area. By early this year, only 17 remained.

Devon Energy owned 15 of the remaining leases. Devon, based in Oklahoma City, has more than doubled its oil production since 2011. It is also a major natural gas producer.

“There are special places in this world where we just shouldn’t drill, and the Badger-Two Medicine is one of those places,” Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), said in a statement adding that Wednesday’s settlement ensures the area “will remain pristine for both the Tribe and the folks who love to hunt, hike, and fish near Glacier Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness.”

Leaders of the Blackfeet Tribe – including chairman Barnes and Blackfeet Chief Earl Old Person – are scheduled to attend a screening on Thursday of a film about the controversy over the leases.
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U.S. to pay 17 Indian tribes $492 million to settle long-standing disputes

Traditional Aztec dancers chant during a rally Sept. 13 in San Diego, in support of protesters at Standing Rock, N.D., who are fighting construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. (Sandy Huffaker/AFP/Getty Images)
By Sari Horwitz September 26
The Obama administration has settled lawsuits with 17 Native American tribes that accused the federal government of long mismanaging their funds and natural resources.

With these settlements, the administration will have resolved the majority of outstanding claims, some dating back a century, with more than 100 tribes and totaling more than $3.3 billion, according to the Justice and Interior departments.

“This is an important achievement that will end, honorably and fairly, decades of contention that not only sapped valuable resources but also strained relationships,” said Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates.

The settlements announced Monday, totaling $492.8 million, come at the same time that thousands of Native Americans representing tribes from across the country have joined the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota to protest the 1,172-mile Dakota Access Pipeline, which they say threatens their water supply and traverses sacred Indian burial grounds.

What you need to know about the Dakota Access pipeline protests Play Video3:08
The protest of an oil pipeline that is being constructed close to the Standing Rock Indian reservation has become a rallying point for Native Americans across the United States. Here's what you need to know. (Daron Taylor/The Washington Post)
This month, a federal judge ruled against the Standing Rock tribe’s request to halt construction of the crude-oil pipeline. But the decision by District Judge James E. Boasberg was effectively put on hold when the departments of Justice, Army and Interior announced that the Army Corps of Engineers would not grant an easement before it determines whether it needs to reconsider previous decisions about the pipeline. It has yet to make that determination.

Meanwhile, thousands of Native Americans remain camped out in a nearby field in protest. Native leaders also protested the pipeline Monday in Washington outside the White House Tribal Nations Conference, where tribal leaders met with President Obama.

Many tribal leaders say Obama has done more for Indian Country than any other president. They point to the administration’s efforts to improve the justice system on reservations and work directly with the tribes on long-standing disputes over land, such as the settlements announced Monday.

The 17 tribes affected include the Gila River, Colorado River and San Carlos Apache tribes in Arizona; the White Earth Nation in Minnesota; and Oregon’s Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation. They had accused the federal government of mismanaging trust lands, which are leased for timber harvesting, farming, grazing, and oil and gas extraction, among other uses.

The Interior Department manages about 56 million acres of trust lands for federally recognized tribes and more than 100,000 leases on those lands. The department also manages about 2,500 tribal trust accounts for more than 250 tribes.

“It’s a huge deal when you can sit down with the tribal leaders and see in their faces what this settlement will mean for their tribes and the fact they think they are being heard for the first time in a meaningful way,” said Jim Gette of the Justice Department’s environment and natural resources division.

Four years ago, the Justice and Interior departments reached settlements totaling more than $1 billion with 41 tribes for similar claims. Since then, the departments have settled the claims of 57 more tribes, including those announced Monday. In 2014, the Obama administration agreed to pay the Navajo Nation, located in parts of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico, $554 million in the largest settlement with a single American Indian tribe.

“Settling these long-standing disputes reflects the Obama administration’s continued commitment to reconciliation and empowerment for Indian Country,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in a statement
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