by Ellen M. Gilmer

“Blackfeet Chairman Harry Barnes, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and Devon Energy CEO David Hager sign a formal agreement to cancel contentious oil and gas leases in Montana. Photo by Ellen M. Gilmer. The Obama administration today canceled 15 oil and gas leases on Montana land considered sacred by the Blackfeet Nation.

At an announcement and signing ceremony in her office, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell called the decision a “milestone” for protection of lands that “never should have oil and gas leases to begin with.”

Blackfeet leaders, Montana Sen. Jon Tester (D) and Devon Energy Corp. CEO David Hager joined in the announcement. Devon has held the long-suspended leases for years and agreed to relinquish them voluntarily. The leases were in the Badger-Two Medicine area of Lewis and Clark National Forest.

The Blackfeet tribe considers the area, south of Glacier National Park and adjacent to the Blackfeet reservation, sacred.

Interior canceled a separate lease, held by Solenex LLC, earlier this year after the company sued the agency for a final decision. Jewell said at the time that the lease had been issued without proper review. The 15 leases canceled today were also improperly issued, she said, saying that violated the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act and tribal trust responsibilities. “It should not have been leased to begin with,” she said. “It did not follow procedures that we follow today, and I just want to say that they’re painful lessons from the past.”

The leases were issued in the early 1980s under then-Interior Secretary James Watt, who moved to dramatically expand oil and gas development across the West. After backlash from tribal advocates, environmentalists and outdoorsmen, the leases had been suspended ever since.

Blackfeet leaders praised the decision, with Chairman Harry Barnes calling it a victory not just for the tribe, but for all Americans. He noted that the tribe does not oppose oil and gas development generally but opposes drilling in sacred places. “Some things are sacred, special and not to be disturbed,” he said. Blackfeet Chief Earl Old Person, members of the tribal council and Tribal Historic Preservation Officer John Murray also took part in the announcement.

Tester, who has pushed for cancellation of the leases for years, said the decision recognizes that “there are special places in this world where we just shouldn’t drill.”

Hager of Devon Energy said he was grateful to have the opportunity to reach an agreement with Interior and the tribe, and noted that the company prioritizes being a “good neighbor.” Devon, which acquired the Montana leases during a merger, has focused its public lands development on part of the Permian Basin in southeast New Mexico and the Powder River Basin in Wyoming.

Interior will refund Devon $200,000 for payments made on the leases. Meanwhile, litigation over the canceled Solenex lease is moving forward in federal court in Washington, D.C. Two other suspended leases remain in the Badger-Two Medicine area, but Interior has had difficulty locating the owners. Tester noted that he hopes to resolve those two leases this year.”