Company was formerly represented by William Perry Pendley


** Court strikes down last oil leases on sacred land near Glacier National Park
------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, June 17, 2020
Two Medicine Valley in Glacier National Park | Department of the Interior ([link removed])

A federal appeals court has upheld the cancellation ([link removed]) of the last remaining oil and gas leases in Montana's Badger-Two Medicine area. The region, bordered by Glacier National Park, the Bob Marshall Wilderness, and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, is the site of the creation story for the Blackfeet Tribe.

The possibility of oil and gas development in the area has been highly controversial since the Bureau of Land Management issued leases there in 1982. While many companies abandoned plans to develop those leases, one company—Solenex—fought for decades to drill in the sacred region, represented in court ([link removed]) by William Perry Pendley, now the acting BLM director.

"Today’s ruling shows that these companies and their lawyers were not just on the wrong side of history but were also on the wrong side of the law when they waged their 40-year crusade to drill our ancestral land," said ([link removed]) the Blackfeet Tribe.
Quick hits


** Major bill to fund national parks maintenance, Land and Water Conservation Fund set to cross finish line in Senate
------------------------------------------------------------

Roll Call ([link removed]) | KJZZ ([link removed])


** Colorado coal company builds illegal road through roadless area, flaunting court order
------------------------------------------------------------

Colorado Sun ([link removed])


** Years of coal mining on the Navajo Nation have sapped groundwater
------------------------------------------------------------

Bloomberg Law ([link removed])


** Estonian uranium mines look to ship radioactive waste to southeast Utah
------------------------------------------------------------

Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])


** Study finds BLM behind the curve on permitting utility-scale solar energy
------------------------------------------------------------

E&E News ([link removed])


** Oil exploration could leave decades-long scars in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, researchers say
------------------------------------------------------------

Anchorage Daily News ([link removed])


** Climate and energy policy overhauls notably absent from stimulus packages
------------------------------------------------------------

Wyoming Public Media ([link removed])


** Court strikes down last remaining oil and gas leases in Montana's Badger-Two Medicine, area sacred to Blackfeet
------------------------------------------------------------

The Hill ([link removed]) | Associated Press ([link removed]) | Courthouse News ([link removed])
Quote of the day
What we’ve been arguing is that public lands are bipartisan and that they unite us and they bring us together, literally, to heal and to recreate, and also to create jobs, and we are thrilled that this is happening, and we can actually focus on our work better. Instead of having to make sure that there's a pittance of money for this, we're going to actually have a reliable funding source.”
—Tom Cors ([link removed]) , director of government relations for lands at The Nature Conservancy
Picture this


** @BLMNational ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
On this #NaturePhotographyDay ([link removed]) , we travel to@BLMIdaho ([link removed]) 's Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area, home to greatest concentration of nesting birds of prey in North America – and perhaps, the world.

============================================================
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Medium ([link removed])
** Instagram ([link removed])
Copyright © 2020 Center for Western Priorities, All rights reserved.
You've signed up to receive Look West updates.

Center for Western Priorities
1999 Broadway
Suite 520
Denver, CO 80202
USA
** View this on the web ([link removed])

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])