** Controversial oil lease retired in Montana's Badger-Two Medicine
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Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Lewis & Clark National Forest, U.S. Forest Service Northern Region ([link removed])
Members of the Blackfeet nation, along with conservation and hunting advocacy groups can breath a long-awaited sigh of relief now that one of the last two owners of an oil and gas lease located in the Badger-Two Medicine area in Montana has agreed to retire the lease. Jamie Williams, president of The Wilderness Society ([link removed]) , said in a prepared statement, “The Wilderness Society thanks Mr. W.A. Moncrief Jr. for his willingness to negotiate, and we are pleased to have been able to secure the retirement of this lease.”
The Badger-Two Medicine area is sacred to the Blackfeet ([link removed]) and is located between their reservation and Glacier National Park, the Bob Marshall Wilderness, and the Helena/Lewis & Clark National Forest. It is also within an area of Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front that Congress withdrew ([link removed]) from future oil and gas leasing in 2006.
The remaining lease is owned by Solenex, LLC ([link removed]) , a former client of acting BLM director William Perry Pendley. The Bureau of Land Management determined in 2016 that the lease violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historical Preservation Act, but in 2018 it was reinstated. The case is currently being reviewed by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
** Nominee for Interior Deputy Secretary announced
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President Trump announced his intention to nominate ([link removed]) Katharine MacGregor to serve as Deputy Interior Secretary. The role has been filled in an acting capacity since it was vacated by David Bernhardt prior to his confirmation as Secretary in April. MacGregor previously worked on Capitol Hill and joined the Interior Department as an appointee in early 2017.
Quick hits
** Navajo Nation leaders surprised and concerned by decision to take over bankrupt Wyoming coal operations
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Navajo Times ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])
** Controversial oil lease retired in Badger-Two Medicine
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Great Falls Tribune ([link removed]) | Daily Inter Lake ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed]) | Rolling Stone ([link removed]) | Montana Public Radio ([link removed]) | Associated Press ([link removed])
** Federal government extends Utah monument advisory panel while disbanding others across the government
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Bloomberg Government ([link removed])
** Interior Deputy Secretary nominee announced
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E&E News ([link removed])
** Pueblo nations continue the fight to protect Bears Ears National Monument
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KUER ([link removed])
** Suspicion abounds that Pendley's extension as acting BLM director is a step toward an official nomination
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E&E News ([link removed])
** BLM ordered to consider climate impacts of oil and gas development plan in Colorado River Valley
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Aspen Journalism ([link removed])
** Montana Conservation Corps' All Women Fire Crew wraps up another busy fire season
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Bozeman Daily Chronicle ([link removed])
Quote of the day
Only this administration would allow someone like Mr. Pendley — who has spent his entire career advocating for the wide spread sale of public lands — to lead an agency responsible for maintaining our nation's public lands, and fail to put forward a permanent nominee for such a vital position.”
—Senator Michael Bennet, E&E News ([link removed])
Picture this
** @ ([link removed]) YosemiteNPS ([link removed])
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Happy birthday @YosemiteNPS ([link removed]) ! First protected in 1864, this amazing place became our 3rd national park in 1890. Confused? Learn more: [link removed]… ([link removed]) #California ([link removed]) #FindYourPark ([link removed])
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