Blackfeet Hesitant About Proposed National Monument At Badger-Two Medicine

The Badger-Two Medicine is on U.S. Forest Service land, and for decades, the Blackfeet fought against oil companies who leased sections of that land for exploratory drilling. The last of those leases were retired under the Obama administration, and now President Donald Trump is considering whether or not to take protections a step further. This summer, his Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke recommended the president create a new national monument at Badger-Two Medicine. That designation would protect a little over 200 square miles of federal land from any future oil and gas development. While the tribal council supports that, Blackfeet Tribal Chairman Harry Barnes says making Badger-Two Medicine a national monument allows the land to fall under further federal control. “It takes away from our sovereignty and our rights," he says. "So then we have no say on a place that’s sacred and holy to us.” Ideally, they want the land returned to the tribe but Barnes says that’s unlikely. So the council opposes the designation unless the Interior Department allows them to co-manage the monument. “Then we sit at the table and we help make decisions going forward,” Barnes says. Allowing co-management would take an act of congress and that may happen under the Trump administration. Zinke has called on congress to authorize tribal co-management of Bear's Ears National Monument in Utah, and Barnes says Zinke asked the Blackfeet to draft a co-management plan for Badger-Two Medicine.. more .

You don't need a national monument designation to protect a deserving area from oil and gas leasing. The Secretary can issue a wthdrawal order tomorrow that would disallow all mineral development for up to 20 years, or Congress could pass a legislative withdrawal to accomplish the same in perpetuity.