I Hunt - I Fish - I Vote
Oil and Gas Lease Sale in Blackleaf Wildlife Management Area Demands Input
Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation will be offering oil and gas lease’s for sale on over 500 acres of the Blackleaf Wildlife Management Area, June 10, 2008. The WMA, owned by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, is management to provide winter range for elk and mule deer, provide public hunting and access to adjacent public lands, and to provide spring and summer habitat for black and grizzly bears. It is part of a network of connected properties that offer winter range for thousands of elk. Bird-watching opportunities include a wide variety of songbirds, raptors, waterfowl, and shorebirds. In May 2007, the WMA was where FWP biologists radio collared a captured 850-pound grizzly bear, the second largest male every recorded south of Canada. 
MWF asked for a deferment on the lease, but we were told that short term gains of a few dollars would be more important than ensuring the long term health of the priceless wildlife and wildlife habitat. The short term financial benefit to state educational programs from oil and gas development is the mandate allowing the lease sales.
While a No Surface Occupancy (NSO) stipulation has been attached, it does not mean that wintering elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer and bighorn sheep will escape the impacts of habitat security interference. Currently, Star-Tech, have a mess left to clean up in the area from prior development, and neither the State, nor the BLM has required that this multi-national conglomeration abide by the terms of their lease stipulations. Furthermore, while the NSO stipulation appears well intentioned, there remains no permanent protection for the state lands along the Front that so many of us use for hunting, hiking, wildlife viewing and other outdoor recreation.
MWF firmly believes that the United States must develop its resources in an ethical and responsible manner and there are places appropriate and inappropriate for drilling. The Rocky Mountain Front is a rare gem with 120,000 acres of wildlife rich state land. MWF believes that some of these lands, including the Blackleaf WMA are inappropriate for drilling.
Please contact the State Board of Land Commissioners and ask that our public estate, our state lands within the Rocky Mountain Front Federal Minerals Withdrawal Area are placed off limits to future leasing until Fish, Wildlife and Parks has a chance to update their 21 year old regulations. In addition, ask that in the meantime FWP, DNRC and the State Land Board reconsider oil and gas development impacts to our state lands in this unique and special area of Montana.
The Montana State Board of Land Commissioners consists of Montana’s five top elected officials. Contact: Brian Schweitzer - Governor, Linda McCulloch - Superintendent of Public Instruction, Brad Johnson - Secretary of State, Mike McGrath - Attorney General, and John Morrison - State Auditor or DNRC Director, Mary Sexton, 1625 Eleventh Ave., Helena, MT 59620 or email to the Secretary of State Brad Johnson , bjohnson@mt.gov.
