Earthjustice attorney Tim Preso, representing the tribe and conservation groups, argued they needed a seat in the courtroom because they faced risks that the government did not. To start with, the current court case revolves around whether Solenex’s leases were improperly suspended by the Forest Service. The Blackfeet have argued the leases were improperly granted in the first place back in the 1980s.

Preso noted the federal agencies were particularly “doubtful friends” because “as the party admitting wrongdoing, they lack incentive to explain their errors beyond what they deem necessary to support their lease-cancellation decision.” That’s important because the tribe and conservation groups had spent decades unsuccessfully trying to get the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to declare the leases illegal.

The 165,000-acre Badger-Two Medicine area rests next to Glacier National Park, the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. Murray described its significance to the Blackfeet language, belief system and spiritual practices invaluable.

Tribal officials attempted to negotiate a compromise with Solenex for other, less sensitive drilling lands on the Blackfeet Reservation, which has seen oil and gas exploration since the 1920s. Those unsuccessful talks were outside the legal bounds of Solenex’s case against the Forest Service.

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