The U.S. Forest Service has given an historic advisory council until late September to weigh in on a proposal by a Baton Rouge company to drill for natural gas near Glacier National Park.
The Associated Press reports Lewis and Clark National Forest Supervisor William Avey says in a letter sent Tuesday that he wants recommendations from the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation by Sept. 21.
Baton Rouge-based Solenex LLC is seeking to drill on land held sacred by the Blackfoot tribes of Montana and Canada. The company’s 6,200-acre energy lease has been held up for decades while federal officials consider the potential impacts of drilling.
Historic advisory council spokesman Bruce Milhans says an appointed panel will review the matter and visit the northwest Montana site before offering recommendations. Solenex had wanted to begin drilling this summer on its 6,200-acre federal energy lease in the Badger-Two Medicine area.
A federal judge delivered a win for the company last month by pressing U.S. officials to explain why it has taken three decades to decide on its proposal to drill for natural gas in the area. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon called the delay “troubling” and a “nightmare” during the court hearing. He ordered the Interior and Agriculture departments to report back to him with any other example of where they have “dragged their feet” for so long.
The Interior Department issued the energy lease to Solenex in 1982, and the Forest Service in 1996 asked for it to be suspended so the agency could perform a historic preservation survey of the site. That was completed in 2012, but no final decision has been made on whether the lease should remain in place.
