Montana Public Radio

U.S. Department of Interior

US: Coal Mine Expansion To Have Minor Climate Impact

By Matthew Brown - Associated Press • Oct 6, 2016
USDA NRCS

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. officials approved a 117 million-ton expansion of a Montana coal mine after concluding that burning the fuel would have a minor impact on the nation's overall greenhouse gas emissions, according to documents released Thursday.

Interior Defends Badger-Two Medicine Lease Cancellation

By • Oct 4, 2016
Map of Solenex lease site in the Badger-Two Medicine near Glacier National Park
Courtesy Montana Wilderness Association

The federal government says a lawsuit challenging their authority to deny an oil and gas lease in the Badger- Two Medicine area next to Glacier National Park should not go to trial.

Interior Asks For Extension In Badger-Two Medicine Lawsuit

By • Sep 28, 2016
Solenex well site is the last remaining oil lease in Badger-Two-Medicine.
Corin Cates-Carney / Montana Public Radio

This week the U.S. Department of the Interior asked a federal judge to give them more time to respond to a lawsuit over canceled oil and gas leases in the Lewis and Clark National Forest. 

The former lease owner is suing. Earlier this month, lawyers for Louisiana based Solenex LLC asked the court to find that the Secretary of the Interior acted outside the law when canceling their 33-year old lease. 

Zinke Bill To Lift Coal Lease Suspension Advances In Congress

By • Sep 8, 2016
U.S. Capitol
flickr user Tim Evanson (CC-BY-SA-2)

A bill that Republican Congressman Ryan Zinke is pushing to lift the Obama Administration's suspension on coal leases on federal lands made progress in the House Thursday.

Wildlife Advocates To Sue For Yellowstone Bison Protections

By Matt Volz - Associated Press • Jul 12, 2016
Bringing bison back to the Blackfeet Reservation and their historic range on land that now belongs to the U.S. Forest Service, like the Badger-Two Medicine and Chief Mountain, is a vision eight years in the making.
(PD)

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Wildlife advocates will use the courts to try to force the U.S. government to evaluate whether Yellowstone National Park bison are a threatened or endangered species after federal officials rejected their petition earlier this year to protect the national mammal.

Bullock's Energy Plan To Develop All Montana's Energy Resources

By • Jun 21, 2016
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D)
Corin Cates-Carney / Montana Public Radio

On Tuesday, Governor Steve Bullock released a plan to guide Montana’s energy future.

Oil And Gas Lease Near Glacier Canceled

By • Mar 17, 2016
Solenex well site is the last remaining oil lease in Badger-Two-Medicine.
Corin Cates-Carney / Montana Public Radio

The Obama administration has canceled a long disputed oil and gas lease in the Badger-Two Medicine area of the Lewis and Clark National Forest, a few miles from Glacier National Park.

Environmentalists Prevail In Spring Creek Mine Lawsuit

By Claire Burgeson • Jan 22, 2016
Court news

Three environmental groups prevailed in a lawsuit challenging expansion of the Spring Creek mine near Decker.

Proposed Rules Target Oil, Gas Waste On Public Lands

By Jackie Yamanaka - Yellowstone Public Radio • Jan 22, 2016
Oil pump.
Dan Boyce

The federal government today proposed new rules to reduce the amount of natural gas released into the atmosphere from oil and gas operations on public and tribal lands.

Montana Officials Oppose Mining Limits Aimed At Protecting Sage Grouse

By Matthew Brown - Associated Press • Jan 20, 2016
Sage grouse.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Pacific Southwest Region (PD)

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Montana's governor and attorney general objected Wednesday to a federal proposal to withdraw almost a million acres of public land in the state from future mining to protect greater sage grouse.

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