Our Comment on the Proposed Big Hole Oil and Gas Leases

The Bureau of Land Management is proposing to sell nearly 10,000 acres of oil and gas leases in Montana's beloved Big Hole River Valley this spring. We've taken a stand against this plan, and we encourage you to do the same. 

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Environment Montana

The Bureau of Land Management is proposing to sell nearly 10,000 acres of oil and gas leases in Montana’s beloved Big Hole River Valley this spring. We’ve taken a stand against this plan, and we encourage you to do the same. 

The Bureau will collect public comments from November 21 – December 21, 2018. Environment Montana Research & Policy Center has submitted the attached statement as our official comment, which includes the following: 

We believe that fracking has no place in the Big Hole River valley.

Anglers from around the world travel to the Big Hole River region, just for the chance to spend a couple days along its Blue-Ribbon trout streams. It’s a place to find stillness and peace, and it’s also a place where families and friends escape to recharge and reconnect. Clean, cold water is the lifeblood of this community, and oil and gas development would jeopardize this way of life…

Oil and gas development is not worth the risk.

The value of a pristine Big Hole River is worth far more than the fleeting value of the oil and gas we can extract from its watershed… Pushing forward with development on these parcels, despite the significant risks to the region’s natural habitat, wildlife, and way of life, defies both practical and economic sense.

For this reason, we respectfully ask for you to permanently withdraw these parcels from this and future sales. Thank you for your careful consideration of our comments.