Gas Debate Quieted on Rocky Front
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HELENA, Mont. — The federal government will no longer consider letting companies drill for natural gas along Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front, the Bureau of Land Management confirmed Saturday, quieting for now one of the state’s hottest environmental debates.
The Front, which stretches about 100 miles along the eastern crags of the Rockies south of Glacier National Park, is home to grizzly bears, elk, bighorn sheep and other wildlife.
“We feel that given the complexity of the issue and the enormous public interest in the Rocky Mountain Front, it would be better to take a step back and thoroughly evaluate all options,” said Celia Boddington, a BLM spokeswoman in Washington, D.C.
The agency suspended work on an environmental impact study for the Front’s Blackleaf area, where a Canadian company wanted to drill for gas. The decision to shelve drilling came at the “highest levels” of the Interior Department, said Marty Ott, the state BLM director.
Critics of drilling in the area said they were relieved.
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