Trout Unlimited buys 4,900 acres on the Rocky Mountain Front
2007-04-13 - Trout Unlimited has purchased 4,900 acres of natural gas drilling leases on the Rocky Mountain Front and will seek to have them permanently retired. This is the second time in a year that the organization has accepted leases. In June 2006, Questar Corp. donated several oil and gas leases on the Front, which will be returned to the Bureau of Land Management and retired. Trout Unlimited officials are hoping that its new acquisitions from Donald Epperson, a private energy investor from Helena, will also be retired. (Great Falls Tribune)

Talks yield 4,300-acre conservation area: Familes put ranch into Front easement program
2007-02-06 - Some of the best grizzly bear habitat on the Rocky Mountain Front has been protected from future development by a Nature Conservancy conservation easement. The agreement covers the 4,354-acre Hager Ranch west of Dupuyer, eight miles north of the Blackleaf Wildlife Management Area and close to other conservation-easement-protected private properties, including the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch. (Great Falls Tribune)

Congress permanently bans new oil and gas leases on Rocky Mountain Front
2006-12-09 - A permanent ban on oil, gas and mineral exploration along Montana's Rocky Mountain Front was included in a last-minute package of tax breaks and other legislation that has cleared Congress. "This is a major, major victory for Montana. We've been working to pass meaningful protections for the Rocky Mountain Front for 30 years," said Montana's Sen. Max Baucus, who added the provision to the larger tax package in the final days of the Senate session. "We finally got it done. We finally protected the Rocky Mountain Front forever. Thirty years from now, our kids and grandchildren will thank us." The drilling provision makes permanent a 1997 moratorium on Rocky Mountain Front exploration and makes it easier to retire existing leases. (Great Falls Tribune)

Groups urging Congress to support Front protections
2006-10-23 - Representatives from more than 30 sportsmen's and outdoors groups have signed a letter to members of Congress asking them to support legislation intended to prevent future gas, oil and mineral exploration in Montana's Rocky Mountain Front. Sen. Conrad Burns inserted the legislation into the Interior Appropriations bill. It would withdraw federal lands along the Front from future leasing and mineral exploration. In their letter, the groups note that recent actions by two energy companies to sell or donate their leases along the Front, combined with Burns' legislation, will help to permanently protect the Front from speculative natural gas exploration. (The Associated Press)

Big Game--Big Business
2006-10-16 - Hunting is big business in Montana. An estiamted 100,000 Montanans and 17,000 non-residents will head ito the mountains and plains in pursuit of elk and deer this season, spending $172 million. Reporter Eve Byron pursues outfitter Chuck Blixrud into the Rocky Mountain Front for a look at the economic role big-game hunting plays in Montana. (Billings Gazette)

Coalition buys Front leases
2006-08-04 - Federal land in the Blackleaf area of the Rocky Mountain Front would be shut down to oil and gas development with Thursday's announcement that a Canadian firm is selling its leases in the area. The Coalition to Protect the Rocky Mountain Front, with financial backing from the Wyss Foundation, announced it is purchasing the mineral leases held by Startech Energy. The second Front leaseholder to give up its stake on the Front, Startech agreed to a privately funded buyout of the leases, which cover 23,310 acres. The 8,460 acres that contain federal mineral rights will be retired. (Great Falls Tribune)

The Front: Door to fun
2006-07-23 - Montana's Rocky Mountain Front is a recreational paradise just down the road from Great Falls. (Great Falls Tribune)

Energy firm donates drilling leases in Front
2006-06-29 - A Utah energy company plans to donate its Rocky Mountain Front drilling leases to Trout Unlimited, the angling group has announced. Questar Exploration and Production Co. has agreed to give up leases covering about 1,700 acres along the Front, the dramatic eastern face of the Rockies that runs from near Lincoln to Glacier National Park. (Billings Gazette)

Burns pitches ban on oil, gas leases
2006-06-28 - A law that provides permanent protection of the Rocky Mountain Front by banning new oil and gas leases on federal lands has been proposed from an unlikely source. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., took steps to prevent new leases from being approved on the Lewis and Clark National Forest and adjacent BLM land on the Front. (Great Falls Tribune)

All beautiful on the Rocky Mountain Front
2006-03-30 - Ralph Waldt is missing the Rocky Mountain Front. After 15 years there, the naturalist misses the rushing streams, the winter, the simple greenness of it all. For so long, it was really the focus on my life,” says Waldt, an author who comes to Missoula next week to give a presentation on the Front's natural values. “I've enjoyed the opportunity for change, but it really is hard to uproot yourself from something that's in your blood.” (Missoulian)

Foundation honors Choteau couple for efforts
2005-12-28 - The Cinnabar Foundation, based in Helena, has honored Choteau residents Gene and Linda Sentz for 20 years of outstanding achievement in melding conservation advocacy and community service. At a Dec. 22 luncheon at the Log Cabin Cafe, Cinnabar Foundation Executive Director Jim Posewitz presented the Sentzes with the Len and Sandy Sargent Stewardship Award. The couple received a commemorative plaque and, on their behalf, the Montana Wilderness Association received a $5,000 grant. Gene is a fourth-grade teacher at Choteau Public Schools and a guest ranch packer and guide in the summers. Nearly 30 years ago, Gene along with others founded the informal Friends of the Rocky Mountain Front to lobby for conservation of the wildlands of the Lewis and Clark National Forest and the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Linda is a registered nurse who works with Peace Hospice in Teton County. She is also heavily involved in the Teton County Food Pantry and is one of the founders of Neighbors Helping Neighbors - an outreach that links those in need with people who can meet those needs. "As active participants in your community, you have brought well-deserved credibility and power to the lengthy debate over the future of the Rocky Mountain Front. Your persistent, reliable and effective work has far exceeded what might be expected of any two people and has been instrumental in preserving the Front as a conservation masterpiece,” wrote Robin Tawney Nichols, the chairwoman of the Cinnabar Foundation Board, in a letter of award to the Sentzes. "Your passion for the landscape and intimate knowledge of the resource issues fueling the lengthy contest for this wild place are enhanced by your equally long-term commitment to the human community of the Rocky Mountain Front." (Choteau Acantha)

Public weighs in: Most favor nonmotorized travel
2005-10-12 - Nearly 98 percent of the people who commented on a proposed Rocky Mountain Front travel plan support traditional horse and foot travel over motorized use of the area, according to an analysis by the Coalition to Protect the Rocky Mountain Front. Among the 37,000 letters received by the Lewis and Clark National Forest, about 3,000 letters were individualized comments from agencies, organizations and individuals. The coalition and the Montana Wildlife Federation hired a former Forest Service consultant to review the comments. That analysis showed that 98 percent of the comments favored Alternative 3, which maintains traditional foot and horse travel and eliminates motorized travel on trails. Of the 2,199 comments made by Montana residents, 76 percent urged the Forest Service to implement Alternative 3. (Great Falls Tribune)

Ban on motorized travel in Front supported
2005-09-15 - Montana fish and wildlife officials advocate ending motorized travel on Rocky Mountain Front trails that will be covered by a management plan the Forest Service is preparing. That action would be best for wildlife and watersheds, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks' regional supervisor wrote in a nine-page statement . "I find the natural values of the Front so compelling that I think this very small portion of Montana should be spared the risk of unnecessary harm," supervisor Mike Aderhold wrote. (Billings Gazette)

New program established to protect habitat along Front
2005-08-11 - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has approved a conservation easement program that could restrict commercial and subdivision development on up to 170,000 acres of private land. Landowners who take part in the program voluntarily can use their land for agriculture, but give up development rigthts in exchange for a one-time fee from the federal government. The goal of the program is to ensure the health of the land by linking private acreage with existing chunks of protected land. (Great Falls Tribune)

Drilling on the Front leases still on hold
2005-08-05 - Natural gas leases on BLM acreage along Montana's Rocky Mountain Front will remain off-limits until a far-reaching study is complete. In the interim, those opposed to drilling are being encouraged to work with leaseholders on trades or buyouts. (Great Falls Tribune)

Gas well a bust
2005-08-05 - The wildcat natural gas well on Flesher pass is a bust. After spending about $10 million to drill 16,000 feet, Suncor Energy of Canada found no natural gas and has decided to plug the well, located near Helena south of the Rocky Mountain Front. (Helena Independet Record)

Protecting the Front for the Future: Agency, landowners working to ward off threat of subdivision
2005-05-15 - Ron and Linda Ingersoll sure their ranch west of Bowman's Corner off Highway 200 remains a rugged place for wildlife and Western lifestyles and never ends up subdivided for expensive vacation homes. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agrees. The agency wants to link private property, such as that owned by the Ingersolls, with other land along the eastern edge of the Continental Divide to form the Rocky Mountain Front Conservation Area to create a permanent safe haven for the bounty of wildlife within a 918,000-acre perimeter. (Great Falls Tribune)

Snowmobile, wilderness groups agree on Front plan
2005-05-10 - After nearly a year of negotiations and poring over trail maps, winter recreationists reached an agreement that would put a portion of the Rocky Mountain Front off-limits to snowmobiles but protect groomed trails throughout the Lincoln area. (Great Falls Tribune)

Protecting Montana's Open Spaces
2005-04-16 - Two pieces of prime ranchland and grizzly habitat along the Rocky Mountain Front will be protected form development, after the Nature Conservancy of Montana secured conservation easements. Joining the state's inventory of 1.4 million acres of protected ag lands is Clay Crawford's 2,000-acre ranch bordering the Blackleaf Wildlife Management Area. (Great Falls Tribune)

Angling for the Front
2005-04-01 - Drilling our last wild places, sacrificing special places like the Rocky Mountain Front, will not solve our energy woes. (Big Sky Journal -- 2005 Angling Issue)

Baucus joins push to urge energy companies to sell, trade Front leases
2005-03-25 - Those who oppose oil and gas development on federal lands in the Rocky Mountain Front are pressing the energy companies that hold mineral leases to sell or trade those rights. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., met with the Coalition to Protect the Rocky Mountain Front and the Blackfeet Tribe, and agreed to write a letter supporting such a move. (Great Falls Tribune)

The Bob and the Front: "Backbone of the World" sacred to Blackfeet Nation
2004-10-10 - Montana's Rocky Mountain Front and Bob Marshall country--immense pieces of the Northern Rockies--are intrinsically linked and shouldn?t be separated. Together they are one of the most cherished landscapes in the nation. Story and photos by Rick and Susie Graetz. (Billings Gazette)

Far-reaching BLM study puts Front drilling on hold
2004-10-06 - The BLM's surprise decision last week to halt permit work on three controversial gas wells west of Choteau is part of a broader plan that will halt drilling on the Rocky Mountain Front for at least the next four years. (Great Falls Tribune)

Report says oil drilling on Front would be costly
2004-10-01 - Opponents of natural-gas drilling on the Rocky Mountain Front tried to buttress their argument with a report finding development could cost the Front's Teton County more than it would gain. (Great Falls Tribune)

Analysis: 99 Percent of Responses Oppose RMF Drilling
2004-09-22 - More than 99 percent of the 49,180 comments the federal BLM has received on proposed drilling on the Rocky Mountain Front oppose energy development here, according to a Wilderness Society analysis. (Choteau Acantha)

Should Drilling be Allowed Along Rocky Mountain Front?
2004-09-09 - A book would need to be written to fully explain and diagram the ongoing discussions and controversy that surround the prospect of drilling on Montana's Rocky Mountain Front. Reporter Michael Hicks weighs the arguments on both sides. (Cut Bank Pioneer Press)

Battle for Hall Creek
2004-06-13 - Summary: This two-part series details what's at stake in the 22-year conflict over drilling Hall Creek in the Front's Badger-Two Medicine, an area sacred to the Blackfeet Nation. (Great Falls Tribune)

Poll Finds Solid Support for Trading Oil, Gas Leases to Protect Rocky Mountain Front
2004-06-02 - Montana voters strongly support the idea of swapping oil and gas leases in the Rocky Mountain Front in exchange for leases in less sensitive areas, a recent poll done fora group promoting the idea shows. (Helena Independent Record)

Baucus Proposes Trade, Sale of Front Drilling Leases
2004-05-18 - Montana Sen. Max Baucus called on the BLM to conskider a plan to permit leaseholders in the Blackleaf Canyon of the Rocky Mountain Front to trade or sell their mineral leases. Supporters say a buy-out of these leases would permanently solve the disagreement over drilling in the area. (Missoulian)

Drilling supporters few at Great Falls open house
2004-05-04 - Nearly all the 110 Grreat Falls-area residents attending a forum to discuss drilling for natural gas in the Rocky Mountain Front had one word for the BLM: "No." Attendees raised concerns that roads and development will interrupt a one-of-a-kind wild area. (Great Falls Tribune)

Talk of Gas Drilling Splits Pro-Bush Factions in the West
2003-11-04 - CHOTEAU, Mont. -- The Great Plains smacks into the Rockies just west of here. The collision of flatness and verticality results in the Rocky Mountain Front, the only place in the West where large numbers of grizzlies, elk and bighorn sheep still wander out of the mountains and take their leisure on the grassy plain. Bush Administration-supported proposals to drill for natural gas here and other scenic areas around the West have pitted conservatives against one another over whether such places should be shielded from development. (Washington Post)

Groups: Oil, Gas Leasing on Front Illegal
2003-07-25 - A coalition of environmental groups has formally challenged the validity of energy leases issued on the Rocky Mountain Front some 20 years ago, arguing the lands were opened to development without adequate environmental review. (Helena Independent Record)