Cameron Evans - Montana Wildlife Federation

Poll: Montanans Strongly Support New Common-Sense Oil & Gas Leasing Reforms

October 21, 2025August 13, 2024 by Cameron Evans

In a state where public lands and wildlife are cherished, it’s no surprise that Montanans are rallying behind new measures to protect them. A recent poll conducted across Montana demonstrates overwhelming support for the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) new onshore oil and gas rule, which aims to reform how oil and gas development occurs on our public lands. The poll also revealed significant backing for limiting new oil and gas development in Southwest Montana.

The poll, commissioned by the Montana Wildlife Federation and conducted by New Bridge Strategy, surveyed Montanans statewide. The results are clear: There’s broad support among Montanans for common-sense oil and gas reforms.

“Montanans have made it clear that they value responsible energy development that also protects our public lands and wildlife habitats,” said Frank Szollosi, Executive Director of the Montana Wildlife Federation. “BLM’s oil and gas rule ensures that companies are held accountable for cleaning up their messes and that Montana taxpayers receive a fair return from energy development. This poll shows that the people of Montana stand firmly behind these common-sense reforms.”

The poll also demonstrates bipartisan support for a number of elements of the BLM’s oil and gas rule and stands in contrast to Senator Steve Daines’ recent resolution to dismantle the reforms. In fact, a majority of Montanans say that the oil and gas rule is common sense, including 60% of Republicans.

Key finding:

Montanans overwhelmingly support the four main components of BLM’s new oil and gas rule, with intense support for most policies:

Strong support for clean-up responsibility: 96% of Montanans support requiring oil and gas companies to pay for the clean-up of public lands after drilling.
Increased royalty fees: 84% of Montanans support increased royalty fees that match the state of Montana’s rates.
Prioritizing conservation: 77% of Montanans statewide and 82% in Southwest Montana support prioritizing conservation of lands near rivers and streams or with threatened wildlife, on par with oil and gas drilling.
Prioritizing productive leasing: 69% of Montanans favor leasing in areas with a high likelihood of oil and gas production, avoiding speculative leasing that ties up public lands unnecessarily.

The poll results also reflect strong support for limiting oil and gas development in Southwest Montana, particularly in areas like the Big Hole and Beaverhead watersheds. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has an opportunity to do just that in its pending sage grouse plan, which is aimed at protecting the habitats of the greater sage grouse. Oil and gas leasing and development pose significant threats to sage grouse and Southwest Montana’s rivers by causing direct loss of sagebrush habitat and creating disturbances from roads and infrastructure. The support shown in the poll underscores Montanans’ desire to remove the threat of leasing from Southwest Montana.

About the poll: The survey was conducted from July 15-21, 2024, among 500 registered voters statewide, with an additional 300 respondents from Southwest Montana.

View the poll here:

Montana Wildlife Federation Southwest Montana Key Findings

Montana Wildlife Federation Montana Statewide Key Findings
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Victory for Montana: BLM Finalizes Oil and Gas Rule to Protect Public Lands and Taxpayers

June 6, 2024 by Cameron Evans

The Montana Wildlife Federation applauds the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for finalizing its new oil and gas leasing rule. These long-awaited reforms represent a significant step forward for responsible energy development on public lands in Montana.

For too long, outdated leasing terms gave Montanans the short end of the stick. Over the past decade alone, Montanans have been deprived of a staggering $120 million in revenue due to loopholes. The BLM’s new rule addresses these issues head-on, ensuring a fairer return for taxpayers and responsible energy development that maintains wildlife habitat, and ensures oil and gas companies pay their fair share to clean up the messes they make on public lands.

How the BLM’s new rule benefits Montanans:

Hardworking Montana families vs. record profits for out-of-state companies: Stronger clean-up and reclamation requirements ensure companies pay to clean up any mess they make on public lands, preventing abandoned well sites and protecting Montana taxpayers from footing the bill for restoration.
A fair return for Montana taxpayers: The rule protects Montana taxpayers from unfair clean-up costs and ensures our public lands are better managed for local needs, not just oil and gas leasing and drilling. The new reforms provide a fair return to taxpayers by increasing fees for oil and gas development, bringing them in line with the levels required by Montana and other states like Wyoming and Texas.
Reduced impacts on Montana’s wildlife: The rule steers oil and gas development away from important wildlife, recreation, and cultural sites. It reduces “speculative leasing,” which allows the oil and gas industry to tie up land in leases where drilling will never occur due to limited resources.

These changes reflect the values of Montanans. A recent poll found that a resounding 93% of Montanans support requiring oil and gas companies, rather than taxpayers, to pay for all of the clean-up and land restoration costs after drilling is finished. Additionally, 65% of Montanans support only allowing oil and gas companies the right to drill in areas where there is a high likelihood to actually produce oil and gas.

By enacting these reforms, the BLM is listening to Montana communities and prioritizing responsible energy development that benefits us all.

The Montana Wildlife Federation and its members remain committed to defending the oil and gas rule from misguided attempts to turn back the clock. We urge all Montanans to join us in protecting these popular and long-overdue reforms so that Montana’s hard-working taxpayers and families can finally get what they deserve from the development of our publicly owned resources. Together, we can ensure a future where responsible energy development coexists with healthy public lands, thriving wildlife populations, and a strong economy across our great state.

New Federal Rule Transforms Oil & Gas Leasing on Public Lands

April 22, 2024 by Cameron Evans

The Department of the Interior recently announced a final rule to revise the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) oil and gas leasing regulations, marking a major shift towards conserving our public lands and wildlife habitats.

The long-awaited Fluid Mineral Leases and Leasing Process rule represents a substantial advancement in responsible land management and a victory for conservationists, ranchers and all those who enjoy the outdoors—particularly in Montana, where public lands and wildlife are integral to our lifestyle and economy.

“We are thankful the Biden administration took action to protect the interests of Montana hunters and anglers. The oil and gas rule steers oil and gas away from wildlife habitat and family ranches and toward areas with existing resources and development, promoting intact migration routes,” said Frank Szollosi, Executive Director, Montana Wildlife Federation. “These common-sense reforms also protect Montana’s public lands and taxpayers from orphan and abandoned wells by requiring oil and gas companies to clean up any mess they make. The fair policies outlined in the oil and gas rule are long overdue for Montana wildlife and taxpayers.”

The last time the government attempted to reform the DOI’s oil and gas leasing program was in the 1980s, but it failed to address many persistent issues. The new rule is designed to close loopholes that have allowed private companies to exploit public lands for increasing profits. This updated oil and gas rule modernizes our antiquated leasing system to ensure that taxpayers are given a fair share for the use of their public resources. Additionally, the reforms require oil and gas companies to be responsible for the cleanup of their wells post-production, preventing Montanans from facing costly cleanups that jeopardize our wildlife and cherished public lands.

Ending Speculative Leasing

The new rule does not prohibit new oil and gas leasing on federal lands, but will lead to a more balanced leasing process that provides a better return to taxpayers and focuses on oil and gas drilling in areas most likely to be developed. Under this new rule, the BLM will prioritize oil and gas leasing efforts in areas that already have infrastructure or show high potential for production, in an effort to prevent the unnecessary disturbance of pristine landscapes that are valuable for wildlife and ecological health.

In Montana, BLM Dillon field office Resource Management Plan (RMP) identified that about 1.2 million acres, or 86%, of the eligible lands in Montana, have low or very low energy development potential. For decades, oil and gas companies have had the opportunity to lease this land through speculative leasing practices, diverting critical conservation resources for wildlife habitat.

In the last decade alone, nearly 220,000 acres of Montana’s public lands were leased noncompetitively, including in crucial big game habitat and priority habitat for greater sage-grouse. Noncompetitive leasing took all those public lands off the table for other uses while generating nothing for taxpayers, but thankfully the BLM’s new rule will help eliminate the antiquated practice of noncompetitive leasing.

Financial Reforms & Ensuring Taxpayers Receive a Fair Return

The rule updates financial terms to ensure that taxpayers receive a fair return from the exploitation of public lands. It does this by modernizing bonding requirements for leasing, development, and production to ensure taxpayers do not bear the cost of orphaned wells on public lands.

Recent polls have shown that a staggering 96% of Montana voters are in favor of making oil and gas companies financially responsible for post-development clean-up and restoration. This sentiment was further echoed during the BLM’s comment period, where over 260,000 individuals, many of them Montanans, voiced their opinions, with a whopping 99% in favor of the proposed changes.

The rule includes an increase in the royalty rates for oil and gas from 12.5% to 16.67%, aligning these rates with those typically found on state lands. This adjustment ensures a fair return to the public for natural resource extraction and reduces the incentive for extensive oil and gas operations on federal lands.

Notably, the rule also updates bonding rates for oil and gas leases from $10,000 to $150,000, the first update to these rates in over 60 years. This adjustment reflects a more realistic estimate of the costs associated with drilling and the potential risks, ensuring that oil and gas companies bear the costs of any environmental damage, including the clean-up of orphaned and abandoned wells.

The increase in minimum bids from $2 an acre to $10 an acre, along with higher rental rates and a new $5 per acre expression of interest fee, aims to curb speculative leasing. This type of leasing often prevents proper conservation management as it locks up public lands without leading to productive use. The rule also eliminates noncompetitive leasing, which is frequently speculative and results in underutilized lands.

Prioritizing Conservation

This rule is part of a broader effort to ensure that public lands serve multiple purposes — not just resource extraction but also conservation, recreation, and cultural preservation. It limits lease extensions, imposing stricter controls on how long companies can hold onto leases without development, ensuring lands are not tied up unproductively.

This approach not only benefits the environment but also enhances the quality of life for all who rely on these lands for their livelihoods, recreation, and heritage. BLM lands are among the nation’s most iconic open spaces in the West, supporting local economies, providing homes for wildlife, offering access to nature, and preserving countless human stories.

The implementation of these reforms comes after a robust public engagement process where stakeholders, including hunters, anglers, and conservationists, provided input that significantly shaped the final regulations.

Looking Forward: A Balanced Approach to Land Use

As we move forward, this rule promises a more balanced and sustainable approach to oil and gas leasing, reinforcing the importance of our public lands in maintaining biodiversity, supporting local economies, and preserving our heritage. For Montana, this is a crucial step forward in safeguarding our landscapes for future generations, ensuring that our public lands continue to be a source of pride and natural beauty.

This landmark rule is a testament to the power of advocacy and the importance of governmental accountability, reflecting a significant shift towards prioritizing the health of our public lands and the communities that depend on them.

Montanans to Bring Back SB 442 in ’25 Legislature

October 21, 2025April 19, 2024 by Cameron Evans

Members of the historic coalition that worked together to develop Senate Bill 442 with Senator Mike Lang have vowed to bring the bill back next session, saying lawmakers left Montanans with unfinished business after lackluster participation in vote-by-mail poll allowed a controversial veto of the bill to stand. View the results of the poll here.

Senate Bill 442 allocated millions in funding for rural roads for better access to hunting and fishing lands, private land stewardship and conservation, public access, permanent tax relief for disabled veterans’ and helping Montanans deal with substance abuse issues. It garnered widespread support from a coalition of Montanans and received supermajority backing during the 2023 Legislature. Despite the bill’s popularity, it succumbed to a controversial veto and a nearly year-long campaign of delay tactics and political maneuvers from the Gianforte administration designed to thwart a veto override attempt.

The Montana Wildlife Federation, Wild Montana, and the Montana Association of Counties were all partners in litigation to facilitate this veto override ballot process. They say focus will now shift to ensuring lawmakers live up to their prior support of SB 442 because the critical needs that should have been addressed by the legislation are not going away.

The leaders of these organizations issued the following statements:

“Despite broad bipartisan support in the 2023 Legislature, politics became the enemy of good, homegrown policy. Our coalition of hunters, anglers, ranchers, county commissioners, veterans, and Montanans across the state remains united and committed to address these pressing issues,” said Frank Szollosi, Executive Director of the Montana Wildlife Federation. “It’s regrettable that Montanans must face another delay for crucial investments—ranging from improving veteran benefits to repairing county roads to enhancing private and public land wildlife habitat. We’re already laying the groundwork for introducing new bipartisan legislation, and elected officials can count on our commitment to improve Montana’s roads, wildlife habitat and support for our veterans.”

“The circumstances surrounding SB 442 and its veto should be of great concern to Montanans,” said Jason Rittal, Deputy Director of the Montana Association of Counties. “The District Court serves as a critical check in our system, ensuring that loopholes resulting in unconstitutional actions are not allowed. By closing one of these loopholes, the Court did its job and provided the Legislature their opportunity to override. Some legislators do not agree with the Court’s involvement and subsequent decision, which is their prerogative. However, SB 442 is good policy that would have benefited Montana far and wide, and when the 2025 session arrives, County Commissioners throughout the state will again rally in support of another SB 442.”

“Kicking the can down the road didn’t solve any of the problems SB 442 would have addressed,” said Noah Marion, Political and State Policy Director of Wild Montana. “The historic coalition who supports SB 442 is not going away, and we expect to bring back similarly bipartisan and impactful legislation once again. We look forward to working with the multitude of legislators who have claimed they will eagerly support the policy in 2025, even if they refused to support the override. The Governor’s unconstitutional actions and the cynical political gamesmanship by his allies was the only chance he had to stand in the way of such a broadly supported bill, but the Court has been clear that cannot happen again. Unfortunately, Montanans will have to wait yet another year for these investments they so critically need. Rest assured this is not the end.”

Public Lands Rule Reshapes Federal Land Management in the U.S.

April 18, 2024 by Cameron Evans

Today, the U.S. Department of the Interior finalized the “Public Lands Rule,” redefining the management of approximately 245 million acres of federal lands under the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The rule puts conservation, recreation, and renewable energy development on equal footing with traditional land uses such as drilling, mining, and livestock grazing.

“By recognizing conservation as a legitimate use of our public lands, this historic change will excite all Montanans who value our iconic landscapes, waters and wildlife,” said Frank Szollosi, Executive Director of the Montana Wildlife Federation. “This rule prioritizes conservation and public input and will ensure that our lands are managed sustainably for recreational, cultural and economic benefits – not least our $2.9 billion outdoor recreation economy.”

Nearly 40% of all U.S. public lands, predominantly located in the West, are overseen by the BLM. In Montana, the BLM manages over 8 million acres across the state. These lands support local economies and provide habitat for wildlife, while also offering public access and preserving countless narratives of human interaction with the landscape.

For decades, the management of public lands in the U.S. has heavily favored resource extraction activities. The Public Lands Rule represents a significant shift in federal policy by placing an equal emphasis on preserving ecosystems and enhancing public access to natural spaces, alongside economic utilization. This is a critical clarification, as the majority of BLM lands are currently open to extraction and other commodity-driven developments.

Screen Shot 2024 04 18 at 3.31.42 PM — As the world faces staggering nature loss and disappearance of biodiversity, these lands are vital “connective tissue” across the western United States, providing critical corridors for wildlife between big wilderness areas and national parks and refuges, and smaller private, state and county lands. Photo credit Lisa Ballard.

The Montana Wildlife Federation applauds the Biden administration’s new Public Lands Rule and it’s balanced approach to managing the BLM’s multiple-use mission by putting conservation, cultural lands protection, access to nature, wildlife, renewable energy and climate change mitigation on the same level as extraction across the West and Alaska.

The final rule says that the BLM will consider conservation as a use of federal land on par with any other use allowed under the 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act. Notably, conservation will not be prioritized over other uses.

Public and Stakeholder Support

The BLM’s process for developing the rule was both transparent and accessible. A 90-day comment period and numerous public meetings provided meaningful opportunities for the agency to engage with recreationists, tribal communities, ranchers, energy developers, hunters/anglers, and many others who use public lands. The proposal received widespread support—92% of the public comments were in favor of the Public Lands Rule.

This overwhelming support, coupled with endorsements from numerous western lawmakers, local elected officials, governors, and editorial support from newspapers, underscores the rule’s popularity and the public’s desire for a more balanced land management strategy.

Eighty-two percent of voters in the Rocky Mountain West support a national goal of conserving America’s lands and waters in the next decade, including over two-thirds of conservative Republican voters. Similarly, four in five voters also say loss of open natural areas is a problem across the West.

Legal experts, including 8 state attorneys general and 27 law professors, have affirmed that the rule aligns with the BLM’s core mission. The Bureau itself makes clear that all valid existing rights to graze, mine, and drill will not be affected by the rule’s core provisions.

Key Components of the Public Lands Rule:

Balanced Land Management Approach

The BLM’s revised approach introduces a balanced framework that equally weighs conservation efforts against resource extraction, promoting sustainable development and ensuring that logging, mining, and energy production do not overshadow the critical need to protect natural habitats and cultural sites.

Conservation as a Core Use

A central element of the rule is the formal recognition of conservation as a “use” of public lands, a designation that aligns with the 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act. This redefinition enables the BLM to prioritize the protection of intact ecosystems and wildlife migration corridors, which are essential for biodiversity and ecological health.

Climate Change and Ecosystem Protection

The Public Lands Rule also addresses the challenges posed by climate change, such as increased wildfires and droughts, by promoting practices that protect and restore land and water ecosystems.

Introduction of Restoration and Mitigation Leases

An innovative addition to the rule, “restoration leases” and “mitigation leases” will be awarded to entities committed to restoring degraded landscapes and conserving critical habitats. This strategy encourages investments in ecological health and resilience.

Strategic Implementation

The new Public Lands Rule will ensure the BLM has clear direction to support communities in the Western U.S. to build a sustainable future around our shared appreciation for public lands. The implementation of this rule requires thoughtful coordination with various stakeholders, including local communities, tribal nations and conservation groups. This collaborative spirit is essential to successfully balance the multiple uses of public lands while achieving conservation goals.

To ensure the Public Lands Rule is fully implemented and adopted by the agency, public lands supporters need to continue to voice their support.  Now is the time to act. We must take a smarter approach to the public lands, human stories and wildlife that make the American West so unique—before they disappear.

Photo credit: Lisa Ballard