Putting one of the West's most vibrant landscapes at risk, the Bureau of Land Management has begun reviewing new proposals for natural gas drilling on public lands in the heart of Montana's Rocky Mountain Front. The Front, a 100-mile-long ridge of granite cliffs overlooking the Great Plains, is a key migratory route linking America's largest herd of bighorn sheep, as well as grizzly bears, elk and wolves, to the vast ranges of the Canadian Rockies.

In 1997, with strong public support, the Forest Service banned new leasing in the Rocky Mountain Front for 10 to 15 years. But the agency's decision did not apply to preexisting leases, and Canada's Startech Energy is now pushing to drill three gas wells inside grizzly bear habitat in the Front's Blackleaf area. Energy development would scar this wild region with roads and drill pads, contaminate air and water and create around-the-clock lights and noise -- all for just a two-day U.S. supply of natural gas, according to the BLM's own estimates.

http://www.savebiogems.org/yellowstone/takeaction.asp