In November 2016, Peter Aengst witnessed a Native American Tribal win decades in the making when Interior Secretary Sally Jewell canceled 15 energy exploration leases in the Badger-Two Medicine Area – 130,000 acres of national forest surrounded by the Blackfeet Reservation and Glacier National Park – barring the drilling of lands sacred to the tribe.

The issue dates back to President Ronald Reagan’s administration, which improperly authorized 47 oil and gas drilling leases in the Badger-Two region of northwest Montana. Upon canceling the leases, Jewell acknowledged that area never should have been opened for oil and gas leasing, and that legally required environmental analyses and tribal consultation were not completed before the leases were issued. Aengst has been involved in the fight since he started at the Wilderness Society 14 years ago, and was instrumental in 2006 legislation that permanently removed this area and adjacent wildlands to the south from any new leasing.

"For decades the tribe has opposed any energy development of this area," Aengst said. "I traveled to Washington, D.C. with leaders of the tribe for the signing ceremony, which was incredibly moving and rewarding."

The CEO of Devon Energy, David Hager, also attended the ceremony. The company voluntarily accepted the cancellation of their leases, and Hager said the company felt this was the right thing to do given how significant the land is to the Blackfeet people. Although a significant success story, Aengst's work at Badger-Two isn't done. Another leaseholder, Solenex LLC, is currently suing in federal court to challenge the government’s cancellation of their leases and to force the U.S. Forest Service to give it a permit to drill in the area.