National monument eyed in Montana as others reduced by Trump

BILLINGS, Mont. – Even as it clashes with American Indians over reductions to national monuments in the Southwest, the Trump administration is engaging with a Montana tribe over the creation of a new monument next to its reservation.

The Blackfeet Indian Tribe has long fought against energy drilling and other development in the 130,000-acre Badger-Two Medicine area, which is sacred to the tribe.

Tribal Chairman Harry Barnes told The Associated Press he sees a “workable solution” in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s proposal to co-manage the area with the tribe.

Barnes said the tribe is unwilling to surrender treaty rights that allow its members to hunt, fish and gather timber from the Badger-Two Medicine.

The mountainous area was part of the Blackfeet reservation until the 1890s.