Trout Unlimited Buys, Retires Western Gas Drilling Leases

A January congressional ban on drilling on the Rocky Mountain Front has paved the way for conservation groups to come in and purchase leases back from oil and gas companies. Trout Unlimited has been one of the first to step in, purchasing 4,900 acres just south of Glacier National Park in Montana. “‘This is land that really isn’t appropriate for oil and gas drilling in the first place, so to see these leases given to TU, and to know they’ll be retired and never drilled is really satisfying,’ [Trout Unlmited spokesman Chris] Hunt said.” Richard Peterson in the Great Falls Tribune.