U.S. OKs Billionaire’s Montana Oil Well

A federal land agency on Monday upheld billionaire Philip Anschutz’s right to drill an exploratory oil well in an area of south-central Montana where Native American tribes want to preserve sacred rock drawings.

The site, called Weatherman Draw, has become an early flash point for the Bush-Cheney energy plan, which aims to ease access for oil and natural gas exploration on public lands.

Environmental groups, preservationists and 10 tribes had appealed a Bureau of Land Management decision to allow drilling by a company owned by Anschutz, a major contributor to Republican Party causes who owns the Los Angeles Kings and who has stakes in the Los Angeles Lakers and Staples Center.

Opponents will now take their case to the U.S. Interior Department, where they will seek a ban on drilling in the 4,268-acre site, which harbors some of the best examples of rock drawings in the high plains. They are angered that the BLM did not weigh effects of an eventual oil field, should the exploratory well prove fruitful.

The BLM did respond to concerns over vandalism that could occur when Anschutz improves an abandoned cattle road that leads to within a half-mile of the site. Anschutz will have to post a security guard and maintain a locked gate at the road entrance.

“My feeling is, it’s putting lipstick on a pig--it’s still a pig,” said the Sierra Club’s Kirk Koepsel.

There was no immediate comment from the Anschutz Co. or its subsidiary, Anschutz Exploration Corp., both based in Denver.

After years of regulatory delay, the BLM granted Anschutz permission to drill less than two weeks after the inauguration of President Bush, whose party and campaign received more than $300,000 from Anschutz.

The permit won’t take effect for 30 days, to allow for the appeal to the Interior Department, which can issue an additional stay during its 45-day decision period.