It's been a year and a half since drilling opponents declared victory on the picturesque, wildlife-rich Front. In December 2006, Congress approved a permanent ban on energy development from federal land in the region.
Since then, millions of dollars have been spent by private groups and the government to purchase conservation easements and buy back leases held by energy companies.
Another state agency - Fish, Wildlife and Parks - and two conservation groups have asked the DNRC to defer the auction.
"The Rocky Mountain Front is a special place for wildlife, and it's a special place for sportsmen," said T.O. Smith with Fish, Wildlife and Parks. "It's inconsistent for the state to continue leasing along the Rocky Mountain Front, when the federal government has made a commitment through legislative action to not lease or develop."
Prized for its dense populations of grizzly bears, elk and mule deer, the Front stretches for about 100 miles through central Montana. Its craggy peaks rise from the Great Plains south of Glacier National Park to mark the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains.
The June 10 auction includes a 520-acre tract beneath the state's Blackleaf Wildlife Management Area.
DNRC director Mary Sexton said her agency intends to go through with the auction - although with a recommendation to the state land board to impose some conditions on development.
She said the state is obligated to auction leases as a way to generate revenue from publicly owned land.
"If we don't lease, we're not following the mandate of getting revenue," she said.
Companies would have to conduct environmental reviews and, in the case of the Blackleaf, use directional drilling to access the lease's gas reserves from outside the refuge.
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