Groups Head to Court to Protect Grizzlies

by Dan Heilig

In Yogi Berra’s famous words, "it’s déja vu all over again."

For more than a decade, in defiance of overwhelming public opposition, the U.S. Forest Service has tried repeatedly to lease large blocks of public lands in the Shoshone National Forest for oil and gas development. And each time citizens have been there to counter the efforts. Here we go again.

In February, Hudson Oil Company, a small independent energy firm based in Casper, purchased two oil and gas leases totaling 1,776 acres at the southern end of the Absaroka Range in the Brent Creek/Ramshorn Peak area northwest of Dubois. A third lease, offered in the Grass Creek area, received no bids, but remains available for purchase for the next two years.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has identified the Brent Creek area as an important wildlife travel corridor, year-round habitat for grizzly bears and a calving ground for the renowned Wiggins Fork elk herd. (Because this large herd is free-ranging and does not congregate on winter feedgrounds, where diseases are easily spread, these elk are brucellosis-free.) According to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, 18 radio-collared grizzly bears frequent the Brent Creek area. The area also provides key habitat for three other species protected by the Endangered Species Act: gray wolves, lynx and northern goshawks.

In January, WOC, the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, American Wildlands, the Dubois Wildlife Association and the Sierra Club sent a 60-day notice to the U.S. Forest Service and USFWS announcing our intent to file a lawsuit to void the leases. On April 4, having received no response, Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund sued in federal court on behalf of eight conservation groups. (In addition to those listed above, plaintiffs include the Native Forest Network, the Northwest Wyoming Resource Council and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition.) The lawsuit argues that the Endangered Species Act requires the USFWS to determine — through consultation with the Forest Service and the BLM before the leases are issued — that development won’t cause harm to the bear or its habitat. Earthjustice’s Doug Honnold and Robert Wiygul are representing us in this important suit.