IN THE COURTS
Coalbed Methane Leasing. WOC’s appeal to the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver was argued in June by attorney Susan Daggett of the law firm Earthjustice. The appeal seeks to reverse the Wyoming District Court’s decision to overturn an earlier decision by the Department of the Interior’s Board of Land Appeals that held BLM issued federal oil and gas leases in the Powder River Basin without first taking a hard look at the unique and potentially severe impacts of coalbed methane extraction as required by federal law. A decision is expected late this year or in 2005. Contact: Bruce Pendery

GREATER YELLOWSTONE ECOSYSTEM/UPPER GREEN RIVER VALLEY
South Piney Natural Gas Development Project. The release of the draft environmental impact statement for Infinity Oil & Gas’s 210 natural gas wells along the scenic east flank of the Wyoming Range west of Big Piney has been pushed back to later this summer. WOC and others plan to ensure any development does not destroy the unique and important resources in this area. Contact: Bruce Pendery

Bridger-Teton National Forest Oil and Gas Leasing Project. Forest officials have provided advance notice of their intent to allow the BLM to offer oil and gas leases covering approximately 140,000 acres of habitat for Canada lynx, gray wolves, grizzly bears, and other unique species in the Wyoming Range. The Forest Service’s decision to lease these parcels is based on cursory environmental assessments prepared more than ten years ago. WOC is insisting that the Forest Service and BLM fully disclose impacts to important resources and wildlife in this area before any leases are issued. Contact: Marisa Martin

Wyoming Range Lynx. In April, WOC, in partnership with Defenders of Wildlife, appealed the approval by the BLM of two gas wells in critical Canada lynx habitat. The threatened lynx is protected under the Endangered Species Act. The Wyoming Range, where the wells are proposed, once had the highest populations of lynx in Wyoming, and was recently home to two radio-collared lynx. Despite the proven importance of the area for this rare forest cat, BLM pushed ahead with the approval of these wells without adequately considering the impacts on the lynx. Fortunately, drilling does not appear to be imminent, but if the status changes, WOC and Defenders plan to file a lawsuit to stop the drilling. Contact: Bruce Pendery

TRAINING OPPORTUNITY IN LARAMIE

Are you interested in learning more about community organizing? Is there an issue that you care about and would like to help bring to public attention? Do you want to learn how to work with the media in a more effective way? Or would you just like to network with other activists from Wyoming?

Well you might want to check out a Principles of Community Organizing Training Session in Laramie on August 22-25.

The workshop, which is sponsored by the Powder River Basin Resource Council and run by the Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC), focuses on helping participants sharpen their skills in everything from fundraising and membership recruitment, to building and maintaining local groups, developing issues campaigns, planning and taking action, developing leaders, and working with the media.

For more information or to register, contact Pennie Vance of PRBRC at 307-752-1059.

Questar winter drilling. Year-round drilling in crucial winter range is believed to adversely affect mule deer and other ungulates by disturbing the animals when they are most vulnerable. To address this concern, the BLM has generally prohibited oil and gas drilling in crucial winter range during the winter season. Unfortunately, the National Energy Policy’s emphasis on drilling and natural gas production is eroding this longstanding policy and placing increasing pressure on BLM to approve industry requests for permission to drill year-round on winter range. A prime example of this is taking place on the Pinedale Anticline.

Despite objections and legal challenges from WOC and others, Questar has drilled throughout the winter for the past two winters on crucial winter range in the Pinedale Anticline natural gas project area on the Mesa, west of Pinedale. Now they are proposing to drill year-round for the next ten years. Before this can happen, Questar would have to receive exceptions from the BLM’s existing resource management plan as well as other policies that govern drilling in this sensitive wildlife area. Unfortunately, based on the BLM’s approval of such exception requests in the past, WOC believes the BLM will grant Questar’s proposal and is preparing for the inevitable legal challenge.

WOC recently met with Governor Freudenthal regarding Questar’s proposal, urging him to encourage the BLM to hold off on a decision until the project’s costs and benefits are disclosed and environmental analyses on the impact of winter drilling on mule deer completed. Contact: Marisa Martin

Togwotee Highway Reconstruction. The Togwotee Pass Highway Reconstruction Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision was released in March and construction is scheduled to begin next season. WOC’s Meredith Taylor will represent the conservation community on an advisory committee during the project. In that capacity, she will continue to advocate that the road construction takes into consideration wildlife habitat and road crossings, wetlands, local economic concerns, and other issues. Contact: Meredith Taylor

Pinedale RMP. The Pinedale Resource Management Plan should be released sometime this summer. Since the revised RMP will guide the BLM’s land-use decisions for the next one to two decades, this revision is critical to the future health of the Upper Green River Valley’s public lands, wildlife and communities. WOC, along with several other groups, submitted a "Responsible Energy Development" proposal to the BLM for consideration during this process. The conservation proposal encourages the BLM to incorporate "doing it right" principles into the RMP to ensure that the unique qualities of the Upper Green River Valley—such as wildlife, water and air quality and community values—are safeguarded while oil and gas development continues. In addition, in June, Governor Freudenthal submitted comments to the BLM advocating the same position WOC has long held regarding interim lease sales: the BLM should defer any additional leasing in the Pinedale area until the RMP is finalized. Contact: Marisa Martin

Restoring Wild Patterns. WOC’s Meredith Taylor has been presenting the Wyoming Council for the Humanities ‘Ancient Corridors’ program to the public throughout the spring and early summer. The program highlights western Wyoming’s prehistoric migration paths. WOC also continues to help educate private landowners about the options they have for reducing barriers to wildlife migration on their property. These options include wildlife-friendly fencing and road designs. Finally, we are currently preparing to nominate Trapper’s Point, a bottleneck in a migration corridor that has been in use for thousands of years, for inclusion in the National Historic Register. Contact: Meredith Taylor

Clarks Fork seismic project. BLM has proposed a seismic project along the Clarks Fork River on the eastern edge of the Shoshone National Forest and within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. This area is increasingly important habitat for grizzly bears, but the BLM did not adequately analyze the seismic project for its potential effects on this species. Also, the Cody BLM office has not finalized its programmatic review of endangered species like grizzly bears. WOC commented on the scoping process for this project. We just received the BLM’s decision to approve it in spite of our concerns and are now discussing our options for future action. Contact: Marisa Martin

RED DESERT/GREAT DIVIDE
Jack Morrow Hills Coordinated Activity Plan. After years of comments, testimony, grassroots organizing, and public relations, WOC is bracing for the release of the Jack Morrow Hills plan in mid-July. Watch for alerts and get ready with your comments. Contact: Tova Woyciechowicz

Proposed legislation for the Red Desert. The Friends of the Red Desert Coalition has finalized its proposed legislation to designate approximately 320,000 acres within the 620,000 acre Jack Morrow Hills study area as the "Northern Red Desert National Conservation Area." The proposed conservation area stretches from Steamboat Mountain and the Sands all the way to Oregon Buttes and includes a portion of the South Pass historic landscape. Contact: Marian Doane

Videos document the beauty of the Red Desert. This summer WOC is moving into new media areas. Both WOC’s Communications Director Leslie Gaines and Arizona Public Television are producing video programs highlighting the Red Desert. Mac Blewer provided guidance and expertise to both teams. Special thanks to Becker Holland; Montana State University film student Jo Young; soundman Mike Barnitt; Tom Bell; Charlie Wilson and Wind River Pack Goats; Chris McIllrath of Rent-a-Wreck in Lander; Keith Olsen of Interscreen TV in Largo, Fla.; and John Mionczynski for their support and hard work. Contact: Leslie Gaines

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
Solid Waste Management. As reported in the last Frontline, the DEQ’s Solid and Hazardous Waste Division is using a stakeholder-based process to develop policy recommendations for improving the management of municipal solid wastes. The Citizens’ Advisory Group on Solid Wastes has met three times since January. The group discussed solid waste and recycling laws in other states and drafted a list of recommendations and incentives to improve recycling rates, accelerate remediation of leaking landfills, and entice communities to contribute to the development of lined regional landfills. WOC’s Michele Barlow represented the conservation community on the advisory group. The group’s final recommendations will be released in July, 2004. Contact: Dan Heilig

STATEWIDE
Blue-Green Alliance forged. Approximately 30 people from the labor and conservation communities—including representatives from WOC—met in Rock Springs in June to discuss concerns about the impacts from oil and gas development on wildlife and recreational resources in Wyoming. The alliance includes the United Steel Workers of America, the Labor Institute, the Public Health Institute, the Friends of the Red Desert, the Powder River Basin Resource Council, and WOC. This historic meeting showed that the labor and conservation communities share many concerns about Wyoming’s future. The two groups agreed that some of the places targeted by the oil, gas and coallbed methane industries in the state should be off-limits to further energy development. They also released a statement calling for "smart growth" in Wyoming and said the boom-bust cycles of the energy industry don’t support or promote either job stability or a healthy environment. The group agreed to work together to build an active alliance that will be important for further grassroots campaigns across Wyoming but especially for the Red Desert, the Upper Green, the Great Divide and the Powder River Basin. Contact: Tova Woyciechowicz

Oil and Gas Lease Sale Protests and Appeals. Every two months the Wyoming office of the BLM offers oil and gas lease parcels for sale. Sometimes more than 100 parcels affecting many thousands of acres of public land are up for grabs at these sales. So every two months, if we determine the BLM has failed to provide legally required environmental protections or procedures, WOC protests the offering of parcels we believe have important wildlife values, historical or cultural resources, or could adversely affect owners of "split-estate" lands, among other concerns. As often as not, BLM denies these protests, but not always, and in some cases WOC then appeals the denial to the Department of the Interior’s Board of Land Appeals (IBLA). Currently WOC has several appeals of oil and gas lease sales before the IBLA raising issues ranging from compliance with the Endangered Species Act to the need to adequately consider the impacts of coalbed methane development. Contact: Bruce Pendery

WATERSHEDS
Bill Barrett discharge permits in Niobrara County. WOC has filed an administrative appeal before the Wyoming Environmental Quality Council opposing the Bill Barrett Corporation’s request for two discharge permits that will allow the company to dump 7.8 million gallons of coalbed methane produced water per day into Antelope Creek, a tributary of northeastern Wyoming’s Cheyenne River. This volume, while still huge, was reduced from the originally proposed 10.4 million gallons per day following WOC’s opposition. WOC’s concerns range from the DEQ’s failure to consider the specific impacts of CBM produced water and the lack of appropriate discharge limits for pollutants associated with CBM production, to its failure to require Barrett to consider Best Available Technology requirements, the impacts of the discharge on stream ecology, and the inadequacy of the DEQ’s public involvement. The appeal could take up to a year. Contact: Steve Jones