If the Powder River Basin, Jonah Field and the Pinedale Anticline are the marquee natural gas plays in Wyoming, the Clarks Fork River is waiting in the wings. This area—near the eastern flank of the Shoshone National Forest, abutting the Beartooth Range and extending from the Clarks Fork Canyon north into Montana—is slated for a significant seismic survey to determine its oil and gas potential. Landowners in the area fear the seismic testing is a harbinger of significant development to come.

The Clarks Fork is not new to oil and gas. Some natural gas wells already exist in the area, but the size and scope of the proposed seismic survey promises to change the scale of this development exponentially. One survey alone covers 47 square miles and includes 3,478 "shot holes." (Shot holes are holes drilled into the ground and packed with ten-pound explosive charges. The charges are detonated, creating shock waves that allow geologists to determine the geological characteristics of the area, and the potential for natural gas development.)

Despite the benign connotation of the word "survey," seismic testing can have significant environmental impacts ranging from the creation of new roads, destruction of drought-stressed sagebrush, introduction of invasive weeds, and disruption of wildlife, to say nothing of the impacts of development should natural gas be found. Furthermore, the testing is very close to private land in the Clark area.

LOS ANGELES AIRPORT AS A GOOD NEIGHBOR?
The area of the seismic survey and potentially of a new natural gas field is a patchwork quilt of private and public property that is truly a land of multiple uses. Off-road vehicle users enjoy the Morrison Jeep trail from the edge of the proposed leases to the top of the Beartooth highway. Fishermen, kayakers, horseback riders, hikers, hunters and campers all frequent this area. Plus the Clarks Fork is also literally the backyard for hundreds of year-round residents.

Unlike the Jonah Field or other fields in Wyoming that are mostly distant from private land, the development in the Clarks Fork area is very close to residential homes; too close sometimes.

"It sounds like a jet taking off at 2:00 a.m.," Deb Thomas, a Clarks Fork area landowner, said when describing the sound of flaring of an existing natural gas well near her home.

The operators flare when necessary, which means that the "jet" could take off at the middle of the night as easily as noon. Flaring like this will only increase if the seismic surveys find high potential for natural gas development, which is the fear of Clarks Fork landowners in search of solitude.

"I, along with several hundred other homeowners in the area, moved here because of an attraction to ‘Wide Open Wyoming’ only to now discover the possible horrors of gas development in our yards, and probable depreciation of our community and personal home," said Ken Lichtendahl, a landowner in the Clark area.

GOOD NEIGHBOR RULES NEEDED
"One of the most frustrating things about having oil and gas development in our neighborhood is the inability of the Department of Environmental Quality and other agencies to offer any real protections to those of us living in its midst," said Thomas.

The Department of Environmental Quality investigates citizen complaints of noise, odor and other nuisances but generally finds that the companies are operating within the law. However, laws and regulations that may be sufficient in an area devoid of residential communities do not readily translate to areas with homes and ranches in the midst of oil and gas development.

Thomas, along with her husband Dick Bilodeau, began the Clark Resource Council, an affiliate of the Powder River Basin Resource Council, in order to mobilize the public to influence development in this area. The Clark Resource Council has met with the Bureau of Land Management and held several public meetings on the seismic projects. Working with WOC, the group plans to encourage the state to implement new "good neighbor" guidance regulations in order to protect the quality of life of citizens who live in close proximity to natural gas development.

WOC has also been actively involved in the public process regarding the seismic survey having contributed comments during the scoping process. But the work has just begun.

"Gas at triple its historic value is laying siege to the West’s natural treasures as well as starting to change perceptions from a place to call home to a place I don’t want to be," said Lichtendahl.

For more information visit the Clark Resource Council website.