POWDER RIVER BASIN
Pennaco Decision Changing the Way BLM Does Business. The BLM has announced that it will prepare two environmental assessments considering coalbed methane development in the Powder River Basin as a result of Wyoming Outdoor Council’s successful litigation.

The Wyoming Outdoor Council and the other groups active in the original Powder River Basin coalbed methane litigation (Pennaco Energy, Inc. v. USDI) submitted extensive comments on these environmental assessments. In addition, together with the Powder River Basin Resource Council, we have initiated a new lawsuit challenging coalbed methane development in the Powder River Basin in order to impress on BLM that it cannot limit the scope of the Pennaco decision to the extent it seems to want to. Contact: Bruce Pendery

Arguing for Aquatic Life. In February of 2005, the Wyoming Environmental Quality Council heard arguments from the Wyoming Outdoor Council concerning the Department of Environmental Quality’s permitting scheme for coalbed methane water. The department has attempted to ease restrictions on the discharge requirements for coalbed methane-produced water by classifying the reservoirs into which the water is dumped as Class 4C (an industrial classification that does not require protections for fish or aquatic life). The case is now going on to a hearing. Contact: Steve Jones

DEQ Trying Watershed Planning in Powder River Basin. The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality has established two watershed-based stakeholder groups in the Powder River Basin to provide input on how to dispose of millions of gallons of coalbed methane produced water. The Wyoming Outdoor Council is representing the conservation community on one of these committees, while the Powder River Basin Resource Council is serving in this capacity on the other. The stakeholders group may end up being a model that is applied to other watersheds experiencing coalbed methane development across the state. Contact: Steve Jones

THE RED DESERT
Pushing for National Conservation Area Protection for Jack Morrow Hills. The BLM still has not ruled on the extensive protest to the Jack Morrow Hills Environmental Impact Statement filed by the Wyoming Outdoor Council and others last August. This means the BLM’s new management plan for the area, which could lead to greatly accelerated oil and gas development, has not yet taken effect. We have recently launched a major campaign with a number of other conservation groups seeking designation of the Jack Morrow Hills as a National Conservation Area by Congress. Contact: Bruce Pendery

GREATER YELLOWSTONE
Wyoming Range Leasing Resurfaces. The Bridger-Teton National Forest is still considering oil and gas leases in the Forest around the Wyoming Range, despite opposition from Governor Freudenthal and Senator Thomas that stopped proposed leasing last fall. The Wyoming Outdoor Council continues to monitor developments here and will work with various partners to put pressure on Forest Supervisor Kniffy Hamilton to listen to public concerns and protect the area from oil and gas development. Contact: Bruce Pendery

Balancing Ranching and Wildlife. The Bridger-Teton National Forest has gone back to the drawing board after an appeal brought by the Wyoming Outdoor Council and Greater Yellowstone Coalition revealed serious shortcomings in the new grazing regulations for the Upper Green River Valley proposed in the Forest’s Upper Green Allotment Management Plan. After considering our concerns, the Forest Service agreed in February to do additional environmental analysis.

Our primary concern was that the plan would allow for increased livestock use and more livestock watering facilities in the project area. The Upper Green is already struggling with conflicts between wildlife and livestock. In 2002, the area was identified as one of six geographic areas in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem with a high number of grizzly bear/livestock conflicts. In addition, tenuous migration corridors linking summer ranges for pronghorn, mule deer and elk with their winter range in the Upper Green River Valley are already threatened by oil and gas development; increased livestock pressure in the area will only exacerbate the problem.

Also, the Upper Green contains one of the last strongholds of sage grouse and is the headwaters of streams critical to native cutthroat trout. All these attributes are threatened by poorly managed grazing. We are working now to find solutions to the problems cited in the appeal. If our recommendations are applied, the Bridger-Teton National Forest could provide adequate forage for wildlife habitat on the Upper Green while still allowing for responsible livestock grazing. Contact: Meredith Taylor

Protecting Historic Migration Corridors. The Wyoming Outdoor Council has joined a coalition of groups working toward having the big-game migration paths that weave through the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem added to the National Trails System as a National Historic Migration Trail. The Migration Trail would be the first designated wildlife migration corridor in the world; it would protect the longest big-game migration route in the continental United States; and it would protect the ecological integrity of Greater Yellowstone by allowing for free movement for elk, mule deer, and pronghorn between their summer and winter ranges. Contact: Meredith Taylor