AROUND WYOMING
Highlights of Program Work at WOC
GREATER YELLOWSTONE
Working to protect roadless areas in the Shoshone National Forest. The Shoshone National Forest has proposed a vegetation treatment project for the Wiggins Fork area outside of Dubois. The Forest Service seeks to improve forest health through timber harvest and prescribed burning of some 3,500 acres. The Wyoming Outdoor Council largely supports the overarching goals of the project, but in comments submitted in October, we strongly opposed the manner in which the project will be implemented. Under its preferred alternative, the Forest Service will build nine miles of new roads, five of which are slated for an Inventoried Roadless Area. If the Forest Service proceeds with the project, it will do so in violation of its own policies. An interim directive states that during the time when state governors may petition to protect roadless lands, these lands must be managed to preserve their roadless characteristics. Building five miles of new roads in a roadless area is contrary to that policy. Similarly, new road construction is contrary to the goal of improving forest health. New roads will perpetuate the spread of invasive plants, fragment and degrade wildlife habitat, and cause erosion and stream sedimentation. We will continue to monitor this project to ensure that the Forest Service is adhering to its own rules and making decisions that truly improve overall forest health. Contact: Lisa McGee
Future of air quality in western Wyoming still murky but looking clearer. In early October the Wyoming Outdoor Council submitted detailed comments on the BLM’s “supplemental analysis” of the severe air quality impacts that will result from the expanded development in the Jonah Field, including comments developed by experts on the Clean Air Act. Whether these comments had anything to do with it or not, at the same time the EPA issued a letter to BLM calling for an 80 percent reduction in air pollution emissions from the Jonah Field as the only acceptable development alternative, and BLM has apparently committed to this. While this is a positive step, even 80 percent reductions in emissions will not eliminate impacts to visibility in “Class I” areas (wilderness areas and national parks). Other impacts, such as elevated ozone levels harmful to human health, may also remain.
To help ensure these remaining impacts are eliminated, we have met with John Corra, head of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, Governor Freudenthal and BLM State Director Robert Bennett in efforts to encourage even greater protection of our priceless views and other air quality values. We are hopeful these efforts are successful so we can avoid litigation. The Outdoor Council is committed to ensuring air quality is protected in western Wyoming, especially in areas like the Bridger and Fitzpatrick Wilderness Areas and Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.
Contact: Bruce Pendery
WEST-Inc. reports 46 percent drop in Mesa mule deer numbers. A recently released study suggests that natural gas development in western Wyoming is forcing mule deer into less suitable winter range and having a negative effect on wildlife habitat and migrationCAon the Pinedale Mesa. The Mesa provides crucial winter range to thousands of mule deer and pronghorn. The Western Ecosystems Technology Inc. (WEST-Inc.) report, which was funded in part by Questar, found that the Mesa mule deer population dropped 46 percent from 2002 to 2005. Those animals that remained avoided areas of development.
The study compared the Mesa deer herd with a control population of mule deer on the Wind River Front, a nearby area where development is not taking place. Hall Sawyer, WEST-Inc. biologist, found no concurrent evidence ofCApopulation decline there. The Mesa deer herd decline was attributed to mortality, low fawn recruitment and displacement of deer to new wintering range.
The Wyoming Outdoor Council considers the study a wake-up call to the BLM and a reason for slowing down the rate of development until managers can determine how best to mitigate the long-term impacts of oil and gas development. Contact: Meredith Taylor
 Pinedale Anticline development moving toward year-round operations. The major operators in the Pinedale Anticline field—Shell, Questar, Anschutz and Ultra—are proposing a dramatic expansion of oil and gas development on the Mesa. Up to 7,231 new wells could be drilled in this area of crucial winter ranges for mule deer and pronghorn and important habitat for sage grouse. Fundamentally, the operators in this field are asking to be allowed to drill year-round in return for reducing the amount of surface disturbance caused by the drilling. They will do this by drilling multiple wells from single pads and implementing other desirable actions, such as piping petroleum products and water offsite rather than trucking it.
Year-round drilling would represent a dramatic departure from current requirements, which among other things prohibit drilling during the winter on crucial big-game winter ranges. Yet, reducing the surface impacts of oil and gas drilling is appealing. BLM has initiated an environmental impact statement to review this proposal, and the Outdoor Council has submitted detailed initial comments. We will be monitoring this project closely, and will work to ensure the important wildlife resources in the area, as well as air quality, are not damaged by this project. If you want to receive information on this project and get on BLM’s mailing list, contact the BLM Pinedale Field Office. Contact: Bruce Pendery
Protecting the Wyoming Range. In November, the Wyoming Outdoor Council along with four other conservation groups and a local homeowners association, filed a protest with the BLM to oppose the first of 44,600 acres offered for lease sale in the Bridger-Teton National Forest’s Wyoming Range. The BLM’s decision to sell this first parcel is premised on an environmental assessment that the Forest Service prepared in 1993. The Forest Service acknowledged that significant changes have occurred over the past 12 years, namely air quality, booming oil and gas development in the area and the listing of the Canada lynx under the Endangered Species Act. Despite these changed circumstances and contrary to their legal obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act, neither the Forest Service nor the BLM prepared a supplemental Environmental Analysis or Environmental Impact Statement to address the impacts new oil and gas development would likely have on the forest, its wildlife and the surrounding communities. The groups asserted that at the very least, no leases should be sold until the agencies update the necessary environmental analyses. We also continue to encourage the Forest Service to consider withdrawing its consent to lease lands until the Bridger-Teton forest plan revision process, already underway, is finalized. Contact: Lisa McGee
POWDER RIVER BASIN
Holding industry accountable. The Wyoming Outdoor Council, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Petroleum Association of WyomingCArecently reached a settlement concerning a general permit for off-channel containment ponds for coalbed methane discharge water. The general permit cut the public out of the permitting process for individual ponds and allowed the construction of unlined containment projects that leaked polluted coalbed methane discharge water into groundwater. The settlement will require the DEQ to issue individual permits for all future off-channel containment ponds. This will provide the public with an opportunity to weigh in on the issue and work for stricter standards that will protect Wyoming’s water. Contact: Steve Jones
GREATER RED DESERT
Great Divide’s future remains in limbo. Last March the Wyoming Outdoor Council submitted detailed comments on the BLM’s draft Resource Management Plan for the Rawlins Field Office, which includes the eastern part of the Red Desert, including the vast Adobe Town roadless areas. It now appears that BLM will not release the final environmental impact statement for this land use plan until about a year from now and that the final decision approving the new land use plan will not be issued until July, 2007. In the meantime, the Outdoor Council is monitoring and submitting comments on projects in the area, such as the Cherokee West seismic project near Adobe Town and the recently proposed Creston/Blue Gap II oil and gas development project (1,250 wells) west of the Baggs highway. We also have several appeals challenging coalbed methane development in the area that remain pending before the Interior Board of Land Appeals. We will keep you posted on developments so that you can remain involved in protecting this incredible landscape. Contact: Bruce Pendery
Protecting South Pass’s history. In October the Wyoming Outdoor Council joined with a number of other groups including the Alliance for Historic Wyoming, in filing an appeal with the BLM to stop a proposed gold exploration project in the South Pass Historic Landscape. The proposal calls for 200 test pits within sight of the area’s historic trails corridor, which has remained relatively unchanged in the 150 years since emigrants traveled over these paths west. The test pits themselves are a relatively minor impact, but if gold is found to be economically recoverable, the resulting full-scale placer mine will have lasting impacts on the area’s historical legacy. Contact: Bruce Pendery
STATEWIDE
Join the National Roadless Area Campaign. This fall, the Wyoming Outdoor Council joined 75 other conservation organizations across the country in a campaign to reinstate the 2001 Roadless Rule. Don’t be fooled—although “roadless area” is a lackluster term, these areas are some of the most spectacular places in our National Forests. Roadless areas are intact and healthy landscapes that support diverse wildlife populations. They provide spectacular hunting and fishing experiences and memorable backcountry trips. Some of Wyoming’s roadless areas include the high peaks of the Wyoming Range, which is known for its large elk herds, as well as the lush Dunoir Valley that supports healthy populations of bears and wolves. Earlier this year, the Bush administration repealed the Roadless Rule and with it the sweeping protections it afforded. These places now literally hang in the balance. State governors may assess and recommend protection of the roadless areas within their borders over the next year. Governor Freudenthal is still uncertain whether he will participate in this process. To learn more and to express your support for some of our most cherished places in Wyoming, go to: http://wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org/programs/roadless.php. In just a few minutes, you can sign a petition or choose to write a personal message. Your comments will be sent to the secretary of agriculture and Governor Freudenthal. Contact: Lisa McGee
|
Privacy Policy