For Immediate Release
December 18, 2003

Contact: Erik Molvar, Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, (307) 742-7978.

Laramie—The BLM has just approved the Hay Reservoir Seismic Project, allowing 31-ton “vibroseis trucks” to crisscross the pristine wildlands of the Red Lake Dunes, in the heart of the Red Desert. The Hay Reservoir project, proposed by Veritas DGC Inc., is an oil and gas exploration project that would give the oil industry a picture of underground oil and gas deposits. While the vibroseis trucks would stay out of Red Lake Wilderness Study Area, the BLM has given Veritas free rein to drive cross-country through 10,500 acres of equally wild and pristine adjacent lands that have been proposed by citizens as wilderness. Here, the Luman Rim rises above actively migrating dunes of the Killpecker Dune Field, the largest active sand dune system in North America.

“We asked the BLM to keep the heavy equipment off of these sensitive lands by using lower-impact alternatives, but instead the BLM approved a maximum-impact project and never gave our proposal serious consideration,” said Erik Molvar of Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. “Now, instead of having an exploration project that reduces impacts and protects the most sensitive 5% of the project area, one of the Red Desert’s wildest remaining landscapes will be laid to waste.”

The exploration project is the largest and heaviest impact seismic project to hit the Red Desert in recent memory. The 62,000-pound vibroseis trucks will be driven off-road across 279 square miles in the heart of the Red Desert, an area one-third bigger than the original proposal put forward by the BLM in spring of 2002. “Even though the project has increased substantially in size since it was originally shown to the public, the BLM chose to issue its decision without public input on its environmental assessment,” added Molvar. “This is a clear violation of federal law, which guarantees opportunities for public participation.”

A photo of vibroseis trucks in action is available for publication. Photo credits should read “Photo by Scott Groene, Greater Yellowstone Coalition.”