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BLM Announces 7,700-well Increase in Red Desert Drilling

RAWLINS -- The BLM today announced that it will combine the 1,250-well Creston-Blue Gap II project with an effort to drill 7,700 additional new wells in the Continental Divide - Wamsutter Field.

"If the gas industry wants this project to go forward, they will need to use directional drilling and cluster their wells so that the density doesn't exceed one wellpad per square mile, as BP is already doing in this area," said Erik Molvar, a wildlife biologist with Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. "We're not going to allow the mistakes oif the Jonah Field to be repeated in the Red Desert."

While the Creston-Blue Gap project area includes large stretches of pristine habitat that are important to sage grouse survival, most of the Continental Divide Field has already been industrialized and is of little value to the most sensitive types of wildlife. But smaller wildlife and some game species still make some use of the area, which would be eliminated with high-density wellfield development.

"We also want to be sure that the northern parts of Adobe Town are excluded from the proposed drilling, and that Native American respected places and historical features like Fort LaClede and the Overland Trail are given appropriate levels of protection," Molvar added.

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Erik Molvar, Wildlife Biologist, Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, (307) 742-7978