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LARAMIE, WY – Biodiversity Conservation Alliance today filed a legal challenge today against a coalbed methane drilling project proposed for the Buffalo Hump region of Wyoming’s Red Desert. The case hinges on the BLM’s failure to analyze the cumulative effects of the project or consider lower-impact alternatives for the project. At the center of the legal challenge is the twenty-well Lower Bush Creek project, which represents one of the first coalbed methane projects in the Red Desert. The case will be decided by the Interior Board of Land Appeals, and administrative law court that has legal oversight over the Department of Interior.

At the center of conservation concern is the impact that drilling will have in sage grouse populations. Six sage grouse leks, the traditional centers of sage grouse breeding and nesting, would be affected by the project. “Sage grouse biologists recommend that oil and gas facilities should be kept at least 2 miles away from sage grouse strutting grounds, and yet this project would allow 16 of the 20 wells, plus miles of roads and pipelines, to be built within two miles of sage grouse leks.” said Erik Molvar, a wildlife biologist for Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. “The BLM has completely ignored the best available science, and instead proposed timing restrictions, which are ineffective even when they aren’t waived.”

The BLM also failed to consider lower-impact alternatives for the project, ranging from using fewer wells to accomplish the same goals to using directional drilling to avoid disturbing lands near sage grouse leks (see report at www.voiceforthewild.org/blm/pubs/DirectionalDrilling1.pdf). Instead, the only alternative seriously considered by the BLM was the proposal put forward by Kennedy Oil, the project’s proponent.

Southwestern Wyoming is believed to contain over 350 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of coalbed methane, compared with a high estimate of 50 TCF in the Powder River Basin. “This project is just the tip of the iceberg for coalbed methane in southwest Wyoming, so we’re likely to see this new kind of drilling on a massive scale all across our public lands in the Red Desert and elsewhere,” said Molvar. “We believe that coalbed methane drilling must be done in a way that doesn’t doom our public lands and wildlife, and it’s high time for the BLM to start planning their projects based on what’s compatible with maintaining wildlife, not just what’s most convenient for industry.”

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