For Immediate Release
January 9, 2004

Contact: Erik Molvar, Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, (307) 742-7978
Liz Howell, Wyoming Wilderness Association, (307) 672-2751

Laramie—Conservation groups led by Laramie-based Biodiversity Conservation Alliance today filed an appeal of the BLM’s plan to unleash 31-ton “thumper trucks” on 279 square miles of the Red Desert. The project would impact over ten thousand acres of proposed wilderness in the Red Lake Dunes area. Called the Hay Reservoir Geophysical Project, it was proposed by Veritas DGL Land, Inc. of Houston, Texas.

The appeal points out that the BLM never considered a lower-impact alternative to achieve the same result, by using a combination of buggy-mounted drills and helicopters as was done elsewhere in the Red Desert. The BLM’s environmental assessment also failed to consider impacts to wilderness lands within the project area and fragile dune communities. The appeal will be reviewed by the Wyoming State Director of the BLM.

“Thumper trucks are the most heavy-handed way imaginable to do seismic exploration for oil and gas, and they leave scars that last for years,” said Erik Molvar of Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. “The BLM should have required buggy drills the size of pickup trucks, as is done elsewhere in the Red Desert, rather than permitting 62,000-pound thumper trucks to drive cross-country across fragile landscapes.”

Proposed expansions of the Red Lake Wilderness Study Area lie squarely in the crosshairs of the project. “The Red Lake Dunes are part of the largest and most spectacular active sand dune field in North America,” said Liz Howell of the Wyoming Wilderness Association. “It would be a shame to ruin this unique wilderness landscape for future generations when better alternatives are available.”

“This is clear evidence of this administration’s efforts to fast-track oil and gas projects while ignoring the consequences for our western landscapes,” added Howell.

Joining Biodiversity Conservation Alliance on the appeal were Wyoming Wilderness Association, Sierra Club, and Wyoming Outdoor Council.

For photos of thumper trucks in action, go to www.voiceforthewild.org/greatdivide/thumper1.html. Photo credits should read “Photo by Scott Groene, Greater Yellowstone Coalition.”