On January 19th the Endangered Species Coalition announced that the BCA nominated Wyoming pocket gopher and the greater sage grouse were selected by a panel of scientists as two of ten wildlife species most threatened by the fossil fuels industry.

The report, Fueling Extinction: How Dirty Energy Drives Wildlife to the Brink, highlights ten species that are highly vulnerable to impacts from oil, gas and coal extraction.

Coalition members from around the nation nominated imperiled species they considered worthy of the top ten list.

Nominations were then reviewed, judged, and voted on by a panel of scientists. The report identifies the home range, conservation status, remaining population and specific threats facing each of the ten finalists.

The nationwide list has special significance in Wyoming, where Wyoming pocket gopher habitat is increasingly fragmented by oil and gas development in Carbon and Sweetwater Counties, it's only known range. Wyoming is home to four species of pocket gophers but only the Wyoming pocket gopher (Thomomys clusius) is exceedingly rare.

Biodiversity Conservation Alliance petitioned U.S. Fish and Wildlife in 2007 to protect the Wyoming pocket gopher under the Endangered Species Act. In 2010 the Service denied protection for the gopher. Interestingly, the Service's own 12-Month Finding states, "...the Wyoming pocket gopher is Wyoming's species with the highest potential risk for energy-related effects based on its proximity to existing wells, the proportion of lands leased for oil and gas within its range, and the density of wells within that range."

A far more well known species, the greater sage grouse, also made the list. Wyoming is one of only a few states to have two wildlife species to make this infamous Top Ten list.

Energy development has caused habitat loss and fragmentation due to roads, pipelines, power lines, and human and vehicle-related disturbance, resulting in marked declines in sage-grouse numbers. Coalbed methane gas development in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming has coincided with a 79 percent decline in the greater sage-grouse population.

In 2010, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that greater sage-grouse deserves protection under the Endangered Species Act but declined to offer protection, claiming that other species are a higher priority. Since then, state governments and federal land management agencies appear to be stepping up efforts to conserve sage-grouse and their sagebrush habitats.

The Coalition's report calls for a commitment to a clean, safe and sustainable energy future, and urges lawmakers to honor the intent of the Endangered Species Act while reducing the country's dependence on dirty fossil fuels. To hear the Public News Service coverage of the Top Ten story click here.

BCA continues to fight for the effective protection of the greater sage grouse, Wyoming pocket gopher and a long list of other imperiled wildlife in and beyond the borders of Wyoming.

Your support helps BCA continue its fight for Wyoming's wildlife and wild places.