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BCA PROTESTS SAVE OVER 200,000 ACRES OF WYOMING HABITAT
The Bureau of Land Management last week decided not to lease 200,720 acres of Wyoming public land for oil and gas drilling in response to protests. Many of the leases that will now be withheld are in key sage grouse habitat or crucial winter ranges for mule deer, antelope, and elk. In the waning days of the Bush administration, the oil industry rushed to lock up every acre of public land they could in long-term mineral leases, and thanks to the protests of BCA and other conservation groups, the new administration in Washington has the opportunity to review whether these leases are appropriate. As a result of this more cautious review, some 144,410 acres of leases sold in October 2008 will not be issued. And in the first test of the BLM's new lease reforms, protests by BCA and others caused the preemptive withdrawal of an additional 56,310 acres of sage grouse and big game habitats from being offered at this week's auction. The times, they are a-changin'!
COUNCIL DENIES SAND CREEK AREA PROTECTIONS
Sand Creek crossing — this pristine watershed in the rare old-growth roadless area of the Black Hills will not be protected by the Wyoming Environmental Quality Council.
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Last week, the Wyoming Environmental Quality Council held a public hearing on BCA's petition to designate Sand Creek as 'Very Rare or Uncommon' under state law, which would have protected the area from surface mining.
Expert botanists testified that the area is home to 77 plant species rare in Wyoming, and is a rare crossroads where elements of Pacific Northwest rainforests, northern boreal forests of the high subarctic, and Eastern hardwood woodlands all converge in a single valley. Mining interests brought their own botanical expert, who was forced to concede that this plant community is "pretty unique."
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department testified that a rare population of finescale dace is present in the headwaters. The Department also testified that the blue-ribbon trout downstream are vulnerable to damage from mining inside the petition area, which is one of the criteria for Very Rare or Uncommon designation. This fact was never contested by opponents of the designation.
Highbush cranberry, one of the rare plants of Sand Creek, which is currently subject to degradation by gold mining. (Photo credit: Itasca Soil and Water Conservation District)
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After a tumultuous two days of expert testimony and public comment, the Council voted 5 - 1 to deny Very Rare or Uncommon status. "It's like being ahead 53 - 14 as the whistle blows at the end of the fourth quarter, and having the referee walk over and tell you you've lost the game," remarked BCA Director Erik Molvar, who presented the oral arguments.
The University of Wyoming (UW) administration played an important role in this defeat for Sand Creek by quashing the expert testimony of the Director of the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database, the agency in charge of tracking the status of rare species of plants and animals throughout Wyoming. As a result of the UW administration's legal intervention, the Council did not hear this expert testimony. In an interesting coincidence, the President of the UW Board of Trustees, Jim Neiman, was present at the hearing and is also the CEO of Neiman Enterprises, the largest lumber producer in the Black Hills and a company that joined other opponents of the petition in unsuccessfully seeking to delay the hearing.
BLM TURNS LOOSE DRILLING RIGS IN ADOBE TOWN
Wyoming's Red Desert
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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) last week reversed its statement on wilderness qualities in northern Adobe Town, and gave the "Desolation Road" drilling project the go-ahead in this wild gem of Wyoming's Red Desert. The Bureau's shocking conclusion repudiates a Bush-era analysis that determined that these lands indeed possess wilderness qualities.
BLM's new Environmental Assessment for the project claims that the lands proposed for drilling lack the naturalness and solitude required for wilderness character, despite the fact that the only human intrusions are flagging marking the proposed well and road. The extreme remoteness and undeveloped nature of the area makes this spot arguably the best place to find solitude in the entire state. BCA went on a tour of the site in September with the Rawlins Daily Times, and were able to document the pristine nature of the landscape in detail. A legal challenge is in the works.
GUNNISON'S PRAIRIE DOGS GAIN POTENTIAL PROTECTION
Gunnison's Prairie Dogs
(Photo credit: Center for
Native Ecosystems)
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United States District Judge Frederick Martone last week ordered the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to reconsider a 2008 decision that said only Gunnison's prairie dogs inhabiting higher elevations in Colorado and New Mexico warranted protection. Gunnison's praire dogs are critical to the health of the sagebrush ecosystem, but absent from over 90 percent of their range due to oil and gas drilling, urban sprawl, sylvatic plague, and continued shooting and poisoning. Martone ruled that the FWS's 2008 decision to exclude lower-elevation populations of Gunnison's prairie dogs failed to comply with the Endangered Species Act. New Mexico-based (and frequent BCA partner group) WildEarth Guardians filed the lawsuit that challenged the 2008 FWS decision. Congratulations, WildEarth, for moving Gunnison's prairie dogs closer to protection under the Endangered Species Act!
BCA CONSERVATION LAW DIRECTOR IS SWORN IN
John Persell
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John Persell, BCA's Conservation Law Director, and member of the Oregon State Bar, has now passed the Wyoming State Bar as well, and will be sworn in on Monday, November 8, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. in the Wyoming Supreme Court Building Courtroom, 2301 Capitol Avenue, Cheyenne, Wyoming. Immediately following, Persell will be sworn in to the United States District Court at the J.C. O'Mahoney Federal Building across the street, 2120 Capitol Avenue, 2nd Floor, Courtroom 1. Then, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., there will be a reception at the Wyoming State Bar office at 4124 Laramie Street, at the intersection with College Drive. Any members or friends of BCA who would like to attend and meet Persell would be welcome. Be sure to arrive early to park and find your seat, as last year's ceremony was packed!
GREEN ROCK BADGER BALL POLL AND VIDEO
Jalan Crossland rocks the Trading Post at the
Badger Ball.
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We've produced a short video touching on the highlights of the latest Green Rock Badger Ball.
Since we've created a page on Facebook, we can now put up photos of our events and successes as a way to thank friends and donors. Do you like this? Please let us know by taking our poll.
The BCA staff extend special thanks to the UniWyo Federal Credit Union for their monetary support of the Green Rock Badger Ball. We also would like to thank the hard-working volunteers who made this event possible, especially Pavel Bujak, Ken Cramer, Jamie Egolf, Kathy Mead, Joanna Orr, Kenneth Peterson, and Will Welch.
Biodiversity Conservation Alliance
P.O. Box 1512, Laramie, WY 82073
(307) 742-7978 - sarah@voiceforthewild.org
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