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NEWS RELEASE March 12, 2009 BLM Puts Key Wild Places in Adobe Town, Kinney Rim, and Bighorn Basin on Oil and Gas Auction Block
LARAMIE – The Bureau of Land Management’s April Oil and Gas Lease Sale is slated to include large acreages in Wyoming’s wildest and most pristine areas, including key wilderness lands in the Red Desert and the Big Horn Basin. The lease sale also contains thousands of acres of key wildlife habitats like big game winter ranges and sage grouse breeding areas. Proposed to be auctioned off are over 3,200 acres of the Adobe Town proposed wilderness area, which the State of Wyoming has designated as Very Rare or Uncommon to protect its rare and sensitive geological, scenic, and fossil features. These leases have a stipulation that prescribes No Surface Occupancy, but allows drilling and road construction if the BLM and drilling companies reach an agreement on a development plan. “Adobe Town is a Wyoming wonder and should truly be considered a national treasure,” remarked Randy Walker, a Sweetwater County Commissioner. “I was disappointed to see the recent steps taken by our Bureau of Land Management. It is a move that needs to be reconsidered. It is important to use the same careful planning when dealing with rare and uncommon areas such as Adobe Town as we would use when protecting and caring for our own property. They both contain valuable assets which when conserved and protected with wisdom can allow their use for many generations to come.” In the nearby Kinney Rim citizens’ proposed wilderness, just to the west of Adobe Town, the BLM is planning to auction off almost 15,000 acres of wildlife habitats where today only a handful of jeep trails cross the landscape. “Given the bust in oil and gas drilling and the huge surplus of leases that the oil and gas industry already holds, it’s really puzzling that the oil and gas industry is trying to lock up so many leases in the state’s last untouched areas,” said Erik Molvar, wildlife biologist with Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. “They’re packing up the drilling rigs and shutting in producing wells, and at the same time the industry proposes to expand its holdings even further.” In the Bighorn Basin, the McCullough Peaks area just east of Cody is currently undergoing a BLM wilderness inventory in response to an intensive field inventory submitted by Biodiversity Conservation Alliance in 2007. Over 1,500 acres are proposed for lease among the fragile clay badlands here. “The McCullough Peaks deserves protection from further leasing,” said Marshall Dominick, president of the McCullough Peaks wild horse advocacy group Friends of a Legacy. “Recreational use and tourist visitation to view the wild horses and dramatic landscapes have greatly increased in recent years. The BLM needs to better evaluate current and future uses before considering any more leases.” “The McCullough Peaks badlands are a wild and scenic area that provide recreational enjoyment for many residents in the Bighorn Basin,” said Hilary Eisen of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. “In addition, there is a lease parcel proposed in the Grass Creek area, southwest of Meeteetse, where the BLM has spent 6 years trying to restore wildlife habitat. It makes no sense for the agency to be leasing this parcel for industrial use after all the habitat restoration work that has been done. This area is of great importance for a number of wildlife species and a prime elk hunting area.” Conservation groups are committed to protesting these leases in hopes that they will be pulled from the sale.
Contact information:
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Biodiversity Conservation Alliance P.O. Box 1512, Laramie, WY 82073 (307) 742-7978 - carmi@voiceforthewild.org |