NEWS RELEASE

Contact Information

May 15, 2009

BLM Targets Red Desert Conservation Hotspots
for Oil and Gas Leasing 

The BLM’s June oil and gas lease sale has its eye on the prize: Adobe Town the crown jewel landscape of the Red Desert. Other irreplaceable areas in the Red Desert that are being targeted for oil and gas include the Kinney Rim citizen proposed wilderness areas. Altogether, seven lease parcels are up for bid totaling over 11,000 acres in the Red Desert.

 “The first time I stepped into Adobe Town on a hike I could tell this land was unique and irreplaceable,” according to Joyce Corcoran, Vice President of the Wyoming Association of Churches. “I could feel a great sense of spirituality and wholeness as I explored the rugged beauty of the Red Desert. It is outrageous that the Sweetwater County Commission has adopted a resolution to protect this area from leasing and the State of Wyoming has designated it Very Rare or Uncommon, but the federal government is ignoring the local outcry for conservation and is plowing ahead with leasing anyway”

Areas proposed for leasing also encompasses crucial habitat and migration corridors for mule deer, pronghorn antelope, and elk in both Adobe Town and Kinney Rim. Many of the proposed lease parcels block important big game migration corridors, which some big game species rely on for annual movements between calving and wintering grounds. Wayne Prindle, BCA Conservation Advocate says, “This area of the Red Desert provides crucial habitat for trophy big game animals that provide a world class hunting experience.”

These unique areas not only provide a world class hunting experience, but other recreation activities such as hiking, camping, and bird watching popular in this region.

“Adobe Town is a crown jewel among the Red Desert’s special landscapes that the oil and gas industry should not get their hands on. Instead, these areas should be spared from industrial destruction for the sake of future public enjoyment of this unique and irreplaceable landscape,” Corcoran concluded.

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Contact information:

Wayne Prindle, Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, 307-742-7978
Joyce Corcoran, Wyoming Assn. of Churches, 307-362-5301