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February 19, 2008

Appeals Board Halts Cell Phone Tower

LARAMIE – When Union Telephone Company appealed a decision of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Lander Field Office, Biodiversity Conservation Alliance and Wyoming Outdoor Council jumped into the fray in support of the BLM’s decision to deny a permit to build a cell phone tower in the Beaver Rim Area of Critical Environmental Concern.  Today, the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) issued its decision in favor of BCA, WOC and BLM.

The Beaver Rim area, designated by the BLM as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC), is home to a host of rare and sensitive plant species, including the desert yellowhead, a rare plant that grows nowhere else in the world.  The Rim is also crucial winter range for mule deer, elk and pronghorn; and it supports a number of raptors, including golden eagles, prairie falcons, red-tailed hawks and American kestrels.  The area was set aside in 1987 as an ACEC to protect these special resources.

“The IBLA today affirmed what we in Wyoming already knew—that the Beaver Rim is a special place full of rare and unique species, Native American cultural sites, and unmatched sweeping vistas of the Wind River and Owl Creek Ranges,” said Suzanne Lewis, Conservation Advocate with BCA in Laramie.

The two groups intervened in the appeal to support the BLM's decision which was made after years of study and careful consideration of other alternatives available.  “If BLM’s decision had been overturned by the IBLA,” said Bruce Pendery, of WOC, “Union Telephone could have built not only a 60-foot tower on top of Beaver Rim, but also communications buildings, access roads and buried power lines.  This would have scarred the Beaver Rim which has been nominated for designation as a National Natural Landmark.”

Roads are known to fragment big game habitat and lead to animal mortality from vehicle collisions.  They also bring in weeds, dust and increased traffic.  Mule deer are already suffering from years of prolonged drought and the added stress of disturbances in their winter range could result in significant population declines.  Cell phone towers are also harmful to migrating birds and bats with many of these animals collidng with the towers.

The IBLA decision noted that Union Telephone had “alternative options” for location of the cell tower.  In ruling that BLM had sufficient factual basis to deny Union’s permit application, the Board stated that “the record is clear that the ROW sought by Union would impact the visual and resource values of the Beaver Rim ACEC . . .”  “We applaud the BLM’s initial decision to Beaver Rim, and the IBLA’s affirmation of that decision,” Lewis stated. “Whenever the BLM takes a strong position to protect wildlife and special places in Wyoming like this one, we will support them.”