Alliance for Historic Wyoming * Biodiversity Conservation Alliance * Clark Resource Council * Friends Of A Legacy (FOAL) Greater Yellowstone Coalition * Natural Resources Defense Council * Northern Arapaho Preservation Society * Pavillion Area Concerned Citizens * Powder River Basin Resource Council * Western Watersheds Project * Worland BLM Retired Employees Coalition for Responsible Public Land Management * Wyoming Wilderness Association

NEWS RELEASE

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June 26, 2009

Locals Present BLM with Community Alternative
for Bighorn Basin Land-Use Plan

CODY – A coalition of local groups and conservationists has just presented the Bureau of Land Management with ‘A Bighorn Basin Community Alternative for Responsible Public Land Management,’ a comprehensive blueprint for managing public lands and mineral development on more than 3 million acres of public lands to achieve a balance between industrial uses and the protection of lands, water, and wildlife.

“All across Wyoming, we’ve seen how oil and gas drilling and livestock grazing have wreaked havoc with our wildlife populations and the ecological health of our public lands, and we don’t want to see that continue here in the Bighorn Basin,” said Dick Kroger, a retired Fish and Wildlife Biologist with the BLM. “We’d like to see the BLM take a new approach here, an approach that puts wildlife and restoration of the health of the land on an equal footing with the oil and gas industry’s profits and livestock grazing.”

The alternative emphasizes added protections in sensitive natural areas like sage grouse habitats and big game winter ranges, and using cutting-edge technologies like directional drilling to reduce damage to lands, waters, and wildlife in industrial settings. Key wildlife habitats would only be leased under ‘No Surface Occupancy’ requirements in the alternative, while Areas of Critical Environmental Concern, Special Recreation Management Areas, and lands so pristine that they qualify for wilderness protection would be withdrawn entirely from mineral development. It also calls for greater cooperation between the BLM and landowners in situations when BLM oil and gas or minerals are leased underneath private property, and ‘phased development’ to prevent all of the BLM lands from being leased for mineral extraction at one time.

“The BLM owns the minerals under more than a million acres of private ranch land in the Bighorn Basin, which means they have a responsibility to the landowners to ensure that when mining and oil and gas drilling occurs, it’s done in a way that is sensitive to the health of the land, public health and private property rights,” said Deb Thomas of the Powder River Basin Resource Council. “There have been several incidents where water supplies have been contaminated by oil and gas activities, so obviously stronger measures are needed to ensure that we protect our land, water and health.”

The Bighorn Basin is rich in archaeological sites, fossil deposits, and historic trails and ruins, and these sensitive resources have historically not received the protection they deserve. “The Bighorn Basin is rich in archaeological sites, fossil deposits, and historic trails and ruins, and these sensitive resources have historically not received the protection they deserve. “The Bighorn Basin is the ancestral homeland for many Wyoming and Plains Indian tribes, and there is an unusually high density of important archaeological and sacred sites in this area that need to be respected, and there are Code of Federal Regulations in effect today that should be used to protect these Traditional Cultural Properties,” said Yufna Soldier-Wolf of the Northern Arapahoe Preservation Society. “Trails, dwellings, vision quest sites, and even plants used for ceremonial purposes are an important part of the heritage of our peoples, and the Community Alternative would improve stewardship for these priceless and irreplaceable resources. Our forefathers fought so hard for us to benefit today; let’s not take the land for granted anymore.”

The alternative draws from more than 600 scientific studies. “The new administration in Washington says it wants to put the science back into land and wildlife management, and that’s exactly what this alternative does, by providing the practical solutions to manage industrial uses of our public lands compatibly with the demands of wildlife, respect for the land, and public recreation,” said Erik Molvar, Wildlife Biologist with Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. “All the BLM has to do is start managing oil and gas development according to multiple-use principles instead of letting the industry dictate the terms, and we can have full development of mineral resources side-by-side with responsible stewardship of our public lands and wildlife. The Community Alternative provides a specific plan for accomplishing this balance.”

A complete copy of the Community Alternative is available upon request