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NEWS RELEASE July 27, 2007 WESCO Targets McCullough Peaks Proposed Wilderness for Drilling CODY – The BLM yesterday unveiled a proposal to drill a gas well inside the McCullough Peaks citizens’ proposed wilderness, in area of scenic badlands to the east of Cody in Wyoming’s Bighorn Basin. The proposal, advanced by WESCO (formerly Williams Energy), would allow the drilling of a wildcat well, the West Branch Well and Access Road, inside the eastern end of the McCullough Peaks citizens’ proposed wilderness, and area which has been under consideration by BLM since an intensive field inventory was submitted by Biodiversity Conservation Alliance in April of this year. The inventory identified almost 50,000 acres beyond the current Wilderness Study Area that possess wilderness qualities and merit protection, including the Whistle Creek area where the proposed wellsite is located. “The McCullough Peaks represent the only potential wilderness in over a million acres of public land managed out of the Cody BLM office,” said Erik Molvar, Wildlife Biologist with Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. “There are a lot of places in the Bighorn Basin where drilling is appropriate as long as it’s done right, but the McCullough Peaks area is a special place that should be left alone. “The wide open spaces in this area are getting scarcer and scarcer,” said Sean Sheehan, Board Member for the Wyoming Wilderness Association. “There are plenty of potential well sites across the road in areas outside proposed wilderness where Wesco could drill on their lease without impacting wilderness qualities.” The McCullough Peaks area is characterized by easily eroded badlands characterized by BLM as having “low reclamation potential” and fragile desert vegetation that receives only 5 to 9 inches of rainfall each year. The area is also rich in archaeological sites, and the area has not been intensively surveyed. The welfare of sage grouse and mountain plovers are also a concern in this area. “Many Clark Resource Council members in the local area have major concerns about oil and gas development moving into this area. McCullough Peaks is extremely fragile terrain, and recovery from industrial activity takes a long time, if ever,” added Deb Thomas of the Clark Resource Council. “This area could take a century or more to heal once the bulldozers roll in.” The groups also criticized the cursory level of analysis in the BLM’s Environmental Assessment, which failed to address impacts to wilderness qualities. “While the BLM seems to want to approve this project with a 15-page Environmental Analysis that completely ignores the potential impacts of the protect to wilderness qualities, this kind of rubber-stamp approach without looking at the impacts isn’t going to fly,” added Molvar, Wildlife Biologist with Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. “Because of the sensitive wilderness values in this area, the BLM needs to undertake a full-scale Environmental Impact Statement.” The Cody Office of the BLM will be accepting public comments on the project through August 25th, and the Environmental Assessment is available online at http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/info/NEPA/cyfodocs/westbranch.html. Erik Molvar, Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, (307) 742-7978
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Biodiversity Conservation Alliance P.O. Box 1512, Laramie, WY 82073 (307) 742-7978 - carmi@voiceforthewild.org |