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October 31, 2008

 

Groups Slam Adobe Town Drilling Project

LARAMIE – A coalition of conservation groups, religious leaders, Native American groups and union workers slammed a BLM proposal to drill 4 wells in the heart of Adobe Town and create a drilling unit there. The wells, proposed by Samson Resources of Denver, are near the center of Adobe Town in an unprotected block of public land along Haystack Wash just north of the Wilderness Study Area boundary. The drilling permits are apparently poised for approval without undergoing an Environmental Impact Statement, which is required for projects that would have a significant environmental impact.

“A broad cross-section of Wyoming people and over 80,000 members of the public have urged the BLM to manage the Adobe Town area to preserve its spectacular beauty, wildness, and opens spaces,” said Erik Molvar of Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. “This is one of those places where the highest benefit is public enjoyment and industrial uses are not appropriate, and the fact that this area is now planned for drilling shows a failure in stewardship by the BLM.”

“The Wyoming Association of Churches has a long tradition of protecting our natural creation, and protecting our Wyoming landscapes,” added Warren Murphy, Director of the Association of Churches. “Drilling in a sacred place like Adobe Town would be a violation of that trust. We urge that alternatives be found for meeting our nation’s energy needs without entering into Adobe Town.”

The area where the wells are proposed is part of approximately 40,000 acres that the BLM has determined through its wilderness inventory process to possess wilderness qualities. “Adobe Town is unique among Wyoming’s desert wilderness in possessing a landscape as wild and pristine, from horizon to horizon, as it was when the first explorers discovered it,” said Liz Howell, Director of the Wyoming Wilderness Association. “This area is a national treasure that we need to pass down unblemished to future generations.”

This area is also part of the Monument Valley Management Area, which was established by the BLM in its Green River Resource Management Plan. The BLM applied special protections to this area, and committed to considering establishing an Area of Critical Environmental Concern here.

“Adobe Town is one of those wide open landscapes that is important to our union workers for hunting and recreation, and it would be a shame to drop a gas field right into the middle of such an important recreational landscape,” said Tim Wells of the Wyoming Building Trades Council. “We need to protect the special Red Desert landscapes like this one so they’ll be there for folks to enjoy.”

The Wyoming Outdoor Council has long held this area of the Red Desert as a place where oil and gas development is inappropriate.   "When the integrity of Adobe Town is lost to drilling it means the end of another very special and unique area in Wyoming," said Gary Wilmot of the Wyoming Outdoor Council.

The groups objected to the prospect of BLM approving the wells, roads, and drilling unit behind the scenes, without opening up a public comment period.

“The BLM is trying to sneak these wells through by rubber-stamping the drilling permits in this spectacular piece of country without publishing an environmental impact statement or seeking input from the public,” added Jolene Catron of the Wind River Alliance, which represents the interests of land and water stewardship in the Wind River watershed. “We have seen federal agencies approve projects like this one that will have major, long-term impacts on our natural resources without an Environmental Impact Statement, which totally disregards the public participation process. Thus decisions on our public lands are being made without our input, often with disastrous results, and we wouldn’t want to see this mistake repeated in Adobe Town.”

“It is abundantly clear that building a major new road network into the heart of Adobe Town will have significant impacts on the wilderness qualities of these lands, and we fully expect the BLM to perform the Environmental Impact Statement that is required by law,” added Molvar. “The public interest demands that controversial projects like these must have the benefit of full environmental review, and the BLM must consider a broad range of alternatives to ensure that there is the least possible impact on this sensitive landscape.”

Courtesy photos of the area proposed for drilling are available from Biodiversity Conservation Alliance upon request.