For Immediate Release
October 4, 2005

Contact Information

LARAMIE – Conservation groups led by Biodiversity Conservation Alliance yesterday petitioned to list the Powder River as Endangered. The Endangered Rivers list is compiled annually by American Rivers, a nonprofit conservation group that tracks threats to rivers and streams nationwide. Joining BCA on the petition is the Wyoming Outdoor Council.

“The proposed dam on the Middle Fork of the Powder River represents a major threat to one of the last undammed rivers on the High Plains,” said Erik Molvar, wildlife biologist for Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. “The water quality problems from coalbed methane are only getting worse, and with the new dam proposal, the important assemblage of native fishes that inhabit the Powder is threatened as never before.”

The sturgeon chub, which was recently considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act, has plummeted in numbers during the last several years, and recent field surveys of known sturgeon chub habitat yielded no finds. Coalbed methane production in the Powder River Basin, which often involves the dumping of salty wastewater into the river system, has altered water flow patterns in the Powder River and degraded the habitat of sturgeon chub and other native fishes.

The problems with coalbed methane wastewater may get worse, as state regulators are preparing to relax wastewater discharge requirements. "The Wyoming DEQ, Water Quality Division, is now moving in a new direction with 'watershed-based planning’ for the Powder River Basin. Originally the idea was to get various stakeholders–ranchers, conservationists, industry representatives etc–involved, but in reality the process has been dominated by industry and they have managed to keep DEQ from establishing any limits on the amount of coalbed methane water being discharged into the Powder River and its tributaries," says Steve Jones, of the Wyoming Outdoor Council. "Coalbed methane development has to be done right. Developing this energy source shouldn't require the sacrifice of irrigated fields, native grasses and water quality. Oil and gas companies can reinject coalbed methane produced water back into the ground and they should be required to do so."

The new dam site is proposed for the Middle Fork of the Powder where it passes through the scenic country west of Kaycee, once a favorite hideout of Butch Cassidy and his Hole in the Wall Gang.

“The Powder River is one of the few relatively pristine river systems left in the West, and with the threats it is currently facing, it may be the most endangered river in America,” added Molvar.

Erik Molvar, Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, (307) 742-7978
Steve Jones, Wyoming Outdoor Council, (307) 332-7031 ext. 12