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NEWS RELEASE Biodiversity Conservation Alliance * Natural Resources Defense Council * The Wilderness Society May 6, 2010 Groups challenge excessive drilling WASHINGTON, DC – Some of the most beloved and treasured landscapes in Wyoming’s Red Desert are set to be spoiled by oil and gas drilling interests following a recent decision from the Bureau of Land Management. The Rawlins Resource Management Plan (RMP) has been controversial, raising concerns that proposed drilling in the desert wilderness of Adobe Town and the Kinney Rim threaten to permanently destroy significant wilderness quality lands. As a result, a consortium of conservation groups filed suit today to stop the leases as well as drilling permits in proposed wilderness. “The BLM’s Rawlins plan was one of the Bush administration’s worst examples of handing over our public lands to the oil and gas industry, with over 97% of the lands opened up to oil and gas leasing,” said Erik Molvar, Wildlife Biologist with Biodiversity Conservation Alliance of Laramie, Wyoming. “We couldn’t just stand idly by and let some of North America’s most outstanding high desert ecosystems and most spectacular wilderness get carved up by bulldozers and drilling rigs when alternative locations are so readily available for development.” ”BLM’s plan is fatally flawed,” added Sharon Buccino, Land and Wildlife Program Director with the Natural Resources Defense Council, which is representing the groups in the lawsuit. “Not only are valuable and beloved landscapes at risk, but the air that people breathe in the region is imperiled. This is area already falls short of Clean Air Act standards and there is the potential for things to get far worse if the Rawlins plan moves forward.” Adobe Town is Wyoming’s largest and most spectacular desert wilderness, and has been recognized as one of the West’s crown jewel landscapes most threatened by drilling. Despite a state designation of Adobe Town as Very Rare or Uncommon and a resolution by the Sweetwater County Commission asking the BLM to prevent future oil and gas leasing in Rawlins RMP portions of the Adobe Town citizens’ proposed wilderness, the BLM opened all Very Rare or Uncommon lands outside the Adobe Town Wilderness Study Area (which is already protected from leasing by law) to oil and gas leasing, and today Samson Resources is actively pursuing oil and gas exploratory drilling inside the citizens’ proposed wilderness area. “There has been an enormous public outcry to protect Adobe Town, and the State of Wyoming and Sweetwater County both took strong stances, but the BLM ignored everybody and opened key parts of the proposed wilderness to ongoing leasing and industrial exploitation,” said Joyce Corcoran, a Rock Springs City Council member. “Given the millions of acres that have already been converted to oil and gas fields across Wyoming, it’s common sense to give strong protection to Adobe Town, which would have been a National park in any other state. I have become convinced of the necessity, due to the economic downturn, to protect our special places in Sweetwater County. The protection of Adobe Town is absolutely essential to the travel and tourism industry in our area. Unfortunately, shortsightedness, regarding a sustainable economy, continues to afflict policy makers at all levels of government." "The Adobe Town wildlands extending to the Kinney Rim contain expansive open spaces and outstanding wildlife, prehistoric, historic and geologic values that deserve our protection for future generations to cherish as has our generation and the many before us,” added Liz Howell of the Wyoming Wilderness Association. “Why would Wyoming want our cultural and natural heritage trashed for short term gain? We all need to step up and protect our natural and historic legacy." The BLM’s failure to examine the impacts of air pollution resulting from the radical expansion of oil and gas drilling operations is another focal point of the case. "Protecting people's health is essential, and it should never be overlooked," said Bruce Pendery with the Wyoming Outdoor Council. "Industry, regulators, and stakeholders have been working hard to do a better job of protecting people in western Wyoming from dangerous ozone pollution. Progress has been made, but if we're not careful that progress could be undermined and even more people in Wyoming could be exposed to the toxic effects of ozone. That's an outcome nobody should accept." "Adobe Town and Kinney Rim are examples of cherished places that offer Americans the outdoor opportunities to hike, camp, fish, and watch wildlife," said Nada Culver of The Wilderness Society. "Prior to the arrival of new leasing reforms we need BLM to take responsibility and direct drilling and energy production to less important and less sensitive areas." "The Rawlins plan covers some of the last best habitat for wildlife like sage grouse and big game, and at the same time, is seeing very heavy pressure from gas and coalbed methane drilling that is causing major habitat fragmentation problems, exhaust and dust pollution, and even the venting of dangerous levels of methane gas at the surface," said Barb Parsons, a local resident of Rawlins. "A fundamental shift is needed in the way the oil industry does business in this area, but instead of providing solutions, the new Rawlins BLM plan could actually make the situation worse." Photographs of landscapes and wildlife in the Rawlins RMP area are available from Biodiversity Conservation Alliance upon request.
Contact information:
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Biodiversity Conservation Alliance P.O. Box 1512, Laramie, WY 82073 (307) 742-7978 - carmi@voiceforthewild.org |