Speakers call for fewer wells, more wildlife protection

[TransitJohn]

By JEFF GEARINO
Southwest Wyoming bureau Wednesday, February 09, 2005

ROCK SPRINGS -- Southwest Wyoming residents want to see greater wildlife protection and fewer oil and gas wells than the Bureau of Land Management is proposing in its Great Divide management plan, speakers told BLM officials this week.

Sweetwater County residents also worried about the effects of proposed oil and gas development on the historic trails that lie within the lands the BLM manages under the auspices of its Rawlins/Great Divide resource management plan.

The agency is in the process of revising the plan, which will guide the level and pace of development in the area for the next two decades.

"I spend a lot of time hunting and hiking in those hills, but I work in the trona mines, and I understand people have to make a living off the land," Monte Morlock of Rock Springs told BLM officials.

"But we need to do our oil and gas exploration slower... Let's do it smarter if we're going to do it at all," Morlock said. "Areas like the Jonah fields are great for the economy, and yes, it does bring in lots of jobs, but a lot of that (Jonah field) country won't ever be the same. Wyoming is not just a place, it's a feeling, and once it's gone, that feeling will change."

Green River resident Mike Burd agreed. "Oil and gas development has run rampant in this state, and I'm dismayed at what's happened," Burd said.

Burd noted during the early 1970s boom in southwest Wyoming, then-Gov. Ed Herschler pushed to develop Wyoming's resources at Wyoming's pace. He urged the BLM to do the same in the Great Divide area.

"Let's do it right the first time because once we screw up, we can't do it over," he said. "When you enter Wyoming, the sign says, 'Like no place on Earth.' Are we going to believe in that, or are we going to add the word 'was' -- Wyoming was like no place on Earth?"

A large majority of the 19 people offering formal public testimony at the BLM public hearing Monday night favored a so-called "Western Heritage" management alternative. The alternative was drafted by the Laramie-based Biodiversity Conservation Alliance and endorsed by other conservation groups such as the Wyoming Outdoor Council.

Rick Bezanson of Lander called the Western Heritage alternative a "win-win" proposal for the area.

"The (Western Heritage) alternative allows for development, but not at the expense of wildlife," Bezanson said. "Wildlife is a renewable resource that brings in $100 million annually to local economies. Let's leave a legacy for future generations and do it right ... with things like no surface occupancy in crucial winter wildlife areas. Think wildlife first."

Drilling concerns

The existing Rawlins/Great Divide resource management plan was approved by the BLM in 1990. The agency began work on the revision in February 2002 and released a draft environmental impact statement on the proposed revisions in December.

The draft management plan analyzes 3.5 million acres of federally owned mineral estate in Sweetwater, Albany, Carbon and Laramie counties.
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http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2005/02/09/news/wyoming/9cbe8c042cab8e7187256fa20063f6a3.txt

[Kolesar]

1. Kerry did better than Al Gore in the "sagebrush rebellion" red states

Hopefully, those "fiercely independent types" are waking up.