Keep Wyoming Wildlife Safe!
- by: The Wilderness Society
- recipient: Matt Anderson, Project Manager, Pinedale Bureau of Land Management
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The Bush Administration wants to radically escalate gas drilling in Wyoming's Upper Green River Valley, which is public land owned by all Americans. Their plan would effectively TRIPLE the number of gas wells to more than 10,000 generating huge profits for gas companies at the expense of the American taxpayer, local communities, and wildlife.
Fortunately we have a unique opportunity to reduce the scale of these projects. Before the public comment period closes on June 18, speak up for the alternative that includes safeguards for wildlife and air quality. The stronger our numbers, the stronger our impact.
Dear BLM Project Manager Anderson,
I understand the Bureau of Land Management has proposed dramatically expanding the level of development on the Pinedale Anticline, which serves as crucial winter habitat for mule deer and pronghorn in the Upper Green River Valley. This project, which would allow year-round drilling of up to 4,400 wells in crucial wildlife habitat, could set a dangerous precedent that would legitimize converting BLM's multiple-use lands to single-use industrial zones to the detriment of the public interest.
At a very minimum, the final decision must confine new drilling and road building to only the designated "concentrated development area" that runs north-south down the spine of the Anticline. Rampant drilling has already upset Sublette County's quality of life and stressed community services and infrastructure.
Now is the time to slow down drilling, not speed it up. We know habitat damage from drilling has already contributed to a 46 percent decline in the number of wintering deer on the northern portion of the Pinedale Anticline, known as the Mesa. What the BLM is calling a "relaxing" of winter drilling stipulations is really a precedent-setting abandonment of an important measure to protect wildlife. Stronger drilling restrictions must be imposed to reduce impacts on big game and sage grouse. A commitment must be made that BLM will curb activity when defined wildlife thresholds are breached. Without them, an escalation of drilling constitutes a reckless gamble with Wyoming's cherished wildlife.
Projected emissions of air pollution are neither reliable nor acceptable. We need rock-solid guarantees that industry will use the cleanest drilling technology available at the outset of the project. Coupled with the recently approved infill project calling for 3,100 new wells on the neighboring Jonah Field, ramped-up drilling in the Pinedale Anticline could forever upset Sublette County's quality of life, air quality and ability to support abundant wildlife - the very things that make the Upper Green a great place to live and visit.
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