A lot is happening in Wyoming...come check it out!

Drilling for Natural Gas in Wyoming Raises Debate

Wyoming has some of the largest natural gas reserves in the country -- underneath public land -- leading to a debate over whether to drill or preserve the land for other uses.

Watch a PBS video where NewsHour correspondent Spencer Michels reports from Wyoming (click on the 'Streaming Video' link).

 'Are we losing the home place?'

Walt Gasson (executive director of the Wyoming Wildlife Federation) - I wanted to be able to get behind the new alternative being proposed for natural gas drilling on the Pinedale Anticline. But in the end what I see here, despite weeks of media hype and what must have been a jillion dollars in public relations spending, is more of the same. The Bureau of Land Management continues to pursue its development at-all-costs policy for natural gas development in Wyoming. I ask that residents get engaged in energy development conversations, so that we can collectively decide about what we want to have happen on our "home place." Read entire opinion piece at Casper Star-Tribune.  

BLM Releases Rawlins Area Plan

The Bureau of Land Management recently released its proposed revisions to the Rawlins (commonly known as the Great Divide) land-use plan. The plan covers 4.6 million acres of public land and minerals in Wyoming's Red Desert. The BLM proposes opening 98% of the area -- all but 108,790 acres -- to oil and gas development. 

Click here to read more about the proposed plan.

Record of Decision on Casper Resource Management Plan Issued December 7th 

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Casper Field Office is releasing the Record of Decision (ROD) and Approved Casper Resource Management Plan (RMP) on December 7, 2007. This RMP provides a framework for the future management direction and appropriate use of BLM-administered public lands and resources located in most of Natrona County, and all of Converse, Goshen, and Platte counties, Wyoming.

Read the entire BLM Press Release

Read the Record of Decision

Go to the Casper Resource Management Planning website (BLM)

Related Article: Casper BLM field office updates management plan

Barrasso: Bold Move for Wyo Recreation, Tourism With Bill To Protect the Wyoming Range

October 25, 2007 -- Press Release from Sen. Barrasso's Office 

A signature mountain range, named for the Great State of Wyoming, will receive protection for Wyoming sportsmen and visitors to hunt, fish, and experience its grandeur, cowboys to graze cattle and next generations to be inspired by the spirit of wild Wyoming, under legislation U.S. Senator John Barrasso introduced today.

Read more about the Wyoming Range

Fortification Creek

Article courtesy of Wyoming Wildlife Federation Staff and the Pronghorn Newsletter

Controversy is heating up in the heart of Wyoming's Powder River Basin, as coalbed methane development extends further into the Basin's wildest country, and into the home of a trophy elk herd.

Read more about the threats to Fortification Creek

Kemmerer BLM Releases Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Moxa Arch Energy Development Project

BLM Press Release: October 12, 2007 

The Bureau of Land Management today released its Notice of Availability (NOA) to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Moxa Arch Area Infill Gas Development Project. The 60-day review and public comment period begins today and ends on Dec. 10, 2007.

“We want and need the public to review this Draft EIS and the proposed alternatives and to provide comments to assist the BLM in crafting a preferred alternative,” said Michele Easley, Moxa Arch EIS project lead.

This DEIS analyzes impacts based on an infill drilling proposal for the 475,808-acre Moxa Arch Development project area in Lincoln, Sweetwater, and Uinta Counties in Wyoming.

Read the entire press release

Link to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement

Sportsmen Challenge Gas Development Decision Endangering World-Class Wildlife Resource in Atlantic Rim

By Daly Edmunds and Michael Saul. Article courtesy of Wyoming Wildlife Federation Staff and the Pronghorn Newsletter

In May 2007, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued a Record of Decision (ROD), opening the 270,000 acre wildlife-rich Atlantic Rim area southwest of Rawlins to intensive coalbed methane (CBM) development. The Atlantic Rim ROD approves the drilling of approximately 2,000 new natural gas wells within some of the most productive big game habitat in Wyoming.

Read the entire article to find out why sportsmen are concerned about this development.

Pinedale Draft RMP and EIS in Review

Article courtesy of Wyoming Wildlife Federation Staff and the Pronghorn Newsletter

On June 15, 2007, National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and Wyoming Wildlife Federation (WWF) submitted joint comments to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on the Draft Resource Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement for the Pinedale Resource Area (Plan). This Plan will determine the management of over 900,000 acres of federal surface and about 1.2 million acres of federal mineral estate lands in Sublette, Lincoln and Fremont Counties.

The Wyoming Wildlife Federation supports responsible energy development that includes measures to protect wildlife resources and recreational opportunities on public land. However, language in the Plan such as "Wildlife habitat would generally only be protected if a mineral commodity is not present for extraction" [4-210] is grounds for great concern.

Read more about the Pinedale RMP and EIS.

Administration's Public Lands Sales Proposals--Dead on Arrival

Article courtesy of Wyoming Wildlife Federation Staff and the Pronghorn Newsletter

In its 2008 proposed budget, the Bush administration once again included proposals to sell large amounts of both Bureau of Land Management and National Forest lands, despite the drubbing that these and similar proposals received from sportsmen and other public lands advocates in the previous year. The fact that these 2008 proposals were basically pronounced "dead on arrival" when they hit Congress speaks volumes to the work that we all accomplished last year.

Read more about public lands sales proposals.

Grouse summit: Status quo won't do

From The Jackson Hole Star Tribune...

"The way Gov. Dave Freudenthal sees it, sage grouse conservation in Wyoming is something like a junior high school dance.

"'All the boys and girls are lined up along the walls, waiting for someone to ask someone else to dance,' he said.

"Freudenthal used the analogy to help kick off the first Wyoming Sage Grouse Summit in Casper Wednesday. Ranchers, oil and gas men, biologists, conservationists and state and federal officials are meeting to consider a newer, smarter way of conserving sage grouse while tapping the energy wealth of the Cowboy State."