January 23, 2006 (Bondurant, WY) - A report released today by The Wilderness Society highlights the Wyoming Range, one of the State’s unsung natural gems, and the long tradition Wyoming families have of working and recreating in the region. The report focuses on the Wyoming Range from the perspective of those who know it best -- local outfitters, officials, hunters, and backcountry enthusiasts -- and warns that new oil and gas leasing and development in the Wyoming Range threatens the very values that make this range special.

“There are places I can ride that look just like they did when Jim Bridger was out here,” notes Gordon Johnston, a former Sublette County Commissioner from Daniel [page 14]. “But they’re hard to find now. There just aren’t many places like that left in this country. When I visualize oil and gas development happening on the Wyoming Range, it bothers me what we’re doing to a special part of our country. When it’s gone, it’s gone. My great grandchildren will never see this country as I was fortunate to see it. And that saddens me.”

The report, The Wyoming Range: Wyoming’s Hidden Gem, focuses on the heritage that local residents like Johnston have maintained for generations as their families work and recreate along the Range. The report notes, however, that in this era of ever-expanding energy drilling, the Wyoming Range is increasingly in the cross-hairs with proposals for the sale of new energy leases and wildcat wells there.

“Our vision for the Wyoming Range is to keep intact the traditional uses -- the ranching, outfitting, education and recreation activities -- that currently occur in this wild country and help sustain local communities,” noted Peter Aengst of The Wilderness Society. “While there is a role for responsible energy development on our public lands, the Wyoming Range already has enough wells and is not the place for new development, especially given the natural gas boom happening in the adjacent Upper Green River Valley.”

Part of the Bridger-Teton National Forest, the rugged mountain chain runs north-south for 150 miles in western Wyoming, covering roughly 700,000 acres and providing important wildlife habitat for the southern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

“In the Wyoming Range there are other values that are more important than mineral development, like wildlife and recreational resources,” noted Andy Schwartz, Teton County Commissioner [page 26]. “When you look at what’s going on in Sublette County [the Upper Green River Valley], there are a lot of other places you can drill with less potential for damage.”

“Every weekend, many of us locals go straight up into the mountains,” added Steve DiCenso, a backcountry enthusiast and avid snowmobiler who works as a building contractor in Alpine [page 18]. “I can’t picture families wanting to camp up here anymore if there are drilling rigs. As soon as you see wells, you feel like you’re not in a wild area anymore.”

Another concern about proposed drilling in the Wyoming Range is that it fails to account for the record-setting energy drilling in the adjacent Upper Green River Valley, the related air quality concerns, and the fact that 150,000 acres of the Bridger-Teton already are leased for energy development. Aengst also noted that selling energy leases creates a “one way bias” toward eventual drilling.

Last April, the Forest Service announced its intent to lease 44,600 acres for oil and gas drilling in the Wyoming Range. The lease sales would be spread out over the coming months. The first parcel, a 1,280-acre block that includes important mule deer fawning areas, was auctioned by the BLM on December 6th but is under protest. The Forest Service also has started a process to consider three wildcat wells near the Hoback Ranches subdivision outside of Bondurant.

Previous energy proposals in the Wyoming Range have met strong public opposition. In 2004, for example, the Forest Service temporarily withdrew plans to lease 175,000 acres for oil and gas drilling in the Wyoming Range after hearing opposition to the lease sales from a broad spectrum of the public, including Governor Dave Freudenthal, local elected officials, and many potentially affected businesses in Jackson, Bondurant, and Alpine.

The State of Wyoming continues to have concerns about future leasing in the Wyoming Range. In the Spring of 2005, Governor Freudenthal stated that he was opposed to any leasing in the Bridger-Teton Forest, explaining, “I am a clear supporter of oil and gas, but I am not a supporter of oil and gas in the Bridger-Teton…. I believe over time, its contribution to the state, and not just economically, is such that we don’t need to lease it right now.”

For More Information

• Download the report
• Hard copies of the report can be obtained by contacting Brian Maffly at The Wilderness Society.
• Photos of the Wyoming Range and participants in the report also are available by contacting Brian Maffly.