SAN FRANCISCO (February 28, 2007) – A broad coalition of Western hunters, anglers, ranchers and conservationists today released an outline of steps Congress should take to return balance to oil and gas drilling on western lands.

The Western Energy Agenda [pdf], released today to coincide with the launch of Congressional hearings on “The Evolving West,” provides a series of guidelines for developing a balanced federal energy policy that allows responsible oil and gas drilling without sacrificing water quality, special places and wildlife habitat.

“Congress needs to return balance to the management of America’s public lands. We don’t need to sacrifice our lands, water and wildlife heritage to secure energy for our country,” said Elise Jones of the Colorado Environmental Coalition. “The Western Energy Agenda tells Congress what we in the West already know: we need to protect the West, and as we develop our energy resources, we need to do it right.”

One of the agenda’s top priorities is the reinstatement of rules that protect water supplies from contamination from oil and gas drilling. The energy bill passed by Congress in 2005 exempted the oil and gas industry from provisions in both the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act.

“I’ve personally witnessed the growing conflicts between the oil and gas industry and the West’s hunters and anglers, landowners and ranchers – conflicts that could have been avoided if the government and industry had played by the rules in the first place,” said Linda Baker of the Upper Green River Valley Coalition. “More importantly, the Western Energy Agenda offers the real solution we need at the national level: an aggressive push to develop clean, renewable energy like solar, wind and geothermal energy.”

Over the past six years the West has experienced a sharp increase in drilling in response to federal policies that prioritize drilling over other uses of public lands.  New Mexico’s Otero Mesa, Colorado’s Roan Plateau, Wyoming’s Red Desert, and Utah’s Redrock Wilderness are among the many special places threatened by drilling rigs. In addition, best management practices need to be enforced on federal lands in order to secure the protection of the West’s valuable wildlife heritage.

“Clean water and abundant wildlife are the cornerstones of the West’s economy. We must protect these resources from the consequences of irresponsible energy development,” said Oscar Simpson of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation.

The Western Energy Agenda also addresses the need to establish and enforce surface use agreements that protect ranchers and other private landowners from the negative impacts oil and gas drilling can have on their health, drinking water, livelihoods and quality of life.  Other agenda provisions would ensure that the public has a voice in public lands decision making, public lands would be managed for multiple uses rather than just energy development, and the impacts and viability of oil shale development would be fully researched before the administration pursues a commercial leasing program.