The Wyoming Range, which is located within the Bridger-Teton National Forest, is known for its incredible wildlife and outstanding recreational values. This area is also prized by the oil and gas industry which will be drilling up to 10,000 oil and gas wells in surrounding areas in the next few years.
Fortunately Wyoming’s US Senator, John Barrasso, has introduced legislation that would protect the Wyoming Range from future oil and gas drilling. The Wyoming Range Legacy Act builds upon efforts initiated by Senator Craig Thomas prior to his death and is supported by a wide coalition of homeowners, sportsmen, government officials, conservationists, and small businesses across Wyoming.
This legislation would do two things. One, it would prevent any new oil and gas leasing in the Wyoming Range. Two, while existing leases are not affected, should an existing lease expire or be retired, then that area would be off limits to re-leasing.
If passed, this legislation would draw a boundary around portions of a rugged chain of mountains running north to south for 100 miles in western Wyoming. This boundary would only be drawn around federal public lands in the Wyoming Range portion of the Bridger Teton National Forest and would not include any currently producing leased areas on the Forest.
Wildlife and Recreation Values of Wyoming Range
With spectacular mountain meadows, blue-ribbon trout streams and lush valleys containing vast free-roaming herds of elk and mule deer, the Bridger-Teton National Forest’s Wyoming Range is a truly exceptional place. Wyoming’s namesake mountains are among the state’s hidden gems, a place where local folks can go to hunt, fish and enjoy nature away from the tourist hordes. The least protected part of the Bridger-Teton National Forest, the Wyoming Range forms the southern leg of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, one of the largest intact temperate zone ecosystems left in the world.
This is a world of recreational opportunities and cultural heritage. The 70-mile Wyoming Range National Recreation Trail traverses much of the range’s crest. The famous Lander Cutoff of the Oregon Trail, the conduit for thousands of westbound pioneers in the 1850s, cuts through the range at Thompson Pass, leaving a linear graveyard (awkward phrasing) of those who died on the trip. All four subspecies of Wyoming’s native cutthroat trout have found refuge here, and the range harbors prime habitat for returning populations of endangered predators, such as the grizzly, lynx and wolf.
Because of its stunning scenery and rich wildlife, the Wyoming Range helps supports an emerging diversified economy centered around tourism and recreation. Hundreds of jobs depend directly on the Bridger-Teton’s wildlife and travel spending in three counties surrounding the Wyoming Range reached $20 million in 2004. With dozens of ranchers continuing to make a living on the open range, this is a place where Old West and New West co-exist in harmony.
Would the Legislation Impact Improperly Leased Lands?
Uncertainty still remains over the validity of 44,600 acres that were improperly offered for lease in 2005 and 2006. Some of these lease parcels have not been issued while others have been issued but are under suspension. The Bush Administration has the authority to cancel these leases and provide full refunds to leaseholders. These leases are within the withdrawal boundary of the proposed legislation so if they were cancelled or otherwise found invalid, that land would then be off-limits to future leasing.
The Wilderness Society and its partners have appealed all of these offered leases and a recent ruling found in our favor resulting in the initial lease offerings to not be issued. The stay, granted by the Interior Board Land Appeals (IBLA) of the Department of Interior, serves to “hit the pause button” on a December 2005 lease sale within the Wyoming Range and prevents issuing that lease.
Status of Threat
Industry is keenly interested in drilling the Wyoming Range, hoping the huge payouts found in the neighboring Upper Green River Valley will extend into the mountains. One Houston firm, Plains Exploration and Production Co., is seeking permission to drill three wildcat wells in a roadless area in the upper Hoback drainage on the north end of the Wyoming Range. The project, known as the Eagle Prospect, would lay four miles of road and utility lines across inventoried roadless terrain.
Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal, the Tourism board, local officials and Chambers of Commerce all oppose the Plains drilling proposal. While the Wyoming Range Legacy Act would fully respect private property rights, in light of overwhelming public sentiment, it is hoped that Plains would take advantage of this creative legislative solution to willingly sell or donate its mineral lease rights located within the withdrawal boundary.
Why is the Wyoming Range at Risk?
In the high desert valley to the east of the Wyoming Range some of the nation’s most productive gas fields are being drilled at a feverish pace. The Upper Green River Valley provides crucial winter range for a world-class wildlife resource, but rules to protect habitat have done little to slow development. Another 10,000 wells are expected to be drilled in the coming years. Meanwhile, diesel exhaust from drill rigs and trucks, road dust, and other industrial emissions are polluting the skies over the valley and nearby Wilderness areas, as well as Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks.
Extending this drilling boom into the Wyoming Range would add to this growing haze over a formerly pristine air shed and further degrade the area’s rural quality of life. It would also deliver another blow to the thousands of pronghorn, mule deer and other big game that winter in the Upper Green, where researchers have documented a pattern of habitat avoidance near drilling activity. Many of these animals migrate, spend summers, and birth their young in the Wyoming Range’s foothills and lush alpine meadows—the same areas currently being eyed for development. And industrializing these mountains would undermine western Wyoming’s long-term economic prospects.
Solution
The Wyoming Range Legacy Act would create a firm foundation for future prosperity by protecting lands critical for recreation, tourism, and agricultural economies for Wyoming. This act supports the long-term enhanced value of a growing Wyoming tourism industry and will ensure future economic diversity.
Wyoming’s senior Senator Mike Enzi supports and has co-sponsored this bill. Governor Dave Freudenthal also strongly supports the proposal. A number of local officials and state legislators also support protecting the Wyoming Range. In addition, a wide variety of Wyomingites have mobilized to protect the Wyoming Range, including WY Outfitters and Guides, WY AFL-CIO, WY Tourism Bureau, as well as local landowners, ranchers, outfitters, sportsmen, and business owners. Most of Wyoming’s major newspapers also have editorialized in support of protecting the Wyoming Range from any new leasing.
What Happens Next?
The Wyoming Range Legacy Act will not become law until passed by Congress and signed by the President. Currently, the bill is before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
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