TRCP Welcomes BLM Turnaround on Some Lease Plans,
News for Immediate Release
July 20, 2007
Contact: William Geer, 406-396-0909, bgeer@trcp.org
TRCP Welcomes BLM Turnaround on Some Lease Plans,
Looks to Agency for More Progress
Group lauds BLM withdrawal of parcels to be leased in northeast Montana,
cautions that conservation plan for big-game animals is still critical
WASHINGTON – Only days after formally protesting plans by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to offer more than 300,000 acres in Montana for oil and gas drilling despite likely harms on wildlife, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) today lauded an announcement that the agency had decided to withdraw dozens of the contested oil and gas leases from auction. Citing concerns that issuing the leases would cause damage to sage grouse populations, the BLM has pulled 73,000 acres from the auction block.
The national conservation coalition today urged similar and immediate action on other proposed leases out of concern over impacts to elk, mule deer and pronghorn. “We welcome this action from the BLM,” said TRCP initiative manager Steve Belinda. “It shows the agency’s willingness to bring new information into play – and to acknowledge that it acted prematurely in ever offering these lands. Unfortunately, we can still clearly see a couple hundred thousand other mistakes still on the auction block, and we’ll continue to press our protests until they are adequately addressed.”
The BLM decision covers all or parts of 96 parcels with substantial sage grouse populations in Garfield, McCone and Carbon counties. The leases are clustered in northeast Montana, south of the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge and the Fort Peck Reservoir. In deferring the lease sales, BLM also indicated that it would consider whether further industry restrictions are needed in consideration of new wildlife studies from the University of Wyoming and the University of Montana.
“The petroleum industry wails about these decisions being based on faulty science, but we maintain that further leases should logically be put on hold until the implications of recent studies are understood and the impacts of energy development on this critical habitat are fully comprehended,” Belinda continued.
“In the wake of a decision like this one, we are left wondering how many past leases were sold for energy development based on erroneous, out-of-date information,” said William Geer, a TRCP initiative manager based in Missoula. “We fully support domestic energy development, but we want to see it balanced with sound fish and wildlife management. Anything less than that is a disservice to the American public.
“These 300,000 acres comprise prime habitat for big-game species – some of the state’s best habitat,” said Geer. “Every year, thousands of sportsmen travel here from all over the country to hunt mule deer, pronghorn and elk. This region exemplifies ‘Big Sky Country,’ and it helps preserve a vital part of our country’s outdoor heritage.”
The TRCP believes that to better balance the concerns of fish and wildlife in the face of accelerating energy development, federal land management agencies must follow the conservation tenets outlined in the FACTS for Fish and Wildlife.
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the traditions of hunting and fishing.
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