Conservationists Recommend Shift in Public-Lands Energy Policy
News for Immediate Release
Jan. 15, 2009
Contact: Katie McKalip, 406-240-9262, kmckalip@trcp.org
Conservationists Recommend Shift in Public-Lands Energy Policy
Coalition welcomes Salazar nomination for Interior secretary, urges Senate to support
fundamental change in approach to public-lands drilling, development
WASHINGTON – A coalition of prominent conservation groups today exhorted policymakers in the 111th Congress to prioritize revision of the federal energy leasing and development process on Western public lands so that fish and wildlife resources and sporting opportunities can be sustained. The coalition also lauded the nomination for Interior secretary of Sen. Ken Salazar, whose appointment is being considered at a Senate hearing today.
In a letter to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, members of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership’s Fish, Wildlife and Energy Working Group welcomed the opportunity to work with Salazar in developing responsive administrative policy promoting the responsible management of America’s public lands. The letter also urged federal agencies to take immediate action in addressing the effects of development on fish and wildlife resources.
The coalition states: Striking a balance between energy and wildlife resources is one of the greatest challenges facing the next administration. The first step toward resolving these conflicts is revision of the current BLM paradigm that allows development to proceed without regard to impacts and is based on a promise that those impacts will be studied and mitigated at a later date.
“Energy development and the conservation of fish and wildlife habitat are not mutually exclusive,” said Gordon C. Robertson, vice president of the American Sportfishing Association and working group member. “Yet the overall pace of public-lands development may be jeopardizing the future of our hunting and fishing traditions. This is the time to work together to resolve this problem.”
The coalition continues: The FWEWG supports responsible oil and gas development and understands that cultivating domestic energy resources is vital to the nation. Conflicts with wildlife and our fishing and hunting heritage can be minimized. But this new approach must start in Washington, and it must start now.
“This nation’s remaining wild places and animals are among our most cherished treasures,” said Ralph Rogers, executive director of the North American Grouse Partnership. “Sen. Salazar knows that. Sportsmen look forward to working with him in our shared attempts to conserve these valued resources and, where guided by appropriate science, help address America’s need for energy from public lands.”
“As a fifth-generation Westerner, a rancher and a sportsman, Sen. Salazar possesses a keen appreciation of the challenges and opportunities he will face if confirmed as Interior secretary,” concluded TRCP President and CEO George Cooper. “Sportsmen are acutely aware of the importance of the Interior Department when it comes to managing our natural resources and the future of hunting and fishing. We firmly believe that the senator can reestablish the standard of multiple-use management that includes conservation of fish and wildlife resources as energy resources are developed.”
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 ofTheodore 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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