News for Immediate Release July 25, 2007 Contact: Dwayne Meadows, 307-760-6802, dmeadows@trcp.org TRCP Protests Large Energy Leases in Wyoming, Colorado Group says BLM continues to lease important wildlife habitats without adequate management plans WASHINGTON – The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) today announced it has filed formal protests of the Bureau of Land Management’s plans to lease numerous parcels in Wyoming and Colorado for energy development. The national conservation organization’s Wyoming protests, filed on July 23, cover 49 parcels of land totaling more than 70,000 acres, on which it says the federal agency sanctioned energy development without properly analyzing the impacts on mule deer. Similar failures by the BLM compelled the group’s protests in Colorado, filed today, which include 55 parcels totaling more than 50,000 acres. “You don’t need to look past last week for proof of the agency’s poor handling of leasing on lands that hold critical importance to fish and wildlife,” said Steve Belinda, a TRCP initiative manager. “In Montana, they announced plans to lease a huge swath of the northeastern part of the state only to have to immediately pull about 70,000 acres after admitting that drilling’s effects on sage grouse hadn’t been properly analyzed. “The agency is choosing to ignore the facts,” continued Belinda. “Research shows that energy development has a significant impact on mule deer habitat use of crucial winter ranges. By ignoring the facts and failing to consider impacts from development of leased habitat, BLM is not only harming wildlife – it’s violating federal law.” BLM has largely failed to conduct new, on-the-ground inventories or environmental analysis required by the National Environmental Policy Act and the Federal Lands Policy and Management Act. New information about impacts to wildlife from development is readily available but dismissed. BLM also is disregarding recommendations of the Western Governors’ Association, which ask for the protection of wildlife migration corridors and state wildlife agency-designated crucial habitats. “The BLM’s aggressive push for energy development comes at the expense of sound management of fish and wildlife,” said Dwayne Meadows, a TRCP field representative based in Laramie. “TRCP is especially concerned with the fate of mule deer and the recreational opportunities they provide tens of thousands of sportsmen each fall in the Rockies. BLM’s actions could have a devastating effect on wildlife and hunting in Colorado and Wyoming – and on those states’ economies.” 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. |