Energy

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Traditional oil and gas exploration and extraction has taken a toll on places dear to Western sportsmen. Industry, enabled for years by federal energy policies that place a higher priority on drilling and development than any other single use of public lands, is threatening prime habitat where hunters stalk big game and anglers pursue wild, native trout in clear, untouched streams. As more roads are constructed, more well pads graded for drilling rigs and more industrial traffic and pipelines stretch into the backcountry, we’re literally losing ground. Through the Sportsmen’s Conservation Project, Trout Unlimited is playing a leading role in organizing hunters and anglers to advocate for responsible energy development. 
 
Recent presidential administrations have pressed for increased development of domestic energy supplies from public lands as a matter of national security. By increasing the domestic production of oil and gas, the argument states, we will reduce the nation’s reliance on energy resources from the Middle East. But that argument is flawed. At present, the U.S. consumes 25 percent of the world's produced energy, yet only 3 percent of the world's known energy reserves are located beneath American soil. In other words, we could develop every national park, wilderness area and wildlife refuge, and every tract of roadless land in the country, and still wouldn’t come close to meeting our energy demands. While TU recognizes the importance of energy development to our country, we also believe we should never trade the clean water and healthy habitat found on public lands for short-term energy production. The potential impacts to fish and wildlife by oil and gas development must be examined and disclosed before drilling begins. Where energy development does occur, proper mitigations, stipulations and monitoring plans must be in place, fully funded and enforced. And some places – such as crucial winter range, trout and salmon spawning habitat, riparian areas and migratory corridors – should remain off limits to development. To conserve such places, the SCP has undertaken a series of place-based campaigns, including the Valle Vidal, the Roan Plateau, Wyoming Range and the Rocky Mountain Front. 

 
While the actual "footprint" of an oil well or gas production pad may be relatively small, the ecological effects of gas and oil development on public lands are extensive. Production requires a pervasive infrastructure of roads, transmission lines, holding facilities, drainage ponds and pipelines. If not done responsibly, this development can contaminate ground and surface water supplies, reduce water quantity and degrade fish habitat. Energy development also disrupts wildlife migration corridors, calving grounds and nesting areas for birds. The results of unchecked energy development are damaged habitat and fewer fish and wildlife, and the SCP is working in oil and gas producing regions across the West to prevent this. 
 
In addition to our local efforts, the SCP is also organizing on a national level. Working with the National Wildlife Federation, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and others, the SCP has launched the Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development (SFRED) campaign, which contains science-based recommendations to ensure that energy development is performed in a manner that protects hunting and fishing habitat for future generations. To learn more about these efforts, please visit Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development at www.sportsmen4responsibleenergy.org.

Looking forward, Trout Unlimited advocates the responsible development of alternative energy sources, including wind, solar, geothermal and biomass. A reliance on alternative energy sources could lead to a reduction of greenhouse gasses and help slow global climate change. A reduction in the demand for fossil fuel and hydropower-based energy holds the promise of increased protection of sensitive habitat on public lands from oil and gas development. It may also provide a boon to salmon and trout populations in the West by making the removal of large hydropower dams possible.