Energy

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service are proposing unprecedented levels of gas and oil development on public lands, with potential for severe impacts on crucial fish and wildlife habitats, and hunting and fishing, throughout Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico.

The ecological effects of gas, oil, and coal bed methane (CBM) development on public lands are extensive. Although the actual "footprint" of a well or pad may be relatively small, production requires a pervasive infrastructure of roads, transmission lines, holding facilities, ponds, and so on. This development can contaminate ground and surface water supplies, reduce water quantity, degrade fish habitat, and fragment wildlife corridors, calving grounds, and nesting areas.

The cumulative effects of energy development spread throughout such a large landscape, and proposed on such a large, unprecedented scale, will almost certainly have significant impacts on fish, wildlife, water, and hunting and fishing.

The White House has cast increasing development of public lands energy supplies as a matter of national security. Their argument is that by increasing domestic production of oil, gas, and coalbed methane, we will no longer need to rely on energy resources from the unstable Middle East. The U.S. consumes 25% of the world's produced energy. Yet, only 3% of the world's known energy resources underlie domestic soil. In other words, we could develop every National park, wilderness and roadless area, and wildlife refuge and never come close to meeting our energy demands. Clearly, conservation must play a significant role in our national energy plan.

Certainly our nation needs energy supplies, but at what cost to the public lands that sustain some of the cleanest water, healthiest habitats, and finest fishing and hunting in North America? TU believes that we should be careful never to allow short-term energy production to diminish the long-term productive capacity of the lands and waters that sustain us. Our public lands should be managed for all multiple uses. Oil and gas development is but one use, and it should not take priority over clean water, wildlife and fish, and hunting and fishing interests. We believe that potential impacts to fish and wildlife and water resources must be thoroughly examined and disclosed in regards to gas and oil development on public lands. Where development does occur, proper mitigations, stipulations and monitoring plans must be in place, funded, and enforced, to protect wildlife and fish. We also need to insist that some places - such as crucial winter range, spawning habitat, riparian areas, and migratory corridors - remain off limits to development. In other places, our land management agencies need to slow down, and develop a better understanding of potential impacts before proceeding with such ambitious, wide-scale developments across the landscape.

Working with the National Wildlife Federation and other partners, Trout Unlimited is leading an energy campaign called the Sportsmen's Energy Agenda. This campaign informs anglers and hunters about the threats of expansive gas and oil development while providing solutions for our lawmakes and agencies to impliment that will allow for responsible oil and gas development while protecting our fish, wildife, and public lands hunting and angling heritage.

TU in the News - Energy
Recent articles avaliable in the archi ve:

• 10/06/2007 Denver Post article: "Intertwined passion"
• 9/17/2007 Idaho State Journal article:  "Group fight soil, gas exploration: Goal is to preserve Wyoming Range"
• 9/11/2007 Denver Post article:  "Wide range of concern in Wyoming"

Wyoming Range

• Press Release 
• Press Release 

Valle Vidal

• Press Release
• Press Release 

Diamond Fork

• Radio Interview