Field and Stream Articles
- Guest Editorial: A Sub-Prime Energy Future?
- Top 25 Public Land Elk Hunts
- The New Death Valley: How Energy Development is Killing Wyoming Pronghorn and Mule Deer Herds
- For Sale: Your Hunting Heritage
- The Killing Fields: Unchecked energy development is ruining your public hunting lands
- Drilling the Wild
- The Green Sportsman Blog
- Losing Game: Energy Development in Wyoming's Upper Green River Basin
News
EPA official defends Pavillion fracking report
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in no way contends that a draft report on groundwater pollution in Wyoming could apply to hydraulic fracturing in any other part of the U.S., an EPA official told a U.S. House subcommittee.
That includes the Marcellus Shale, a vast area of booming gas drilling in Pennsylvania and other northeastern states, EPA Regional Administrator James Martin said Wednesday.
“The geologic conditions that exist with the Marcellus Shale are significantly different,” Martin told the House Science Committee’s energy and environment subcommittee, which held a hearing in Washington on the draft EPA report.
The report, released Dec. 8, theorized that gas industry activity including hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, may have caused groundwater pollution in Pavillion.
Read full text: Wyoming Trib
Johnston and McNulty say stable oil, gas rules needed in the West
DENVER -- A stable regulatory environment makes it possible for energy developers to do business, two state legislators said at a luncheon Tuesday for a trade group for independent oil and natural gas producers in the West.
Colorado revamped its statewide drilling rules in 2008, but as oil and gas operations move closer to urban areas, more counties and cities, including El Paso County and Commerce City, are exploring whether to adopt local regulations on issues such as noise and other effects of drilling.
"A patchwork of regulations from county to county, city to city, from town to town, will kill additional investment in Colorado," Republican House Speaker Frank McNulty said at the Western Energy Alliance luncheon.
Over the years, companies have filed lawsuits challenging local rules, like those in La Plata and Gunnison counties. Judges have ruled that under Colorado law, there's a place for both state and local regulation, National Wildlife Federation attorney Michael Saul said.
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has domain over regulating what happens underground and technical issues like well spacing, and local governments can't ban drilling within their boundaries or adopt rules that create an "operational conflict" with state rules, he said. However courts have said communities can regulate local impacts.
Read full text: Boulder Daily Camera
How close is too close? Proposed law would increase oil and gas setbacks to 1,000 feet
"Colorado Democrats have introduced a bill in the State Legislature that would require hydraulically fractured oil and gas wells to be set back at least 1,000 feet from any school or residence....But a bill like SB 88 blocking counties and municipalities from exercising any land-use control over drilling activity goes too far, says National Wildlife Federation attorney Michael Saul.
“That was basically the rule that the oil and gas commission passed in 2003 and then the Colorado Court of Appeals struck down in the Board of County Commissioners of La Plata County versus COGCC case,” Saul said. “It sounds to me like [SB 88 is] just an attempt to rewrite that decision.”
Saul says La Plata County in southwestern Colorado, where British Petroleum has been active for decades, has some of the most stringent local land-use regulations overseeing oil and gas drilling. There, the operator seems to have figured out how to work with county regulations without state preemption becoming an issue, he says.
“We’ve got 20 years of case law interpreting the existing state of the law on preemption and counties have learned pretty well how to follow that law,” Saul said. “Operators have been successful in navigating the permitting systems in those counties that have done so.
“Certainly there’s been a lot of successful drilling in La Plata County, which is arguably the most comprehensive [local] regulator.”
Read full text: Colorado Independent
Experts: California demand for Wyoming wind is a 'gamble'
JACKSON -- It's no secret that Wyoming wants to sell its wind power to California. But its chances are still up in the air, said some participants at a state Infrastructure Authority meeting here Tuesday.
"It's a big question mark, and a gamble," said Bill Boyd, executive vice president and chief operating officer of TransWest Express LLC, a subsidiary of Denver-based Anschutz Corp. and developer of a high-voltage power line to carry wind power from Wyoming to California.
Yet Boyd and others at the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority meeting, including a top adviser to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, say they're hopeful Wyoming can make a case for its wind energy, arguably cheaper by the megawatt for California customers.
Read full text: Wyoming Trib
In Colorado, conservation and jobs go hand in hand, say voters
Can a person be both pro-business and pro-environment? In Colorado and surrounding states, the answer is a resounding “yes” according to a poll released today by Colorado College.
A full 67 percent of Colorado voters identify themselves as conservationists, including 62 percent of Republicans and 65 percent of independents. A whopping 93 percent say parks and open space are essential to the state’s economy.
Read full text: Colorado Independent
2012 WESTERN STATES SURVEY
Colorado Drilling Bans Could be Headed to Courts
As oil and gas drilling continues its march into more populated areas, there’s growing pressure on Colorado lawmakers to wade into a thorny battle escalating between the state and many local governments. Several bills that would give cities and counties more authority to regulate the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing are likely to be debated this session, even though it’s long been viewed as the state’s regulatory jurisdiction. KUNC’s Kirk Siegler reports on a series of tangled court rulings that got us to this point.
Read full text: KUNC
Obama administration releases new national forest management rules
A proposed planning rule for managing national forests puts new emphasis on watershed health and recreation, but also strives to keep loggers in the woods, U.S. Forest Service officials said Thursday.
The national rule will guide local forest supervisors when they make their more specific forest management plans. Those plans govern where trees can be cut, the kinds of wildlife to watch out for, activities allowed in campgrounds and the backcountry, and how people can challenge forest decisions.
"The rule needs to take into consideration those multiple uses, be resilient to climate change over time, focus on restoration of forest health, reduce the threat of catastrophic fires and supply timber products to local mills," U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said during a conference call Thursday.
The meeting unveiled the final environmental impact statement on the proposed plan. After it's published in the Federal Register on Feb. 3, a final version of the rule will be selected by Vilsack within 30 days.
"We really appreciate that the agency is trying to get projects out more quickly and with less expense," said Keith Olson of the Montana Logging Association. "That really seems to be what they think they've accomplished with this. Our biggest concern is whenever you have this expensive a document, what it turns out to be is a blueprint for those who like to litigate. It goes beyond the scope of any planning document ever designed. We focus on simplicity and clarity, and our big concern is this goes exactly the opposite direction."
The new rule replaces guidelines the Forest Service has depended on since 1982. Many forests, including the Lolo National Forest based in Missoula, haven't updated their management plans since the late 1980s. The Kootenai National Forest issued a new forest plan in January, but it's based on the 1982 rule.
Read full text: The Missoulian
Defend the Upper Colorado
Don’t let the Colorado River go down the drain. Let’s protect the Colorado way of life we love for future generations. Outdoor activities like fishing, rafting and camping depend on healthy rivers. Soon, 80% of the Upper Colorado could be diverted to supply Front Range communities, leaving only a trickle behind. Add your voice to protect the Colorado and Fraser rivers by signing our online petition (below). There is an option for including your comments.
Commerce City officials hear comment on fracking ban
COMMERCE CITY — Council members Monday evening debated the merits of a six-month moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in the city, which drew sharp comments from some who are afraid oil and gas drilling in the community will lead to environmental disaster.
"I think we need a time out and this community needs to band together and lead the way on this," said resident Kristi Douglas, a critic of the process also known as fracking. "A lot of people are going to be wondering where Commerce City stands on this."
Read full text: Denver Post
Finding answers for Pavillion residents
Several recent news and opinion pieces in this newspaper have mischaracterized the Environmental Protection Agency’s work in Pavillion. I’d like to take this opportunity to clarify some key facts about our science.
First, the editorial page of this paper wrote that EPA has “poisoned the public debate by releasing its report” and a recent opinion piece claimed that the report release was “rushed.” These assertions do a disservice to the rigorous scientific process EPA conducted and the vital interest in informing the public and scientific community of the results of EPA’s work.
Our investigation of drinking water safety in Pavillion has been under way for three years. We have conducted four rounds of sampling. After the sampling phase, our career scientists conducted a meticulous evaluation of the data. Their conclusions were thoroughly reviewed by EPA career managers and subjected to an initial peer review by independent experts. The draft report exhaustively describes the evidence supporting EPA’s conclusions and how that evidence was evaluated.
Importantly, we have been clear that the report is a draft, that we expect and want public feedback, and that we are asking independent experts to publicly peer review our work, which is the accepted method of resolving questions about scientific validity.
Read full text: Wyoming Trib
Anaconda-area sportsmen stage demonstration over whether road is public
ANACONDA -- While Anaconda-Deer Lodge County continues its research into what is allegedly a county road northeast of town, local sportsmen are uniting to press the issue.
About 75 people staged a peaceful (if at times heated) demonstration on Sunday afternoon on Modesty Creek Road, opening a pair of landowner gates to what they believe should be public access.
A line of more than 20 trucks rumbled over snow and ice on a stretch of the road running east to Dry Gulch through private land. There, they reviewed maps from as far back as 1889 that label the road as a county road.
One Anaconda police officer responded to the scene, but only to keep the peace. No arrests or citations were issued.
Read full text: Billings Gazette
Forest Service mulls selling Dowd Junction parcel
EAGLE — The U.S. Forest Service is asking Eagle County if it wants to buy some land.
Forest Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams and District Ranger David Neely met with Eagle County commissioners and staff, and a representative from Eagle County Ambulance District on Tuesday for a work session to explore future possible land deals, especially pertaining to a site at Dowd Junction.
“We need money to reinvest in our aging facilities,” Fitzwilliams said. “Right now, we have two offices in Eagle County to staff and maintain. I can't afford it anymore, period.”
Fitzwilliams said that the conveyance program passed and recently extended by Congress allows the Forest Service to sell land and keep and reinvest money from those sales. Counties, cities and the state have a right of first refusal to buy such land for its appraised value before it is offered on an open market.
Read full text: Vail Daily
State wants hunters to be enforcers; some question ethics
HELENA - Montana is looking to recreational hunters for help in enforcing more of its wildlife management policies, but one regulator worries they are being asked to cross an ethical line in doing so.
The question is whether the state is unwittingly putting those hunters in a fix: Does their new role fall within ethical hunting guidelines or does it reduce them to wildlife management mercenaries whose actions could give hunting a black eye?
That's the concern of Fish, Wildlife and Parks commissioner Ron Moody, who recently questioned whether the agency's policies and proposals are asking hunters disregard what it means to be an ethical hunter.
"I think we're either at those limits, or what I really think is we've gone past them," Moody said.
Energy exploration possible in Steamboat city limits
Steamboat Springs — Steamboat Springs is jumping on the oil and gas regulation bandwagon.
The city, like Routt County, soon will work on developing its own regulations specific to oil and gas development. The City Council unanimously and without discussion Tuesday approved giving city staff the go-ahead to begin drafting regulations regarding potential energy exploration within city limits.
City Attorney Tony Lettunich presented an update to City Council members about local oil and gas issues. The county has been working to draft revised conditions for all oil and gas permit applications. The work is being done because of the growing interest in the region and its Niobrara Shale layer. Quicksilver Resources reported recently that its well on Wolf Mountain in Routt County was producing 500 barrels of sweet crude oil per day.
“It’s hard to anticipate exactly what will happen, but the hope is we won’t be in the crosshairs of drilling,” Lettunich said Tuesday.
Read more: Steamboat Today
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