fbpx

Wildlife

Wyoming poised to safeguard big game migrations

Posted on by Kristen Gunther

DECEMBER 2019 UPDATE: We eagerly await the draft of the Governor’s executive order, and we anticipate that it will arrive this month. In the meantime, we’ve continued our advocacy to support the three officially designated mule deer migration corridors in the state (Baggs, Sublette, and Platte Valley), as well as turning our attention to the two corridors next in line for designation (the Sublette pronghorn, or “Path of the Pronghorn,” and the Wyoming Range mule deer). The coming year will hold many opportunities for Wyomingites to get involved in the management of and advocacy for migration corridors, so if you’re interested in mule deer, pronghorn, and/or elk, we’d love to hear from you!

Nobody knows the value of Wyoming’s wildlife more than the people who live here. It was Wyoming residents and leaders — across the spectrum — who initiated the West-wide stakeholder plan to protect the Greater sage-grouse, and now Wyoming is poised to do the same for big game migrations.

This summer, Governor Mark Gordon convened the Wildlife Migration Corridor Advisory Group made up of citizens who represented oil and gas, mining, agriculture, conservation, recreation and hunters, as well as a county commissioner and a Wyoming Game and Fish Commissioner. The Wyoming Outdoor Council contributed extensively to the discussion and made recommendations on behalf of the conservation community.

The Outdoor Council’s recommendations to the advisory group

Among our recommendations, which were grounded in the best-available science and sought to establish balance, we suggested that the group protect corridors through legally-binding oil and gas lease stipulations to guide development on public lands. We also supported efforts to create collaborative, voluntary approaches to conservation for landowners, investments in wildlife-friendly infrastructure, and to reaffirm the independence of the Game and Fish Department as the authority managing wildlife for the people of Wyoming.

Safeguarding our migrating herds requires stronger coordination between public and private stakeholders, among state agencies, and between the state and federal government. We echoed what the Wyoming public overwhelmingly believes: we can have responsible energy development without sacrificing our wildlife.

We echoed what the Wyoming public overwhelmingly believes: we can have responsible energy development without sacrificing our wildlife.

– WYOMING OUTDOOR COUNCIL

The group’s consensus: a state-level solution for development

We were impressed and heartened by the depth of engagement on this committee, and appreciated a frank, ongoing discussion with the citizen stakeholders charged with creating recommendations. While ultimately the group did not choose to recommend oil and gas lease stipulations, the group’s recommendations chart a new path forward to achieve balance. After lengthy negotiations, the group recommended a state-level process that would empower Wyoming decision-makers to shape on-the-ground development, ideally allowing our state to ensure that migrating herds are not harmed by development and other forms of habitat fragmentation. 

The stakeholder consensus was not to manage habitat at the federal level, but to ask Governor Gordon to develop an Executive Order — patterned after the sage-grouse executive order — that gives Wyoming clear legal authority to site development outside of sensitive habitats. In this framework (like the sage-grouse framework), the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission would work with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to manage siting of proposed oil and gas development projects, and ensure they are placed in areas that do not impede corridor functionality or connectivity. 

The recommendation language reflects the group’s understanding of the best available migration science, and the group’s recommendations are very clear that migration corridors—especially the most sensitive portions such as stopover and high use—are vital  habitat. Therefore, the group recommended that the state should operate under the presumption that development will not occur in these particularly critical areas unless sound evidence suggests that development could be accomplished in a manner that will not harm wildlife habitat. 

Other recommendations

The group created a wealth of recommendations about many land use and management challenges distinct from oil and gas development. These include: 

  • Establishment of local working groups to provide insight, feedback, and access to local knowledge associated with identified corridors;
  • More proactive engagement from landowners;
  • A change to Wyoming law requiring commercial-electrical generation solar and wind power projects be reviewed by the Industrial Siting Council to ensure they do not impact the functionality of corridors;
  • Requests for funding for wildlife-friendly infrastructure and habitat work (e.g. invasive species); and
  • Consensus to prevent recreational infrastructure within corridor habitat.

Will this approach work?

Migration routes cross multiple types of landscapes with multiple governing authorities, and therefore cannot be conserved with a single overarching action. Rather, conservation requires ongoing collaboration and dialogue — the kind embodied by the advisory group’s negotiations. We believe the committee’s recommended approach, if executed well, puts Wyoming in the driver’s seat. That means we have the chance to achieve the real balance that Wyomingites overwhelmingly wish to see: protection of migratory herds and vital habitat alongside responsibly-conceived and sited development projects. The future of our big game herds — and our outdoor heritage —  relies on getting this right.

And we think that Wyoming is well-positioned to get this right. But not everyone is on board with the group’s recommendations for a path forward.

Migration legislation: an end-run around citizen consensus?

One legislative committee, prompted by industry interests who are dissatisfied with what the citizen stakeholder group recommended, is currently considering a bill that would hamper science-based wildlife migration corridor management. This committee’s approach seeks to remove the Game and Fish Department’s authority to identify corridors, and could open the door to higher levels of development within corridors, contrary to what the stakeholder group recommended. 

The Outdoor Council is  tracking these efforts and working with partners to oppose this approach. We support the Governor’s citizen advisory group and their recommendation for a sensible, balanced, and science-based approach. In the coming weeks, we will share further information about how to engage with this committee to oppose this bill, which will be considered in late October. 

Finally, it’s important to remember that the solution that the Governor’s group recommended to address oil and gas impacts is implemented at the development stage, after a lease has been sold and a proponent wishes to drill. We think that’s a workable solution to manage habitat, and an executive order should give the state more leverage to ensure that federal management actions will dovetail with our state-level plan. In this time of widespread leasing, however, we will also continue to work at the federal level to fight back against leasing in these habitats in the first place. As Wyomingites, we know that some things simply aren’t for sale. 

If we wish to secure a future that conserves large, intact landscapes and robust migratory big game herds, Wyoming must ensure that development happens on our terms. We believe that it’s not only possible to create a balance between conservation needs and energy development, but that it’s critical. The implementation of this advisory group’s recommendations will be a l turning point, and a key step in defining our state’s future. Once we lose migration corridors, that’s it — they’re gone. We must get this right. 

Stay tuned for more information about opportunities to support conservation of corridors.

We’re on the move to support our migratory mule deer

Posted on by Kristen Gunther

Migration is hard work for Wyoming’s mule deer, especially for the thousands that move 150 miles each way between their winter range in the Red Desert and their summer range in the slopes of the Hoback. Muleys have to contend with weather, disease, predators, fencelines, and human traffic across an increasingly fragmented landscape. One thing they don’t need more of? Challenges that pose a life-or-death threat by closing off or destroying critical habitat — especially when mule deer populations statewide have declined by more than 30 percent in recent decades.

That’s why the staff of the Wyoming Outdoor Council has been on the move this spring and summer, too, working to support these selective critters by advocating good wildlife policy that defends their future. 

SURFING THE GREEN WAVE INTO SUMMER

During late spring and early summer, we joined friends in Lander, Rock Springs, Laramie, and Casper to “Surf the Green Wave” into summer. We were thrilled to see so many of you at these events! Together, we explored the latest science, chatted policy and land management challenges faced by our deer, and talked about how you can take action to support Wyoming’s muley herds (which you did!). We also replicated a mule deer migration by “pub crawling” to various “stopovers” — those places along migration routes harboring the highest quality green “groceries” — and celebrated with our version of high-quality summer forage: a special beer brewed by our friends at Square State Brewing in Rock Springs! 

Thanks to the many, many volunteers, hosts, donors, and members who made these events possible, including Pedal House in Laramie and Backwards Distilling in Casper.

ADVOCACY UPDATE: GOV. GORDON’S MIGRATION ADVISORY GROUP

Your commitment to learn about and take action for mule deer has been essential as we’ve engaged with Gov. Gordon’s Wildlife Migration Advisory Group, which began meeting at the end of June. This eight-person citizen group, comprised of Wyomingites from a range of backgrounds, has been hard at work this summer. The group is considering scientific, conservation, policy, and economic data as it crafts a recommendation for the governor about how Wyoming should manage migration corridors. 

The Outdoor Council had the opportunity to present to the group on July 8 on behalf of the conservation community, and we worked diligently to represent the hopes and concerns you’ve shared with us about the state’s mule deer. I was honored to be able to talk about our conservation priorities for migration corridors and our recommendations for protecting migrating big game — especially mule deer. The committee’s conversations afterward were thoughtful, and I came away encouraged about the prospect of a strong, Wyoming-based solution for our migratory big game.

TAKING ACTION TO SUPPORT OUR MULE DEER

The committee’s final meeting will be held in Pinedale on August 12 and 13. If you are able to attend, we would love to see you there. Watch your inbox for information about the meeting and how to participate. 

Also, the state offered several oil and gas leases in migration corridors this month — including some in critical stopover habitat. We’d like to ask that these leases be canceled until stronger rules — already in development through the Governor’s task force — are in place to make sure that mule deer corridors aren’t harmed. Join us in asking the State Board of Land Commissioners (a group which includes Gov. Gordon) not to approve the sale of seven leases in corridor and stopover habitat.

Speak Up For Mule Deer

FINALLY: Do you want to get your hands dirty and help support the world’s longest mule deer migration?

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department and the Rock Springs Bureau of Land Management are organizing a habitat improvement project on Saturday, August 10. Volunteers are needed to help replace fence. It’s a big job with some heavy lifting involved, and will help migrating mule deer access a key stopover in the Red Desert to Hoback corridor. If you’re interested in joining WOC staff to volunteer, please email me: kristen@wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org. We’ll provide a WOC t-shirt or hat to anyone who volunteers, and will help arrange carpools to Farson! More details about the volunteer day can be found at this link. 

Thank you for being a passionate advocate for Wyoming’s mule deer and other big game! Your voice is making a difference as we strive to negotiate a permanent conservation solution for our iconic migratory herds.

Wyoming must do more to protect mule deer migrations

Posted on by Dustin Bleizeffer

Wyoming has been in the world spotlight since the discovery of the longest known mule deer migration, which runs 150 miles between the northern Red Desert and the Upper Hoback. That such an ancient migration still exists — despite roads, fences, housing, energy development, and other human activities — is amazing.

And new science is conclusive on two points: mule deer avoid development, and once a route is impeded, the deer don’t adapt. Unfortunately, under the new energy dominance policy, the BLM is offering oil and gas leases inside this corridor and other crucial wildlife habitat. And unless they hear from state wildlife managers, they’ll continue to do so.

The existence of the longest known mule deer migration is something Wyoming can no longer leave to chance. If we allow oil and gas activity here, the loss of this unique pathway will be on us.

Wyoming Game & Fish Department must step up

Wyoming’s wildlife is a tremendous part of our outdoor culture and a driver of our statewide economy. Big game hunting alone brings in about $300 million annually. According to a recent poll from Public Opinion Strategies, an overwhelming majority of all Wyoming voters — 89 percent — agree with Gov. Mark Gordon that protecting wildlife corridors does not have to be at odds with Wyoming’s energy industry.

Even former Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke understood the importance and popularity of protecting big game herds for westerners. Last year, he signed an executive order “to enhance and improve the quality of big-game winter range and migration corridor habitat on Federal lands.”

Yet the BLM continues to sell leases inside these habitats.

The thing is, states have the power to push back. When western states have asked the feds to pull oil and gas leases that have been offered in vital big game habitat, we’ve seen the BLM respond. Last year, the agency pulled more than a quarter of a million acres in Colorado from oil and gas lease sales at the request of state leaders.

And on the few occasions when the WGFD has asked the BLM to defer leasing parcels that fall entirely within a designated migration corridor — a very small percentage of the total number of oil and gas leases being offered in corridors — the BLM has granted its request.

This should be good news. But a state has to believe that the science matters, and then it must have the will to speak up. Unfortunately, that’s not what we’re seeing in Wyoming. Right now, the WGFD is operating under the flawed premise that if only a portion of a particular lease parcel falls within a wildlife migration corridor, there’s no threat to our wildlife. But that isn’t the case.

The WGFD has developed a “strategy” that endorses leasing inside migration corridors so long as at least 10 percent of a parcel falls outside the corridor. The rationale — which the WGFD admits is not rooted in science — is based on the hope that energy operators will “do the right thing,” and locate infrastructure in the portion of the lease parcel that’s outside the designated migration corridor. Unfortunately, operators are not legally bound to do so.

Crossing our fingers that private energy companies will do what’s best for our wildlife is no way to manage one of Wyoming’s most important resources. But unless the WGFD finds the will to ask the BLM to pull these leases, blind hope is all we’ve got for now, because there’s no legal way to ensure that energy operators will limit development to outside corridor boundaries.
Even more troubling, when pressed, both the WGFD and the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission — the bodies charged with protecting Wyoming’s wildlife — have said they can’t ask to defer leasing in this tiny portion of Wyoming’s most important big game habitat for fear of retribution from the legislature and the oil and gas industry. This is despite an overwhelming and bipartisan majority of Wyoming voters agreeing that protecting wildlife corridors does not have to be at odds with energy development.

The bottom line is that there is no need to offer oil and gas leases in Wyoming’s migration corridors. Even if every lease that abutted the Red Desert to Hoback mule deer corridor were made off limits tomorrow, millions of acres of public lands are still available to lease — and develop. Wyoming is not so poor that (for as little as $1.50 per acre — less than a slice of pizza or a cheap cup of coffee) we should give away to energy companies our most crucial big game habitats and the very future of our big game herds.

Working to save Wyoming’s muleys — and how you can help

We’ll continue to review every BLM oil and gas lease sale in Wyoming and file protests when the agency ignores our concerns. We’ll keep testifying at Game and Fish Commission meetings, respectfully urging this body, charged with protecting Wyoming’s wildlife, to heed the science and take a stronger stand. We’ll keep meeting with WGFD leaders — and with the governor and his policy staff — to pore over maps and advocate better strategies. We’ll work with with partners, sportsmen and women, and citizens around the state to get the word out.

And we will continue to weigh all our options, including filing a legal challenge. That’s not a step we’d take lightly, but it’s one we’ll consider if it means protecting the future of Wyoming’s mule deer.

Wildlife and the vast open lands they need to survive define us in Wyoming. The Wyoming Outdoor Council is more committed than ever to work on behalf of Wyomingites to defend these irreplaceable resources and protect the state’s migration corridors for future generations.

 

An update: our ongoing efforts to protect Wyoming’s migration corridors

Posted on by Dustin Bleizeffer

These past few months, we’ve been asking the state to urge the Bureau of Land Management to take a more precautionary approach to oil and gas leasing in migration corridors until legally binding wildlife protections can be put into place. New and existing science clearly shows that drilling in migration corridors is bad for mule deer herds, and we want to know that any leases offered will have the stipulations in place that will protect Wyoming’s wildlife.

And thanks to you, the BLM is hearing a loud and clear message from the public. More than 260 of you signed our petition — which we submitted as formal comments — asking the BLM to defer leasing in Wyoming’s mule deer migration corridors and crucial winter ranges. To learn more about this issue, you can read our fourth quarter sale fact sheet.

In September, too, a west-wide court ruling forced the BLM to temporarily withdraw hundreds of thousands of acres of Greater sage-grouse habitat from its oil and gas lease auction scheduled for December, in order to allow for more public participation. The court found the BLM’s attempts to shorten public participation periods are likely in violation of several federal laws. As a result, just three parcels will go up for auction in Wyoming in December while the remaining 584 parcels spanning 790,462 acres will go on the auction block in February.

It’s the biggest lease sale in the state’s recent history, and it’s an indication of what the Trump administration’s “energy dominance” mandate continues to mean for Wyoming — a state where nearly half our lands are public. We’re letting the BLM know that we won’t stand for leasing in our most vital wildlife habitat.

We submitted a second round of comments listing several concerns regarding the BLM’s failure to consider a more measured approach. We continue to ask the BLM to defer leases that overlap big game migration corridors and crucial winter range until science-based and legally-enforceable stipulations are put into place to protect these habitats.

This week we testified before the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission to let them know that Wyomingites overwhelmingly support protecting these migration corridors, and we continue to encourage state officials to simply honor that support by asking the Interior to defer leasing. To find out what our “next steps” are, you can read our recent letter with our recommendations to Gov. Matt Mead’s policy advisor.

 

Conserving Greater sage-grouse requires more than lip service

Posted on by Dustin Bleizeffer

It took nearly 10 years for western states and the federal government to agree on a plan to save the imperiled Greater sage-grouse — along with the health of the sagebrush ecosystem that it relies on. Yet the actual work of implementing the plan and testing its potential for success has only just begun.

That’s why the Wyoming Outdoor Council is closely examining plans to expand uranium mining in prime sage-grouse habitat in the remote Great Divide Basin in south-central Wyoming. Recent mining activities here have already “moderately” degraded the habitat, and a proposal to expand the mining operation would nearly double the area already disturbed.

In its eight-volume review of the proposed expansion, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management concludes that the mine’s increased degradation of prime sage-grouse habitat is acceptable and falls within the legal parameters of its own sage-grouse management plan. WOC staff disagrees.

“The BLM has not lived up to its own commitments,” Outdoor Council Conservation Advocate John Rader said. “They misapplied their own density calculation tool to suggest a smaller surface disturbance than the actual disturbance, they incorrectly assessed baseline noise levels, and they barely mention the cumulative impacts of the proposed expansion. They claim to make up for ongoing and future damages with an ‘adaptive management plan,’ yet no adaptive management plan exists.”

Rader said that carefully scrutinizing the BLM’s draft environmental impact statement for the Lost Creek mine expansion provides an important opportunity to improve not just this project, but the implementation of Greater sage-grouse management plans more broadly. Holding industry and permitting agencies accountable at Lost Creek will help ensure that standards and expectations are met in sage-grouse country around Wyoming.

“Essentially, this is an opportunity to test the larger effort to save the Greater sage-grouse,” Rader said.


A full accounting for surface disturbance

The Lost Creek in-situ uranium mine 40 miles northwest of Rawlins consists of a series of small wells that tap into a shallow formation containing uranium ore. A solution of mostly carbonated water is pumped into the formation to dissolve the metal, and pumped back to the surface where metals are recovered in a treatment facility.

The proposed mining expansion would nearly double the size of the project area to 10,000 acres — all inside an area known as a BLM Priority Habitat Management Area. That means the mine operates within one of Wyoming’s protected sage-grouse “core areas” — important nesting, breeding, and lekking habitat that’s vital to the bird’s health. As such, the BLM must apply several prescriptions to limit damage to the bird and its habitat.

One key stipulation that applies here is how much surface inside a sage-grouse core area is allowed to be disturbed at any one time. New development activities may not disturb more than 5 percent of suitable habitat per an average of 640 acres. To calculate this, officials use a “Density and Disturbance Calculation Tool.” The formula requires BLM to consider disturbed sage-grouse habitat, even outside of the project’s footprint.

However, Rader and other Outdoor Council staff discovered that the BLM didn’t do this. The agency misapplied the formula by not accounting for areas between actual wells, roads, and other new structures. Yet science shows that because these physical structures and roadways fragment the habitat, impacts to the species go beyond just where the infrastructure sits. If the BLM’s measurement tool had been correctly applied to include the in-between acreage, it is likely that surface disturbance would have exceeded the 5 percent threshold, Rader said. He also noted this in the Outdoor Council’s comments to BLM Rawlins Field Office.

We want the BLM to correctly apply its own formula for determining how much surface area may be disturbed by mining operations at Lost Creek. Getting it right here will help ensure it’s done right across all critical sage-grouse habitat in Wyoming and the West.


Setting the bar for noise and cumulative impacts

Our review of the BLM’s Lost Creek mine expansion proposal also revealed flaws in how baseline noise levels are measured. And we found that cumulative impacts (such as the loss, alteration, and fragmentation of habitat, and various stresses of industrial activity) were not accounted for — a troubling omission.

Human-caused noise and activity may reduce lek attendance, which can harm sage-grouse. Therefore, another key stipulation requires that no development activity exceeding 10 decibels above an area’s baseline noise level is allowed at the perimeter of a lek from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. during the spring breeding season. But the BLM’s flawed calculation of baseline noise levels grossly underestimated potential impacts, Rader said, and would allow for potentially harmful noise levels during the lek season.

Rader also noted that there’s too much variation in equipment used to measure ambient baseline noise, and too much variation in how the equipment is placed during testing. For example, sometimes microphones were placed much higher than a sage-grouse’s ears, allowing for more wind noise.

Based on ambient noise studies and the negative effects of noise on sage-grouse in Wyoming, we suggested that a clearer protocol be developed for establishing background noise levels and for monitoring. This is something that industry has also requested, noting that it would help avoid confusion and ensure clarity. We also suggested a statewide presumption of background noise levels based on peer-reviewed studies in sagebrush habitat in Wyoming, and recommended ensuring that human-caused noise levels do not exceed 26 decibels during lekking hours.

This presumption would decrease cost to industry by eliminating the need for baseline measurements, and reduce the risk of inaccurate measurements from flawed studies.

The BLM’s draft environmental impact statement for the Lost Creek mine expansion is troubling not only for its flawed analysis, but also for its failure to address cumulative impacts.

The BLM’s cursory evaluation — just two sentences — addressing the compounding effects of habitat fragmentation and other human-caused stresses associated with the mine’s activities risks weakening the broader, multi-state effort to protect the Greater sage-grouse. Curiously, the BLM defends these flaws by stating that any negative impacts to the bird and its habitat would be addressed in its Adaptive Management Plan for the project. But no such adaptive plan exists.


Why it matters, and what we’re doing

This project is not just about the habitat near Lost Creek. As we see opportunities for public input on these admittedly complicated processes diminish, it’s more important than ever to hold industry and permitting agencies accountable for protecting the Greater sage-grouse throughout sagebrush country. Agreeing on and using a clear set of science-based management prescriptions is necessary to ensure that mining, drilling, and other activities don’t further harm the species’ habitat.

“The sage-grouse management plans are more than a set of documents,” Rader said. “The bird is still in peril, and we must ensure that science-based plans are put into practice. State and federal permitting authorities are obligated to make sure they are properly measuring impacts and accounting for protections to avoid decimating some of the last best habitat that plays a major role in the survival of the species. That’s what we’re doing at Lost Creek.”

Wyoming must stand up to feds to save mule deer

Posted on by Dustin Bleizeffer

[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.14″]

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s reckless oil and gas leasing actions may be the death warrant for a prized mule deer herd that relies on the renowned 150-mile Red Desert to Hoback migration corridor in western Wyoming — the longest big game migration measured in North America.

Wyoming’s political leaders and wildlife officials can avert this crisis, but there is little time left to take action. The next lease sale is Sept. 18.

“That we still have some of the most intact big game corridors in the world is a rarity worth protecting,” Wyoming Outdoor Council Executive Director Lisa McGee said. “It’s time for Wyoming to stand up for our wildlife.”

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_button admin_label=”Gov Button” _builder_version=”3.14″ button_text=”Write the Governor” button_url=”sites.google.com/a/wyo.gov/governor/contact-us” url_new_window=”on” /][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_button admin_label=”Commission Button” _builder_version=”3.14″ button_text=”Write the Commission” button_url=”www.congressweb.com/WYOC/42″ url_new_window=”on” /][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.14″]

Oil and gas development takes priority over all other uses and values for public lands under President Trump’s energy dominance mandate — drawing a target on Wyoming where much of the surface and underground mineral estate is owned by all Americans and managed by the federal government.

In a rush to implement the mandate and limit options for the public to have a say in future land management, the BLM has tripled the size of its quarterly oil and gas lease sales across the West. More than 1 million federal mineral acres across Wyoming are up for grabs in the Third- and Fourth Quarter oil and gas lease sales. Just a small fraction of those acres overlap the migration corridor and threaten its functionality.

The Outdoor Council and other organizations have asked the BLM to defer these leases, along with others in crucial wintering habitat statewide — a necessary action that does not impede an industry that already has filed 10,000 applications to drill across the state.

So far, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department seems satisfied with the BLM’s claim that “lease notices” attached to these parcels will “mitigate” impacts. But this assertion is incorrect.

Unlike formal lease stipulations, which are legally enforceable modifications to the terms and conditions of a standard BLM oil and gas lease, the notices proposed by BLM provide no authority to halt or significantly modify operations if necessary to protect migrating wildlife. State officials recently appeared to affirm this reality when the Wyoming Office of State Lands and Investments insisted that legally enforceable “lease stipulations” must be in place before offering oil and gas leases on state lands in the corridor. Such science-based stipulations should apply to federal leasing in the same corridor as well. Wyoming’s national preeminence in mule deer migration research positions us with the best expertise to craft these important stipulations.

So far, the BLM has been deaf to these arguments, as well as objections from Wyoming residents who value healthy wildlife populations, and the American people who own these public lands. However, the BLM has shown that it is willing to listen to two voices of influence: Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

At the governor’s request earlier this summer, the BLM agreed to withdraw three oil and gas lease parcels from the migration corridor, as well as sensitive habitats in the Greater Little Mountain Area where the state and feds previously had agreed to hold off from leasing.

Both Sweetwater and Teton counties, home to the southern and northern ends of the Red Desert to Hoback migration corridor, have asked the BLM to defer all leasing in the corridor for the irreversible damage it would do to wildlife and the local outdoor recreation and tourism economy. They need Gov. Mead and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to reinforce and carry their message. Respecting local governments is a mantra of this administration, yet it now rings hollow. The BLM has ignored these counties altogether.

Dan Heilig, the Outdoor Council’s senior conservation advocate, wrote to Wyoming Game and Fish Director Scott Talbott urging him to take action and to use the agency’s influence to insist that the BLM defer Third- and Fourth Quarter leases for sale in the corridor.

“Our big game herds are world-renowned and contribute to our collective sense of pride and quality of life we share in Wyoming,” Heilig wrote in the August 21 letter. “Surely the state can and should advise against sales that risk the future of our mule deer population.”

For more information, read our fact sheet about the issue and how you can effectively advocate for protecting big game migrations in Wyoming. Also, read the Outdoor Council’s August letter to Wyoming Game and Fish Department Director Scott Talbott, urging the agency to stand up to federal overreach to protect Wyoming’s migrating wildlife.

 

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

Speak out for the Greater sage-grouse, and our western heritage

Posted on by Dan Heilig

[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.10″]

We need your help to protect the Greater sage-grouse from a political effort to weaken the Wyoming-led plan that helped avoid an endangered species listing of the iconic western bird. You can help by submitting comments to the Bureau of Land Management by August 2, 2018.

BACKGROUND—

The BLM’s Wyoming State Office is accepting written comments from the public on its draft plan to amend a multi-year planning effort finalized in 2015 to conserve the species. The Trump administration wants to re-do the plans to give greater weight to state and industry concerns. This is unnecessary and risky. Although the draft plan for Wyoming contains many of the essential features of the 2015 plan, it also removes key elements that biologists believe are necessary to avoid the need for listing the species as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

POINTS TO CONSIDER IN YOUR LETTER —

  •  Tell the BLM to keep the 2015 Greater sage-grouse conservation plans in place. These plans  — covering all of the western states where sage-grouse are found — were the result of years of scientific study and collaborative efforts in Wyoming and in the other western states, and the deal should be honored. Any changes or “tweaks” that experts deem necessary can be accomplished through minor plan amendments, or so-called maintenance actions. A complete rewrite is an unnecessary waste of federal resources, and risks upending the official finding made by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that a listing under the ESA is not needed. The certainty provided by the 2015 plans is now being called into question as changes to the plans are proposed based on political, rather than scientific, considerations.
  • Tell the BLM that a state-by-state approach to conserving the Greater sage-grouse is counter productive. The Greater sage-grouse is a landscape scale species that needs expansive, undisturbed tracts of intact sagebrush habitat to survive. The 2015 plans recognized this, and contain science-based conservation measures that applied uniformly across the species’ range. The proposed state-by-state plan amendments will lead to a patchwork of efforts, some with sound conservation measures (like Wyoming) and others with wholly inadequate measures. Will Wyoming be left “holding the bag” because other states have failed to develop adequate conservation strategies? A landscape-scale approach with all states participating in good faith is the best way to ensure effective conservation of the species.
  • The plans proposed by BLM must do a better job of protecting core population areas, also known as Priority Habitat Management Areas, by reducing the main threat to Greater sage-grouse: oil and gas development. Tell the BLM to make core population areas off limits to new oil and gas leasing. Development on existing leases should be managed under strict regulations now in place that limit surface occupancy and disturbance, but new leasing that would allow for even more development should be prohibited. More energy development in the bird’s most important habitat will not help conserve the species.
  • The BLM’s proposal strips the fundamental mitigation goal of “net conservation gain” from the plans. Tell the BLM that a no net loss of habitat that merely prevents additional habitat loss (i.e., stops the bleeding) is not adequate to conserve the Greater sage-grouse. The science shows that the plans must achieve a net conservation gain if the species is to stand any chance of long-term recovery.
  • The BLM should improve plan monitoring and oversight, and must do a much better job following its plans. Our experience over the past several years has revealed that the BLM routinely failed to follow its own 2015 plan, largely because BLM failed to provide training to field staff and the necessary incentives to ensure proper implementation. The best plan in the world is worthless if agency personnel fail to enforce it. The plan should contain metrics by which conservation success can be measured — statements that the plan is working without objective evidence to support those claims will not be sufficient to convince the USFWS that the plans are effective conservation tools.
  • Tell the BLM that the proposed plan does not provide for adequate openness and transparency of important planning decisions. For example, the BLM would like to be able to modify habitat designations (e.g., core vs non-core) via an internal process, rather than going through a formal plan amendment. Tell the BLM to follow its own regulations and use an open process to make important changes to the plan. The public should have a say in how public lands and wildlife are managed.

NOW, TAKE ACTION —

You may submit comments by U.S. mail to the Wyoming BLM state office.

Mail your letter to:
Mary Jo Rugwell
State Director
BLM Wyoming State Office
5353 Yellowstone Road
Cheyenne, WY 82009

(Be sure to include “attn: Greater Sage-Grouse EIS.”)

Alternatively, you may submit comments via email to:
Jennifer Fleuret McConchie
Planning and Environmental Coordinator
Bureau of Land Management
Wyoming State Office

(Be sure to include “attn: Greater Sage-Grouse EIS” in the subject line)

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_button admin_label=”Email the BLM Button” _builder_version=”3.9″ button_text=”Email the BLM” button_url=”http://www.congressweb.com/WYOC/40″ url_new_window=”on” button_alignment=”center” /][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.9″]

Please personalize your letter. We are witnessing an alarming trend in federal agency decision-making that discounts comments that appear to be based on “form letters.” Your letter will be given greater weight if it contains specific comments that relate to your experiences concerning sage-grouse. For example, if you enjoy watching the males engaging in the flamboyant mating display on leks, or hope to do so in the future, please consider including that bit of information in your letter.

Click this link for additional information related to the BLM planning process.

Thank you for speaking up for Wyoming’s amazing Greater sage-grouse!

 

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

Your comments can help uphold historic sage-grouse protections

Posted on by Dan Heilig

[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.48″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.17.5″]

Wyoming citizens can tell Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke not to scrap commonsense protections for sage-grouse and the sagebrush ecosystem at two BLM meetings later this month.

The open-house meetings, to be held in Cheyenne and Pinedale, will provide an opportunity for the public to learn more about — and comment on — an ill-conceived BLM proposal that would eliminate habitat protections developed as part of a historic, West-wide conservation plan.

That plan, which Wyoming Governor Matt Mead helped craft and which was approved with broad bipartisan support in 2015, would help maintain healthy sage-grouse populations, as well as vibrant mule deer, elk, and pronghorn herds, and hundreds of other species that rely on intact sagebrush habitat. The plan’s conservation measures are widely credited with keeping the Greater sage-grouse off the endangered species list.

 

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.48″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_blurb image_max_width=”50%” _builder_version=”3.7″ body_font=”|700|||||||” body_text_align=”center” body_text_color=”#007ea9″ background_color=”#fcaf17″ box_shadow_style=”preset2″ max_width=”85%” custom_margin=”5px|5px|5px|5px” custom_padding=”10px|10px|10px|10px”]

MONDAY,
JUNE 25
4–7 p.m.
Laramie County Library
Cottonwood Meeting Room
2200 Pioneer Ave.
Cheyenne, WY

[/et_pb_blurb][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_blurb image_max_width=”50%” _builder_version=”3.7″ body_font=”|700|||||||” body_text_align=”center” body_text_color=”#007ea9″ background_color=”#fcaf17″ box_shadow_style=”preset2″ max_width=”85%” custom_margin=”5px|5px|5px|5px” custom_padding=”10px|10px|10px|10px”]

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27
1:30–4:30 p.m.
Sublette County Library
Lovatt Meeting Room
155 S. Tyler Ave.
Pinedale, WY

[/et_pb_blurb][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.48″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.17.5″ header_3_font=”|700||on|||||” header_3_text_align=”center” header_3_text_color=”#444444″]


A Collaborative West-wide Conservation Plan
Scrapped in the Name of “Energy Dominance”

Although the Trump administration touts the importance of state engagement and local input, its actions tell a different story.

In what many see as an egregious concession to mining and oil and gas lobbyists, Secretary Zinke last fall ordered his agency to reconsider the historic sage-grouse conservation plans that western stakeholders took years to craft.

These plans, which apply to 11 western states, are a wildly successful example of state engagement and local input. They were endorsed by western governors, conservationists, sportsmen, and many in the agricultural and oil and gas communities. The plans’ protections were modeled after Wyoming’s own strong sage-grouse conservation measures; the best available science, attention to balance development and wildlife management needs, and to keep the Greater sage-grouse from being listed as a threatened or endangered species. The approval of these plans in 2015 was a resounding success story. And Wyoming citizens know it.

Wyoming Citizens Stand Behind the Plans

Last December, Wyoming citizens turned out in force, along with Governor Matt Mead and other state leaders, to demand that the protections for Wyoming’s sage-grouse remain in place. Senator John Barrasso, too, publicly defended Wyoming’s plan.

The Interior Department listened . . . sort of. The BLM has now released draft amendments for each of the 11 states that signed on to the 2015 conservation plan. The amendments to Wyoming’s plan propose keeping some of our good protections. But taken as a whole, the amendments don’t do enough to ensure that sage-grouse populations across the West will be protected.

As Secretary Zinke must understand, keeping the Greater sage-grouse off the endangered species list goes beyond ensuring smart management only in Wyoming. Protecting the species — and its sagebrush habitat — across the west is essential. But the BLM is drastically reducing habitat protections in eight of the 11 states that are part of the West-wide plan, leaving just three — Wyoming, Montana, and Oregon — to carry the weight of protecting this iconic western species. And several changes in the plan proposed for Wyoming will hurt sage-grouse populations right here.

Tell Secretary Zinke: Honor the Deal!

The Department of Interior is currently taking public comment on its draft amendment for Wyoming. If you’re in Pinedale or Cheyenne next week, please attend a BLM open-house meeting to learn more. The BLM is taking public comment on the proposal right now. Come learn more and ask questions at the open houses next week as we prepare to send comments on behalf of our members in August.

Here are a few key points to make in your comments:

  • Without reliable, West-wide measures to address ongoing and increasing threats to the Greater sage-grouse and its habitat, we’re likely to find ourselves right back where we started: facing a listing under the Endangered Species Act. That’s not good for the sage-grouse and it’s not good for westerners.
  • Wyoming, Montana, and Oregon should not be the only states responsible for range-wide support of the sage-grouse population. The remaining states must help carry the weight. All 11 states that signed on to the 2015 conservation plan must be accountable for their share of the habitat and bird populations.
  • The proposal doesn’t do enough in terms of mitigation. The BLM must do everything in its power to improve habitat that has been lost or degraded due to development.
  • The proposal provides for more flexibility for “adaptive management.” Although flexibility might make sense, any departures from the original conservation directives must be transparent and backed by the best available science.  

Want to know more? Email the Outdoor Council’s Senior Conservation Advocate, Dan Heilig at dan@wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org.

Thanks for standing up for Wyoming!

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

Help protect North America’s longest mule deer migration corridor

Posted on by Dan Heilig

[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.6″ header_text_color=”#444444″]

We urgently need your help to protect the world’s longest mule deer migration corridor, which is found right here in Wyoming.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is set to auction several mineral lease parcels inside the corridor for oil and gas drilling, first in September and again in December. If these parcels are not deferred from leasing, they will be sold to the highest bidder, setting the stage for drilling inside this critical and sensitive corridor. The migration corridor is a lifeline for mule deer and provides important habitat for dozens of other iconic Wyoming species. 

The most powerful action you can take is to join us, first, to thank Gov. Matt Mead for his initial steps to protect the 150-mile Red Desert to Hoback migration route. Then you can ask him to stand strong by opposing the proposed sale of federal and state oil and gas lease parcels in this critical habitat.

In addition to writing to Gov. Mead, you can also email the Wyoming Game and Fish Commissioners. Please encourage them to continue to defend this corridor — and all migration corridors in Wyoming — as vital habitat that warrants the highest levels of protection.

Lisa McGee, our executive director, recently thanked the governor for his support of the corridor and asked him to take additional steps to protect it from oil and gas leasing. You can read her letter here.

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.14″ border_radii=”on|1px|1px|1px|1px” border_width_all=”1px” border_color_all=”#fcaf17″ box_shadow_style=”preset2″][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_blurb admin_label=”Take Action” _builder_version=”3.6″ header_text_align=”center” header_level=”h1″ header_font=”|||on|||||” header_text_color=”#007ea9″ header_font_size=”45″ title=”TAKE ACTION” header_text_shadow_style=”preset1″ /][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_button admin_label=”Governor” _builder_version=”3.6″ button_text=”WRITE THE GOVERNOR” button_url=”http://governor.wyo.gov/contact-us” url_new_window=”on” button_alignment=”center” /][et_pb_button admin_label=”G&F Commission” _builder_version=”3.6″ button_text=”EMAIL THE GAME & FISH COMMISSIONERS” button_url=”https://wgfd.wyo.gov/About-Us/Game-and-Fish-Commission/Meet-the-Commissioners” url_new_window=”on” button_alignment=”center” custom_button=”on” /][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.6″ header_3_font=”|700||on|||||” header_3_text_color=”#444444″ header_3_text_shadow_vertical_length=”0.1em” header_3_text_shadow_blur_strength=”0.1em”]

THIS MIGRATION CORRIDOR NEEDS YOUR HELP

Ongoing research has revealed that mule deer traverse a particular route each year, moving north from low-lying wintering grounds in the Red Desert to the higher elevations of Hoback Basin in the summer, then back again in the fall. It’s the longest annual migration by a land animal in the Lower 48. The migration corridor includes critical stop-over habitats, where the ungulates “recharge” in quiet and nutritious habitats before continuing on across a patchwork of public and private lands.

These stunning discoveries demonstrate an ancient lifeline that still exists today, not only for big game animals in western Wyoming, but for dozens of other species, as well. In turn, these species, and the habitats they depend on, are central to Wyoming’s outdoor heritage and our growing economy.

Learn about wildlife migrations in Wyoming here.

Data collected and analyzed by Wyoming biologists also demonstrate the fragile nature of this corridor system. Mule deer typically avoid human disturbance; too much human activity can cause the deer to rush through valuable stop-over areas, leaving them in poor condition for winter or the fawning season. Both scenarios threaten their survival.

POLICY YOU CAN INFLUENCE

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke issued a secretarial order to “enhance and improve the quality of big-game winter range and migration corridor habitat on Federal lands.” He deservedly earned accolades from a broad cross-section of western sportsmen and Wyomingites who asked for this protection.

Yet the BLM, one of the agencies Secretary Zinke oversees, now appears intent on undermining the order by offering to sell oil and gas lease parcels in the Red Desert to Hoback corridor in September and December. This makes no sense.

Western governors can influence the BLM when proposals to drill in critical wildlife habitat go too far or stray from Western values.

That’s why we’re asking you to join us in giving Gov. Mead all the support he needs to stand up against this federal top-down action from the U.S. Department of Interior.

THE UNTOLD STORY

Protecting the Red Desert to Hoback mule deer migration corridor from leasing and subsequent development will not harm the oil and gas industry.

Today this industry has 5,881 authorized permits to drill in Wyoming, and 9,000 pending applications for permits to drill here. The BLM is scheduled to greenlight more than 20,000 more wells throughout the state in the next 10 years. The few dozen federal oil and gas lease parcels scheduled for sale in the migration corridor are unnecessary to Wyoming’s robust oil and gas economy. If sold, the development of these parcels threaten to permanently sever this migration lifeline for wildlife — along with a massive sector of Wyoming’s hunting and outdoor recreation economy.

Please contact Gov. Mead and let him know you appreciate his support for the world’s longest mule deer migration. Then ask him to oppose the BLM’s upcoming lease sales in the corridor.

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

Sec. Zinke can’t protect critical wildlife pathways while drilling inside them

Posted on by Dustin Bleizeffer

[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.1.1″]

In a recent letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, we are asking him to make good on his promise to implement his own executive order to protect wildlife migration habitat by deferring oil and gas lease parcels inside a critical big game migration corridor.

A Wyoming Bureau of Land Management oil and gas lease sale scheduled for December 2018 includes several parcels in the Red Desert to Hoback big game migration corridor — the longest known mule deer migration corridor in North America. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department considers the corridor “one of the most critical mule deer migration routes in the West,” and “internationally-significant.”

Leasing inside this critical migration pathway runs counter to the very stated purposes of Secretary Zinke’s Executive Order #3362, signed February 9, 2018, which are “to enhance and improve the quality of big-game winter range and migration corridor habitat on Federal lands . . . ”

“We applaud Secretary Zinke’s focus on protecting migration corridors,”Outdoor Council Executive Director Lisa McGee said. “To ensure his executive order serves its purpose, at a minimum, oil and gas leases should not be offered within Wyoming’s Red Desert to Hoback corridor. Making sure habitat remains intact is critical.”

We join dozens of sportsmen groups in supporting Secretary Zinke’s executive order to protect migration corridors because it recognizes that “robust and sustainable elk, deer and pronghorn populations contribute greatly to the economy and well-being of communities across the West.”

In our letter to Secretary Zinke, McGee stated, “This is especially true in Wyoming where our residents know that migrations support life for thousands of animals. Without these intact pathways, our herds would be substantially smaller; corridors such as the Red Desert to Hoback allow deer to take advantage of seasonal forage and move away from areas with harsh winters.”

We earlier shared a letter with BLM Director Mary Jo Rugwell, outlining the science and protections that are needed as a minimum to protect these corridors.

McGee added, “The public land acres contained in these proposed lease parcels are small in scale compared to all the other potential BLM lands open for leasing in Wyoming; but they are large in importance for the health of this herd, and for Wyoming’s cultural and economic heritage.”

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_button _builder_version=”3.1.1″ button_text=”Map of Red Desert to Hoback migration corridor” button_url=”https://wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Map-of-Red-Desert-to-Hoback-Mirgration-Corridor.pdf” url_new_window=”on” /][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_button _builder_version=”3.1.1″ button_text=”Maps of proposed leases in migration corridor” button_url=”https://wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Proposed-Leases-in-Migration-Corridor-two-maps.pdf” url_new_window=”on” /][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]